The Space Traders

"The Space Traders" is a science fiction short story by Derrick Bell published in 1992.

Premise

Extraterrestrials arrive on Earth and offer to the United States gold, safe nuclear power and other technological advances in exchange for the government's handing over of all black US citizens. The story posits that the people and political establishment of the U.S. would make such a transaction and pass a referendum to enable it.

Plot summary

The story takes place over seventeen days and follows a prominent black, conservative, economics professor, Gleason Golightly, who is asked by the President to join his cabinet's discussion of the trade. He is adamantly against the trade, but the completely white cabinet believes the trade will fix the United States' environmental and economic problems. At one point, the leaders of large companies meet with the President to persuade him against taking the trade, because black people make up so much of the workforce. Later, Golightly attends a meeting of black community members. Golightly attempts to convince the gathered members that if they pose the trade as a win for black people, then the white people will not want them to leave. A preacher finds this ridiculous, and convinces those at the meeting that it will not work. At the end, Golightly thinks that he will be able to escape the country with his family before the trade, but a member of the cabinet stops his car before he can leave. Golightly reflects on the fact that regardless of his economic or political standing, he is still black.

Republication

In 2000, "The Space Traders" was republished in the first volume of the science fiction anthology Dark Matter.

Television adaptation

The story was adapted for television in 1994 by director Reginald Hudlin and writer Trey Ellis as part of the HBO anthology TV movie Cosmic Slop, which presented three Twilight Zone style stories from a black perspective.[1]

Criticism

Judge Alex Kozinski has criticized the story as being a sign of how Bell's philosophy precludes discourse, and alleges American Jews would only help black people out of a desire not to be the lowest social group in the US.[2]

Political controversy

In the run-up to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the story became a vehicle for political controversy. In The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf replied, arguing that the story's critics "would do well to acknowledge that for many decades of American history, including years during Professor Bell's life, a majority of Americans would have voted in favor of trading blacks for fantastic wealth, unlimited energy, and an end to pollutants."[3]

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References
  1. Cosmic Slop (1994) entry on IMDB.com
  2. Kozinski, Alex (November 2, 1997). "Bending the Law". The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  3. Friedersdorf, Conor (8 March 2012). "The Sci-Fi Story That Offends Oversensitive White Conservatives". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
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