A white actor needs to play Shaft...

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of Shaft?

Shaft is fine just the way it is. A white actor??? Surely you jest.

I totally agree!
That's a genius idea actually, but just done properly, not as a joke.
It would be awesome! Same as a black Bond, done properly could be awesome, and I cannot think of it being worse than the monkey playing Bond now in any case.

Ironic Posting 101

Don't forget there are some of us who don't think a black actor "should" play James Bond, but who are not offended by the suggestion. Who cares about the tone of their skin if they are the best actor for the role?

Shaft is a different prospect entirely as the original film deals with issues like the black power movement and racism, which made the main actor's race integral to the storyline. Bond's background or race are less relevant to the story, which is why we can accept his looks and accent changing from picture to picture.

I think a white man playing Shaft would be rightly seen as cultural appropriation. A black Bond is no more noteworthy than a female Doctor Who.

To the OP:

First of all, the character of Shaft was created because at the time it was created (early '70s) because other than Sidney Poitier's Mr. Tibbs, and the pair of tough streetwise Harlem detectives from the film Cotton Come To Harlem, there were very few black detective character onscreen starring in their own film series. White males had dominated the detective genre for virtually the majority of film history up to that point. So that's why your silly little statement makes no damn sense at all when you really think about it---which you obviously didn't. Also, there is no reason why James Bond has to stay a white guy, because he's a fictional character, and because this is the 21st century, and the character has changed with the times like most popular characters do. That being said, they need to hurry up and get Idris Elba for the role while he's still hot, lol.