A necessary exploration of the role that race plays in one of the biggest film franchises of all time: Star Wars.

Talking about race can be so incredibly awkward at times – but it does not have to be! Often, many restrict themselves from fully participating in these necessary dialogues only because of a profound fear of “saying the wrong thing.” Thus, this book conducts a racial analysis of the world famous franchise, Star Wars.

A Disturbance in the Force: Making Space for Race in Star Wars helps readers understand how race is leveraged within an idealistic fantasy space that theoretically should be unencumbered by any racial frictions that we know within our current society, seeing how the events that transpire within the nine Star Wars franchise movies occurred “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Yet, beneath the hyperspace drives to distant locations featuring a vast array of alien diversity co-existing with humans intergalactically, tensions and assumptions surrounding race relations within contemporary mainstream America nonetheless are manifest and present. This book will reveal such racial tensions “hidden in plain sight,” employing satire in modest dosages to help alleviate some of this tension.

Gooding Jr. asks readers to reconsider and think critically about both the quantity and quality of nonwhite images circulated throughout the Star Wars universe. By focusing on Star Wars, one key barrier to constructive conversations about race is removed by focusing on a commonly known product to serve as a common denominator. When it comes to the relationship of race relations and Star Wars, there is no need for me to “force” the issue. Readers will learn and appreciate upon concluding that similar to the force, the topic of race is also an “energy between all things, a tension, a balance that binds” us together, whether for better or for worse.