It was probably his performance in Attack the Block that got him hired in the first place. He just happened to be the race for which Disney was rightfully looking.

As others have said, ultimately the problem with the Star Wars sequels is that Disney/Kathleen Kennedy rushed them out and handed each movie to an "auteur" to do as he liked instead of spending the time to create a unified trilogy, like Marvel did with its MCU. Boyega's and Tran's characters were the biggest casualties of this shockingly dumb mistake.

I understand your point about other non-white groups in the US but let's not turn this situation into the Discrimination Olympics. Black Americans have experienced a particular racist history in our own country that continues, to a certain extent, to this day. Black Americans have not only had to deal with lack of representation but also with consistent, persistent, negative, stereotypical representations that have contributed to the negative perception of all Black people. Native Americans and Asians don't matter less than Blacks, they simply have a different history and fewer numbers than Blacks. And they should be getting their due. As Blacks fight for more representation, the representation for other marginalized groups will grow, too. A rising tide lifts all boats.

I would've gone with Spielberg.

The models make a huge difference. Those moon buggies move and bounce more realistically than anything the best CG artist can create.

LOL! Yes, not everything from the past needs to be tossed out especially if there isn't a better way. New isn't superior to better.

I agree. I still remember being in the theater at 8-years-old, mesmerized by how special Star Wars felt. I had never seen visuals like that before. Decades later and neither the visuals nor the story feel special anymore. People are searching for meaning in a movie that was never that deep to begin with. CG has done a great job of bringing imaginings to life but it's also removed the magic of movies. It's simply not 1977 anymore.