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I'm not sure if this has been done before, so I'm sorry if it has.

Is there any evidence in the movies that support Palpatine being anti-alien? I know the EU supports this claim, but can't find any proof film-wise.

Darth Hebrew wrote:I'm not sure if this has been done before, so I'm sorry if it has.

Is there any evidence in the movies that support Palpatine being anti-alien? I know the EU supports this claim, but can't find any proof film-wise.

Palpatine was an opportunist, not a xenophobe. He'll take advantage of anyone, alien or not, as long as they can help him further his goals. The anti-alien aspect of the Empire characterized in the EU seems to come from a few of the higher ranking Moffs and governors, who were often violent and even genocidal xenophobes, and were allowed to operate as they did because keeping them happy served Palpatine's interests.

Noble Ire already covered much of it... Palps wasn't really biased one way or the other, He just didn't care... If one of his Moffs Glassed a planet of wierd bug-eyed aliens because it amussed him, well, as long as that Moff was usefull and loyal to him, it didn't really matter.

Really the idea simply comes from the fact that the majority of those in power where 'humans' And often the party in power, (in this case the race in power) will tend to play favorites to ithers like them, and maling those who are not like them.

Crossroads Inc. wrote:Really the idea simply comes from the fact that the majority of those in power where 'humans' And often the party in power, (in this case the race in power) will tend to play favorites to ithers like them, and maling those who are not like them.

And how did the majority of people in power become humans? Especially after the majorty of senators being alien? Because Palpatine granted the humans power. Pro-human Bias at work.

High Human Culture was established more by the Human in the core worlds who felt they were pinnacle of civilization. And since they were also Palpatines most loyal supporters he let them do as they please.

Look at Tarkin in "Rogue Planet" he is a major proponent of "High Human Culture" and is already setting the stage for what he wants to accomplish later on.

Crazedwraith wrote:

Crossroads Inc. wrote:Really the idea simply comes from the fact that the majority of those in power where 'humans' And often the party in power, (in this case the race in power) will tend to play favorites to ithers like them, and maling those who are not like them.

And how did the majority of people in power become humans? Especially after the majorty of senators being alien? Because Palpatine granted the humans power. Pro-human Bias at work.

Virtually every influential core world was human dominated, as Longvin pointed out. Coruscant, Kaut, Corellia, Commenor, Chandrilla, Alderaan, Fondor, Eriadu, human domains all. Such a progression to the Imperial leadership was natural (also, many of the more influential alien species supported the CIS during the war, limiting their chances further.)

There are three separate issues here.

1. Is Palpatine xenophobic personally?
2. Is the Empire xenophobic theoretically? i.e. is it enshrined in the official Imperial policies?
3. Is the Empire xenophobic in practice?

Based on the available evidence, I see the answers being no, maybe, and yes.

Where does the xenophobia come from? I see several possible sources.

First, the Confederacy was primarily composed of aliens, and the resentment in the aftermath of the Clone wars could be transferred onto entire species.

Second, it is mentioned in The Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I that there are already anti-alien attitudes present on many primarily human Republic worlds--and we actually see that in the example of Naboo. Palpatine might have exploited these prejudices.

Third, there are tensions (mostly economic), which get exacerbated during the Clone Wars, between the (mostly human) Core and the (mostly alien) Outer Rim. And since the Republic, based in the Core, won... to the victor go the spoils.

Last, (probably least influential--after all, Mace Windu was human) the anti-Jedi resentment may have played a role. Jedi were a diverse, multi-species order, so...

Palpatine may not be xenophobic personally, but he is willing to use pre-existing prejudices, stirr the flames of hatred, and ignore the xenophobia of his subordinates as long as they help him obtain more power.

Just imagine... if Jango Fett was, say, a Quarren.

I always got the impression the xenophobia in Star Wars was an allusion to the racism of the Nazis in the 20th century.

Hitler used anti-Semitism (and other prejudices, but primarily anti-Semitism) as a tool to unite Germany and build himself a little Reich. Yes, I realize how vast a generalization that is, but this isn't the place for me to begin lecturing about modern history, as I'll rant for ten pages.

Palpatine is using existing anti-alien sentiment (as Soontir Fel mentioned, it is canonically present according to The Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I) in the same way. It doesn't really matter whether he holds those sentiments or not (as a Sith, it is more likely he simply hates everyone, human or otherwise), but they certainly were important for the rise of the Empire

Count Dooku is supposed to be human speciesist, at least according to the AOTC novel, iirc.

Kurgan wrote:Count Dooku is supposed to be human speciesist, at least according to the AOTC novel, iirc.

ROTS actually. Of course, he also hated the lower classes and machines, so his xenophobia is likely just part of somesort of ultra-elitism, born from his noble heretige.

It should noted in either Labyrinth of Evil or ROTS novelization it's said the Sidious chose the major players of the CIS, in intent of fueling Anti-alien sentiment.

Noble Ire wrote:

Kurgan wrote:Count Dooku is supposed to be human speciesist, at least according to the AOTC novel, iirc.

ROTS actually. Of course, he also hated the lower classes and machines, so his xenophobia is likely just part of somesort of ultra-elitism, born from his noble heretige.

Oops, my mistake. I figured perhaps he may have shared such sentiments with his master. Of course we know nothing about Sideous's background except that he's from Naboo, a world of clashing civilizations and latent speciesism.

There was certainly an anti alien and anti female system in place in the Imperial armed forces, as shown in the Jedi Academy series. Notice also in the films, as far as I can remember, EVERY Imperial serviceman is a male human. Whether this policy is still in place in the Remnant is not shown, as far as I know, although I would think it would make sense to remove it.

Whether this policy is still in place in the Remnant is not shown, as far as I know, although I would think it would make sense to remove it.

After all of the infighting between Warlords that crippled the Empire post Endor (not to mention that Ysanne Isard and Admiral Daala likely would have done a lot to combat sexist prejudices, and both Grand Admiral Thrawn and later Pellaeon would very likely have combatted xenophobic prejudices), I find it very difficult to believe that the Remnant still has these policies in place.

Blackjack Simmons wrote:

Whether this policy is still in place in the Remnant is not shown, as far as I know, although I would think it would make sense to remove it.

After all of the infighting between Warlords that crippled the Empire post Endor (not to mention that Ysanne Isard and Admiral Daala likely would have done a lot to combat sexist prejudices, and both Grand Admiral Thrawn and later Pellaeon would very likely have combatted xenophobic prejudices), I find it very difficult to believe that the Remnant still has these policies in place.

The OS databank notes that Pellaeon does indeed eliminate much of the specism and gender bias from the Imperial Remnant and its starfleet. This is evidenced by the NJO books, in which female Imperial officers are fairly common, and a few are even captains (and there's even a woman on the ruling council, IIRC.)

Ah, thank you.

On a related note, the Essential Chronology has a picture of Pellaeon signing some sort of treaty with Princess Leia. In back of him there appears to be a non-human in an Imperial uniform. Since I believe this picture is referring to the Truce at Bakura, this could indicate that some of the speceism was being eliminated even that early. Of course, I could be horribly wrong on this one, as I actually don't have the book on me at the moment.

Blackjack Simmons wrote:Ah, thank you.

On a related note, the Essential Chronology has a picture of Pellaeon signing some sort of treaty with Princess Leia. In back of him there appears to be a non-human in an Imperial uniform. Since I believe this picture is referring to the Truce at Bakura, this could indicate that some of the speceism was being eliminated even that early. Of course, I could be horribly wrong on this one, as I actually don't have the book on me at the moment.

No, that picture dates from just after the Bothawui Crisis, at the end of the Thrawn Duology, more than a decade after Bakura. I never noticed an alien in Imperial grab in the picture, but it is a distinct possibility.

Publius has a nice article on the topic on his webpage, which shows, that females and non-humans wwere able to achive high ranks and offices in the empire long before JAT (Darksaber makes the claim, that Daala abolished the anti-female and xenophobic regulations).

After seeing the PT I've come to the conclusion that Palpatine himself was neither racist nor xenophobe, but he had a strong Roman attitude to ruling the galaxy - meaning that he employed "divide and conquer" method in his actions. Let me explain.

The humans are by far the most common species and most of the Separatist leaders were aliens (Count Dooku being the only human in the entire Separatist high leadership). And RotS notes that Dooku was actually quite well-liked, or at least grudgingly respected, even by the Republic populace. So when the Separatists were defeated, there was a notable mistrust of the Separatist leaders' species and it could have extended even further when, for example, the Wookiees rebelled. The average Imperial human citizen might have started to think that almost all of the aliens were untrustworthy. And Palpatine was a man who would use the existing prejudices to his own advantage, allowing high-ranking officials to further alienate the humans from other species - after all, it is easier to rule those who are suspicious of outside forces. The growing anti-alien mentality might have allowed Palpatine a chance to loot many ancient temples of other species full of knowledge of the Force and do other suspicious activities while the humans devoted most of their attention to possible illegal alien activity in the classical "us versus them" situation. Of course, Palpatine was so highly regarded by most Imperial citizens that he might have ordered Moffs and governors and other scapegoats to conduct these "temple loots" and other unsavory dealings in order to preserve his good image and to draw the attention of the more critical-minded humans who were not xenophobes towards the xenophobic Imperial represantives.

This is pure speculation, of course. But I hope that my meaning can be comprehended from it. Palpatine was not a xenophobe - he was an opportunist.