Are the Turtles, "persons of color?"

*CyberCubed* · 09-07-2026, 01:15 PM

There was a discussion in the Mutant Mayhem thread recently whether the Turtles are "black coded" as you can read on this page:

https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh...43#post2032443

So that got me thinking, are the Turtles considered, "persons of color" given they have green skin? There was one episode of the original cartoon where either Rocksteady or Bebop said, "It's the green guys over there!" or something along those lines.

One of the catch phrases in the original cartoon is, "Go Green Machine!" which is basically equal to saying, "Black Power" as a saying. Bebop/Rocksteady also call the Turtles, "shellbacks" as an insult, which is based on a slur I won't repeat in real life.

There was one episode of the original cartoon Michelangelo turned into a white human kid, so it seems the Fred Wolf writers saw the Turtles as white. But then in later iterations we have 2012 Mikey also using a lot of slang like, "Dawg" and "Homies" and "Wassup y'all?" despite Greg Cipes (the voice actor) also being white in real life.

Back in 2007 Tothenines also made a thread because his friends thought Donatello was black:

https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh...id=6&styleid=4

It's probably because in the Playmates toyline Don's skin is a darker green and some of the Playmates variants had Don in a basketball outfit and a punk rock rapper outfit. Either way they all still have green skin.

How do you see the Turtles? They have green skin but they usually "act white" in most incarnations. Discuss and debate amongst yourselves.

View Poll Results: Are the Turtles, "persons of color?"
Yes and no, I see them as the "green color" variety	4	50.00%
Yes, I see them as black	1	12.50%
No, I always saw the Turtles as white	0	0%
I do not care either way and never thought about it	3	37.50%
Voters: 8. You may not vote on this poll

09-07-2026, 01:15 PM	#1
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,742	Are the Turtles, "persons of color?" There was a discussion in the Mutant Mayhem thread recently whether the Turtles are "black coded" as you can read on this page: https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh...43#post2032443 So that got me thinking, are the Turtles considered, "persons of color" given they have green skin? There was one episode of the original cartoon where either Rocksteady or Bebop said, "It's the green guys over there!" or something along those lines. One of the catch phrases in the original cartoon is, "Go Green Machine!" which is basically equal to saying, "Black Power" as a saying. Bebop/Rocksteady also call the Turtles, "shellbacks" as an insult, which is based on a slur I won't repeat in real life. There was one episode of the original cartoon Michelangelo turned into a white human kid, so it seems the Fred Wolf writers saw the Turtles as white. But then in later iterations we have 2012 Mikey also using a lot of slang like, "Dawg" and "Homies" and "Wassup y'all?" despite Greg Cipes (the voice actor) also being white in real life. Back in 2007 Tothenines also made a thread because his friends thought Donatello was black: https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh...id=6&styleid=4 It's probably because in the Playmates toyline Don's skin is a darker green and some of the Playmates variants had Don in a basketball outfit and a punk rock rapper outfit. Either way they all still have green skin. How do you see the Turtles? They have green skin but they usually "act white" in most incarnations. Discuss and debate amongst yourselves.