First of all, the word "racist" is a completely overused and misunderstood term. It means the thought of superiority over another race, and that race determines all your actions, thoughts, and ideas. Prejudice is a far more elaborate word. And to speak about the gimmicks, "stereotypical" is a better fit.
There does seem to be a prejudice against black wrestlers, in some walks of pro-wrestling. In WWE? I don't think so. WWE has a lack of black world champions, and that can be a call for concern, but not a lot of black guys have gotten over. But that provokes the argument that the reason black people don't get over is because they get stuck with stereotypical rapper, money-loving, sexual, exotic etc. gimmick. The ones who didn't fit that mold, like Booker T, Bobby Lashley and Ron Simmons. Were given world title runs. They had runs on top of their brand/company at one-point or another. Booker T closed out the last show of a company that lasted nearly 40 years. It wasn't because they were trying to make a statement about being black friendly, but because he was LEGIT over. Bobby Lashley carried ECW on his back for a solid 6 months before getting his shot on RAW. Simmons became the first black WCW champion, beating the uber-heel Vader.
Now, speaking of Simmons beating Vader. Simmons was virtually a mid-card guy. He was over, but not champion over. He was seen as an underdog because he had that presence about him. But many people think Simmons was booked to beat Vader because Bill Watts wanted to seem black friendly. So does that mean pro wrestling uses black wrestlers as PR stunts? I don't think so, either. Booker T was uber-over. He was the home-grown star that carried the company, hand-in-hand with Steiner for the entirety of the 2000s. Bobby Lashley was going to be the NBT. Hell, he even beat the shit out of McMahon. But injuries got in the way.
Then there is the Big Es, Kingstons, R-Truths, Visceras etc. It seems everything you can pull out of a stereotype generator was latched on to these guys. Was there any need for a Jamaican gimmick? I don't think WWE pulls any real interest over there, anyways. Big Es rendition of "Buff, overly scripted MLK" speeches during the summer of last year were the most cringe worthy things, I have ever seen. R-Truths thug, rapper gimmick was nice they had to try it twice. Viscera was the 2nd attempt by WWE to make another gigantic black man an overly-sexual, women objectifying, sex loving joke. They tried to redeem him, but it was too late.
Now that I got the good, and ugly about black wrestlers in the WWE, why not look at the broader scope of things? Let's talk
minorities , in general, in the industry of pro-wrestling. Simply put, there is very little to call racist. I mean it seems the Blue gimmicks get dropped the second your dropped from the WWE. I can't remember an overly-racist/stereotypical moment in the scope of wrestling, off the top of my head. Not saying there isn't any AT ALL. But the degree WWE does it, it's quite tame.
Final verdict. No, but there is surely a plausible argument as to why many people think so. Questionable booking, gimmicks and ideas. I was going to touch on Booker vs. HHH, but I'm sure everyone knows what that was about.
@Snowman :henry2: