Daniel Rand WAS Iron Fist. Now, Lin Lie, the Sword Master, is Iron Fist... The Asian guy who has shards of a Mystic Sword embeded into his flesh that now give him Super Martial Arts Powers has gained the Super Martial Arts Powers of Iron Fist. Can you see the Racism here?
Before anyone tries to turn this into an "I want Daniel Rand to remain as Iron Fist" rant, you'd be wrong. Having a new Iron Fist isn't the issue. The issue is granting the Super Kung Fu powers to an Asian who already has Super Kung Fu Powers given to him by his magic sword. If say, an Ugandan proved his worthiness to Shou-Lao, and was granted the powers of the Iron Fist, then it wouldn't be racist, because Black people don't have a stereotype about Martial Arts. Having a Chinese man gain the Powers of the Iron Fist IS racist. The "All Asians know Martial arts" stereotype is racist.
Giving Lin Lie a new Power Set after his sword broke is fine. What's not fine is going on the stereotype of Asians = Martial Artists. Of all the superpowers that he could've gotten, he got Martial Arts. Perpetuating racist stereotypes is not a way to support representation... Jubilee is a much better character at Asian Representation than Lin Lie. She's not a Martial Artist, she's bad at Math and her powers are not based on Asian stereotypes.
Originally, Sulu was supposed to use a katana. George Takei insisted on the rapier in order to avoid the racist sterotype of a Space Japanese man being a Space Martial Arts Master. Even back in the 60s people were aware of these tropes and how harmful they are for Asians.
I KINDA understand why Marvel wants to retire Danny Rand as Iron Fist. But I feel that giving the power of Iron Fist to an Asian that already had similar powers is wrong. This is for two reasons: The first one is due to the trope. The second one is due to redundant powers being redundant. A Black Iron Fist is less racist, due to no connection to a Martial arts trope. A Middle Eastern Iron Fist wouldn't be as racist as a Chinese one. Even a Latin American Iron Fist could work, since they'd all be a Fish out of water scenario as foreigners learning the ways of K'un-Lun and receiving the blessings from Shou-Lao. It makes the recipient of the blessing a foreigner everywhere they'd be. The whole foreigner to everyone was a huge part of Iron Fist character, not just Danny Rand. With an Asian Iron Fist, the fish out of water angle is lost. Not all Asian cultures are the same, but it's easier to accept someone from a sister culture, than a complete foreigner.
The non-white Iron Fist erases the "white savior" complaint that Twitter has. At the same time by having an Asian become Iron Fist, they're perpetuating other racist tropes about Asians. That is my main issue. By eliminating the accidentally racist Danny Rand Iron Fist with Lin Lie, they've made a different kind of accidentally racist Iron Fist. No progress has been made at all.
Remember Snowflake and Safespace? Aside the stupid names and cringy outfits, they were far less racist than making an Asian Iron Fist.
If Lin Lie had, say gotten the ability to create an energy version of his sword and Shou-Lao's blessing was only for using his chi to heal from the constant damage caused by the shards of the Fu Xi blade and essentially remained as Sword Master from a power set perspective, and having Lie refuse to become Iron Fist as he deals with his Fu Xi powers actively Killing him, while Shou-Lao is giving him life. But in the race to unwhiten as many Superheroes as possible, the powers that be acted just as racist as the racism they were trying to fight. That's like fighting Coca-Cola addiction with Pepsi.
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