The Flash: Candice Patton Says The CW Didn't Support Her Against Racist Attacks
As The Flash star Candice Patton reminds fans, there seems to be an unfortunate trend lately of racist and otherwise bigoted fan backlash against actors and actresses who exist outside of a particular alabaster expectation. Whether it's a woman taking a lead role in a popular sci-fi franchise, a Black person doing the same, or anything else that strays from straight white dudes headlining everything, one can always expect some kind of toxic reaction these days.
Thing is, this isn't some new phenomenon. It's been going on pretty much as long as mainstream entertainment has existed. One slightly less recent instance involves Patton, who has been playing Iris West on The CW's The Flash for its entire 8-season run. While many will justifiably argue that Iris hasn't really been given her due on The Flash, others have a much more petty complaint about the character, and it started all the way back when the show started in 2014.
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In the DC comics that inspired The Flash, Iris was generally depicted as a white woman. Still, since that whiteness isn't exactly central to the character, one would think that there's no big deal casting Patton, as a Black actress, in the role. However, back when the show began, the toxicity was rampant, and according to Patton, The CW didn't do much of anything to combat it. «In 2014, there were no support systems,» she revealed in an interview on The Open Up Podcast, «no one was looking out for that. It was just free range to get abused every single day.»
Being one of the first Black actresses with a lead role in The CW's Arrowverse of DC shows, Patton faced a lot of harassment that, apparently, the network either didn't anticipate or didn't
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