Lumping everyone together as "society" and attributing characteristics to it as a homogeneous mass - sound familiar? You are representing the bulk of civilized people from a selection of vocal individuals, and that is no more fair than characterizing blacks as thugs in hoodies, Latinos as gangbangers, or Arabs as taxi drivers and mini-mart owners. Instead of seeing people as Micks, Spics, Blacks, Crackers, etc. see them as unique individuals, each with a cultural background but individual dreams and drives. When we look at skin color or national origin in the same way as we see eye color or height, we'll be on a far smoother road. Although some people judge others even on such ridiculous criteria as those. Reminds me of a dumb brunette joke...
"Society" as in the majority of people. It's fair to attribute "characteristics to it as a homogeneous mass" because frankly, most people in society would still have racial bias instilled within them. And I'm not basing my assumptions off "a selection of vocal individuals". I appreciate your views on equality, but to be fair, most people still have expectations when it comes to skin color. If you're writing a book for the masses (which you may not be, as you may write for your own satisfaction), you need to consider what society as a whole would appreciate. Unfortunately I can't tailor my writing to individuals if I wish to have a larger audience. Trust me, I'm not white and nearly everyone perceives me differently or makes assumptions. That's just the way it is. I'm not saying this is right in any way Cogito, but it's a hard truth that still exists in our "society".
I've heard the same arguments used to justify every form of bigotry you can name. Just think about it.
I think you have a point about the expectations of people in terms of the protagonist. Just look at Hollywood - where are the serious African-American or Asian professors saving the world? Where is the Hispanic James Bond? Up until recently an argument could be made along the lines of: "the vast majority of people in the US are white and this is simply being reflected in fiction", but now this is not the case. This year was the first year that white babies were outnumbered by African-American/Hispanic babies, and all demographic projections show that white people will be a minority group within a generation in the United States - but I bet we don't see that reflected in fiction for a long time after. America is changing faster that any nation on Earth, and not too far off Spanish will have to be given equal status to English - and this has its own implications for film and literature.
That's absolutely true thetyper. I wish for the world that it all changes, but the status quo remains to be that, as you said, white people should be the protagonists. Cogito I don't understand how you can just say "Just think about it" and expect that to justify why you're being so closed-minded. If that's you in your avatar, and you're a Caucasian male, you don't really know what it's like. How many times has someone been racist to you? I'll let you guess what race I am. I'm really good at maths, and I like dumplings. You just made an assumption due to social expectations.
No matter where you go, there are always going to be people that don't understand or refuse to understand. There are those who are mature enough to except it and those who are not. Personally, I love reading books from the viewpoints of different races because of the different cultures. For instance, I read a book recently called "Sold" and it was from the view of a 13 year old Islamic girl who was unknowingly sold into the sex trade. Obviously, it is an awful situation to be in, but it made it even more horrifying knowing that if she was ever saved, she would never EVER know a man's love because she was now unpure. And one of my favorite books (Perfect Chemistry...yeah, I know) is about a white girl who is in love with a Mexican gangbanger. It's good to show how two different worlds collide and mesh to breakdown sterotypes. So yeah, I'd say race is important depending on the story.
Okay, I think we've strayed WAY off topic here. Yes, there are bigots everywhere. Bigoted white people, bigoted black people, bigoted Asians, bigoted Hispanics. There isn't a single city on Earth where there aren't any bigots. Some are less bigoted than others, but they're bigoted. I think the core of the question the OP was trying to say was...'should I worry about writing a MC that's not of the same race as I am?' My answer is that you shouldn't. In fact, people should be encouraged to write about different races. Some of my MCs are Asians, Hispanics, and blacks. And yes, some of them are white as well. I write the character's personality and how that fits into their story. The skin color they have isn't important. Now, that is not to say that there won't be any racist characters in my stories who will look down upon my MC, mind you. The point is that the plot itself won't be about my character's skin color. Allow me to share with you, Creos, some of my story ideas where my MC are not white, middle-class folks: #1- A mystery series set in Alabama from the perspective of an orphaned Mexican boy named Miguel Sanchez who was adopted by an American soldier. The boy does not like the new country, misses his old, and has some fondness for the new family he found himself in solely because they rescued him. In truth, I see him as a mixture of Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Ron Weasley from Harry Potter. #2- A mystery series set in Feudal Japan from the perspective of a Japanese samurai named Akuji Yamamoto and his three sons. #3- A mystery series set in Song Dynasty China from the perspective of a girl of nobility named Xin Wu. See there? Not all white people write only about white people.
Creos, you're confusing me. You're saying that Cogito is being closed-minded because he _doesn't_ demand that all protagonists be white? That logic isn't parsing for me. Sure, it may be true that readers prefer white protagonists. It may be that readers prefer male protagonists; that doesn't mean that I'm going to refrain from writing about a woman. Tony Hillerman? Barbara Neely? Robert Barnard's Charlie Peace novels? Are you arguing that they're incredibly rare exceptions and that the average novel with a non-white protagonist is all but guaranteed to fail? But how can we be sure, if people are declining to write those novels _because_ they think that they will fail?
But why didn't you list an idea where the protagonist isn't white and the scenario doesn't require them to be? I mean you're setting a story in Japan. Of course he's japanese. You're setting a story in China. They're probably not going to be white. You're writing a story about a boy that doesn't like America. He's not going to be white, is he? All those scenarios have some direct link to a race. @ChickenFreak I'm not demanding that all protagonists be white. By all means, write something with the protagonist being colored. You've just supported my point. 'Sure, it may be true that readers prefer white protagonists.'. That's all that I ever said. You could write about a sexually aggressive chimp who becomes a grandmaster of chess. You COULD do that. But no one's going to read it. And I never said don't do it because you're going to fail. If you have read anything I've written, I've been saying that I prefer for people to put other races in a better light. But the fact remains. White people are the default choice for protagonists when the story doesn't specify a race.
I think I understand what you're saying. If a character is of a different race, they will be treated differently, even if the plot itself isn't strictly about race. Miguel's Hispanic, and while the plot won't be about his race, people (mostly the white folks) will likely talk down to him because he's Hispanic. They may call him names, insult his heritage, etc. While his own adoptive family will be understanding (for the most part...) plenty will mistreat the boy. Yes, I can see race being of issue here. Xin Wu is a woman living in Song China. I imagine, if anything else, the story would be about the issue between gender, as back in those days, women weren't exactly held to high regard, and she'd have to overcome that hurdle to make her case known. Her being Asian won't make the other Chinese officers stop her. It's her gender. I can already see a Chinese official in my story now, saying, "And just why would we listen to you? You are nothing more than a commoner woman!" (EDIT: Yeah, I'm changing her so she's not of nobility, just to add more hurdles for her to cross. Besides, I like stories about the underdog overcoming impossible odds!) Akuji Yamamoto? He's a respected samurai living in a culture that respects samurais. They're not going to put him down because of his race or gender. They may put him down for other reasons, but I'm not sure yet.
I have confidence that it will change in time, but only when two things happen: 1. The majority of commissioning editors and film industry professionals are not white. 2. The majority of people who buy books and watch films are not white. When these two things happen, which in America will be around 2040 - 2050 - then we will see the changes.
In a purely writing sense, it really doesn't matter too much what race you want your character to be. Make them whatever race you feel you can write properly -- for example, if you're a Swedish American living in California, you probably don't know anything about a Nigerian and shouldn't write about them. I've run across this problem before. On the webcomic Dr. McNinja, they introduce a Mexican character to be the "Robin" to Dr. McNinja's "Batman". Gordito at first is an interesting character who hangs out with bandits who ride velociraptors, but steadily downgrades into nothing more than the typical white guy computer nerd. He doesn't act at all Mexican. Now, I don't expect Gordito to be a stereotype, but the fact remains that what race we are isn't just about race, it's also about culture. Therefore, one's race is going to have at least a little impact on who they are. For example, I'm American, but my Irish ethnicity affects me every day. One could hang out around me and figure out that I'm Irish without my having to tell them. The trouble with Gordito is, he just doesn't FEEL like a Mexican raptor-bandit, but rather just a generic white guy. He plays around with computers and is instantly drawn to youtube the second something strikes his fancy. It's likely the result of the writers themselves being computer nerds, and thus don't have an understanding of how a Mexican might act if he were a former raptor-bandit looking to be trained by a doctor who is also a ninja. Also, if you will excuse me for going on a non-PC line, I really hate it when authors sort of "shelter" a culture by not showing its negative side. For example, some people might have been offended by CS Lewis' portrayal of the Calormenes in The Horse And His Boy, saying that Lewis is trying to talk crap about Arabs. It's pretty obvious that Calormenes are vaguely representative of Arabs, but what I like about Lewis' portray is that he's not afraid to show negative things, and likewise not afraid to show positive things either. Like how he describes the storytelling abilities of the Calormenes, and how it is much better than Calormene poetry. His depth, because Lewis was not afraid to go that far, makes THAHB much more interesting, because it describes a culture fully, rather than just a pale shadow of a culture. Authors who get vague with cultures just to be PC aren't interesting at all, and reading those authors is the literary equivalent of drinking really, really weak tea. Likewise, I hate it when critics pan a work just because they think an author is being slanderous of a culture, when really the author is merely being accurate. This sort of thing scares writers from accuracy and depth, hurting literature. Wow, that was a rant. Oh, note that when I mean "culture", I mean things like Slovenian, Southern, South African, or British. I don't mean things like "white", "black", or Asian. Those groups are too big to have just one description for each.
Interesting... The fact that I live in a country that's predominantly WASP, I suppose I don't notice so much the race because most books I read are based in WASP Western cultures. The fact that I can only view this from my own cultural perspective means that I'm not sure how things look from other places. I would think that there're a lot more Asians in Asian literature, the same in South America, etc, etc. I think the lack of racial diversity in literature is reminiscent of society at the moment. I also think that there's this culture that ethnic people can relate more to white characters than white people and relate to ethnic characters. I'm certainly no expert on this though, but this is just the vibe I get. As with many people above, I don't tend to think about the race of a character unless it's important to the story. My current story has mostly white characters but there's a heavy Asian influence in the culture and it's integral to my story that some of the characters have diverse backgrounds too.
If your character appear to you as white, write them as white. If they appear to you as black, you have a pleasant choice: 1)Stick with what you know(writing about white people) and write better that way. 2)Try to see through the eyes of a black person(despite what people say about race equality, due to the amount of racism that still lingers, black people think differently from white people) and milk the racial tension like a cow.
Do we? I mean, yes, the culture that we've grown up in influences how we think, not our actual race. I live in a very multicultural area and I don't think there's a lot of racial tension here. So where it is, also matters. I think the way I think has been influenced by many things and not because I'm black I will think a certain way. To be honest, if a white person writes as a black person, they can make they think as they want. Not every black person thinks the same. but I do think that they should keep culture in mind :3
"Race" is a polissemic word, and it can mean a few different things. Having said that, I think race can either matter or not, depending on what you mean with the word. 1) Skin color? Being white, black, yellow, or red is only going to matter if you're writing in a historical setting (fantastic or realistic) where and when racism is an issue. But of course we know that it's not the color of one's skin that will make any difference, but how that person percieves herself and is percieved by others because of it. 2) Ethny? In a historical setting, fantasy or realistic, it would matter very very much. I imagine the difference between an Arabic character and an Anglo-Saxon character, say, in a medieval setting, would be enormous. I'd say even in a contemporary setting, on a cultural level, it would make a difference (Asian versus Hispanic, for instance). Then again, there would also be a good difference between an Africain-American, an Afro-Brazilian, and an Africain born and raised, even if some people could perceive them as being from the same "race". Finally, most of us come from multi-cultural backgrounds anyway, so what would matter most would be the character's personal cultural influences. 3) Species? In fantasy or sci-fi settings, race plays a huge role. Of course it matters whether a character is an elf or an orc, whether it has three heads or eight tentacles. However, the more correct biological term to describe it would be "species". I imagine it is not used often in fantasy because it would sound incredibly anachronistic. Unless it's sci-fi, then I do believe you should refer to aliens as different "species" rather than different "races".
I know a person who is non-white, but all of her protagonists are white. I'm not going to lie, I find this a bit disturbing. But to be fair, I was the same way not too long ago. I'm black and all of my protagonists up until a few years ago were white. Speaking from personal experience, I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and went to predominately white schools. I'll be the first to admit that I suffered from a severe case of Oreo Syndrome, for lack of a better term. I spent many years of my life rejecting anything associated with black stereotypes and culture. I wouldn't even eat chicken in public. Lol. Now as a young adult, I'm ashamed of the way I used to be. I read my old stories and cringe at the absence of black characters. I'm not saying that this is your case, but I think it speaks volumes of the "white is better" mindset I was in. I see it as a mild form of self-hatred and that disturbs me to the core. And for years I would have the hardest time finding non-stereotypical "black" books. Just do an Amazon search for African-American fiction. About 90% of it is just cringe-worthy. So my epiphany was this: If I want to see normal black characters (not gold-diggers, video vixens and drug dealers), isn't it my duty as a writer to create them? Why should I wait around for someone to break stereotypes when I'm capable of doing it myself? And how can I maintain personal integrity while whitewashing my own stories? I've decided that I can't. Do I want to give in just to please the majority, or do I stay true to my heart even if it means fewer readers? But like another poster stated, write what you know. Write what you're comfortable writing. I'm not trying to look down on you or anything. Just adding my two cents!
I love this post! I wasn't going to comment I was just reading but this post caught my attention. I have never read one book that had black people in it that did NOT have some type of racial problems or stereotypes! WHY? Even in PUSH ( the novel that was turned into a movie (can't remember the movie's name... it wasn't push though I don't think....about the big black girl who was raped by her daddy and had two kids) I seem to remember some stereotyping/racial problems? Correct me if I'm wrong but anyway that was an awesome book... I loved it. And I'm white but I was raised in a poor neighborhood so I related to her even though I AM white. Archer10, if you create a book with a black character I want to read it.
Like people have said, if it doesn't matter to the story then it's probably best to not state the race of a specific character and just let people imagine them. I have to add though, I'm reading a series at the moment, the first book doesn't really mention any race or skin colours, then in the second and third books major characters start turning black. I don't have any problem at all with black characters, but having my well established mental image of them suddenly turned upside down was a bit jarring, especially since it doesn’t make any more difference now than it did in the first book.
And that's what i'm scared of. I'm scared people will assume I hate myself (Which I do not, I'm pretty fine with who I am) that I hate people of my race (False) or I think white people are better (False again) I have no idea why my, lets rephrase this, my main characters are white. Realistically, all my characters should be southern Asian, If we want to go by the environment I've been brought up in. Lol...wow. A few pages back, I stated my issue with this. When describing someone, who isn't white, why would you miss out the race? I mean, it's kinda of a big physical attribute, is it not?
..and not just a physical attribute. Being a member of an ethnic or racial minority has important personal implications on how you relate to the world you find yourself in. As one Afro-Caribbean friend said to me while pointing at his arm: "This is not just a skin color."
Race should only play a factor in the story if it dictates a perons character, lifestyle, and culture. For example, I am black, but I typically don't write about black people specifically because I don't write anything that might change the behavior of a person. Black people in my stories are typically exactly the same. I wrote one short story about an interracial couple, but the onl reason the mc was black was to advance the plot. the story would not have worked if his was a white guy.. in my current work I have a white MC because thats how I envisioned him, but I he has a black Best friend. His best friend is black so because I decided that, I have to decide whether his culture will be different or not. Characters are not made by skin color, but by culture, beliefs, and behavior If it were High fantasy it would make a huge difference but if they are all human, its more important that the culture, beliefs and behaviors are developed. There could be regional differences as oppose to race. Like the DIFFERENT COUNTRIES in Europe they are typically all white but they are not the same.
Thank you, huskylover103. I believe the movie is called Precious. I still haven't read it or watched it because it just seems like such a heart-breaking story. But I'll get around to it one of these days because I heard it's really good. And, Youniquee, I didn't mean to suggest you hate yourself. I'm so sorry if my post came off that way! But the bottom line is to write what you would want to read and what you feel is natural. Don't let anyone make you feel bad about your art, because at the end of the day it's YOUR art.
I agree with that statement 100%. And my point in my earlier post is that it is the cultural interactions that have created the significance. In the U.S., the significance has played itself out along racial lines due to our extremely troubled history and its continuing ripple effects. In Ireland, the divisions have been along religious lines. In other countries, divisions that seem baffling to an outside observer. But of course, "going there" with regard to the implications can make for hazardous terrain, and in well-intentioned but inept hands, exploring this area can have the unintended result of winding up with some jarring and awkward stuff.
