Rumors were circulating about the next James Bond being played by Idris Elba. On Aug. 20, the rumors were dismissed by Elba himself. Before fans of Elba were let down, many questions arose surrounding whether or not Elba should be eligible to play James Bond, meaning whether a black man should be allowed to play a historically white character.

Historically in film, black men and women have been cast into roles that, according to the screenplay, must be played by a black actor. For example, the film “Black Panther” is about a king of the fictional African country, who is born and raised in Africa. Therefore, it would make sense for T’Challa to be played by a man with darker skin. Many white people are cast into roles that are beyond their race, such as Harry Potter or Frodo from “Lord of the Rings.” The quality or plot of the film would not be altered if Harry Potter was a black man.

James Bond being a white male is not important to the plot. There is no major plot point that surrounds his race, and therefore, there is no reason for him to be a white male. When describing James Bond, the first thing that people say is not related to his skin tone. Therefore, the only casting choice that has to be made is that he is charismatic, suave and attractive.

If a historically black character was made white, the circumstances would be different. Even if the skin color of the character was not integral to the character, black men have had substantially fewer opportunities to prove themselves the leading man. White men have historically had exponentially more opportunities to play in a romanticized role that was not reduced to their skin tone.

“But the original James Bond is 6 foot 2! Daniel Craig is only 5 foot 10!” If the issue was truly with the lack of continuity between the reboots of the characters, then more James Bond fanboys would be screaming. Besides, Idris Elba is 6 foot 3, which is much closer to 6 foot 2 than 5 foot 10 is.

It boils down to a prejudice against people of color. This is not the first case of that in Hollywood, and it certainly will not be the last. Scarlett Johansson is guilty of partaking in both whitewashing (“Ghost in the Shell”) and being a cis actress playing a trans man (“Rub and Tug”). The latter received so much backlash that Johansson quit the role and the film was cancelled.

The way this barrier can start to be broken down is simple: cast a black man in a “leading man” role without changing the background of the character.