Warning: The following contains spoilers for Superman: Son of Kal-El and Superman Smashes the Klan.
Created by Jewish writers during the lead-up to World War II, Superman has always represented the best of mankind from all evil. Whether human or supernatural, the man of steel has a legacy of putting bad guys in their place. This is true whether those bad guys are stealing a purse or committing genocide. Superman's legacy has come to the forefront recently with two comics that deal with his legacy inside and outside of the continuity of the comics.
Superman Smashes the Klan is a 2019 3-issue series by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru. This adaptation of the "Clan of the Fiery Cross" radio series paralleled Superman's struggle with that of a Korean-American immigrant family. Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021) by the creative team of Tim Taylor, John Timms, Hi-Fi, Raul Hernandez, and Cian Tormey, focuses on Jon Kent as he navigates his role as a half-human Superman. The former series deals with the legacy of Superman as a media franchise and how it has affected narratives on racism. The latter deals with how Superman's living legacy, Jon, tries to hold up his father's name to the standard he left behind in his own way.
How The Outside World Sees The Supermen
Clark Kent and the world's perception of him has been at the heart of many of the greatest Superman stories. In Injustice: Gods Among Us Year 1 Volume 2 by Tom Taylor, Mike Miller, Tom Derenick, and Bruno Redondo, Superman's attempts to control the world's firearms and governments are seen as malevolent. Superman Smashes the Klan was careful to avoid this perception by keeping the story more local. Here, Clark was fighting to be perceived as a normal human being who happens to be powerful. He knew the biases of this 1950s world and how the people would turn against him. This careful handling of situations made a comic with a light and cheery beginning strike a dark chord as the man of steel grappled with wanting acceptance in spite of being alien.
Jon Kent, however, is not as concerned with how the world perceives him. One of the conversations that he and Clark had in Son of Kal-El #1 was that Jon owed it to the world to use his lineage as a human to help them. The fact that he, too, is of Earth should be used for the underprivileged. He doesn't want to be seen as a champion of arbitrary morals, but a champion of humanity. When Superman does this, it's viewed as a bad thing, often through the same viewpoint, Lex Luthor uses. The authors ask the reader in publications like Injustice or Red Son to fear Superman using his power to take down evil men because "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Jon Kent, though, was encouraged by his father to use his powers to intervene and fight for justice. Jon does this by being a public figure who wrestles with good and bad. An especially poignant image in Son of Kal-El #3 was when Jon is put in handcuffs at a peaceful protest. As the strongest man alive and a law-abiding citizen, how the world sees him is as important as how he accomplishes justice. The policeman who arrests him was hesitant, but Jon does not want to be perceived as more important than those around him. Even his relationship with Jay Nakamura deals with perception as Jay's The Truth keeps Jon at the forefront. Clark tended to act as much as he could to minimize the visibility of his impact on the world. Jon does all that he can to not only act but show himself both powerful and mortal.
How The Jon and Clark Kent Perceive Themselves
Throughout Superman Smashes the Klan, Clark focused on the way that this world's Kryptonite showed that he was a green-skinned alien. As the story progressed, Clark realized that his fear of appearing otherworldly was because of what he believed he should be as a new member of earth. Much like the Korean family at the center of the story, Superman felt that he had to live up to the myth of the model minority. Clark's perception of his Kryptonian parents is them both appearing green and alien, and the language they spoke was strange to him. The resemblance of letterer Janice Chiang's version of written Kryptonian to Korean Hangul is certainly intentional, too. Superman's struggle in this short series was not about his weakness to Kryptonite. It isn't about some super-powered racist, as many racism-oriented stories end up. This story was about Kal-El coming to terms with his own internalized racism and growing beyond it so he can be not what America thinks he should be, but what only he can be.
Superman Smashes the Klan was not necessarily intended to be canon, but the advice that Kal-El passed on to his son seems sourced from the comic. Kal-El's advice to Jon in Son of Kal-El #2 grew from Superman finding his place in the world as he believed it to be best. Clark's encouragement to Jon is to do the same; to be the man he wants to be. As Jon Kent becomes more of the Superman he wants to be, his self-perception is not one of an immigrant like his father. Instead, it's a man with privilege who can use it to help those around him. In recognizing this and becoming more in tune with the world and people he knows, Jon-El grows to represent the best of himself. He betters the world through a positive self-perception.
Ultimately, that's what Superman has always been about. If someone were truly able to make substantive change in the world, then maybe they could. If someone could fly to Nazi Germany and take out Adolf Hitler, then they just might. That hope is what Superman has always stood for, and that hope defines the actions of Kal-El and Jon-El.