Hi, everyine. I'm slavic aspiring writer from Poland. I've been writing my novel since 2017. Lately, I've been focusing about fixing some plots and topics my story includes. I've noticed something that bothers me about one of my main characters. He's sort of biracial man (one of his parents is black and the other is white). Let's name him X. Though, nationalities and races don't exist in this universe, neither racism or racial prejudice. The characters are diverse in skin colors though. X is moral, rather calm, objective, understanding and has trusting nature. He always tries to see good sides of everyone. X also has his flaws as being a little arrogant, coward and being a little bit pert with people he's close with. He leads the main plot in my novel, but isn't very heroic. I have some main problems with him I'd like to fix or just ask if the're appopriate. 1. X started off as sidekick. He went on a journey with white woman, his friend, but they both had their own ideas and purposes. He wasn't anyone's servant and helper or spirital mentor but I feel that it falls a little into Magical... you know, trope. Throughout the whole story I developed his own arc and decided to make him the main character. The white woman is still by his side, but she's doesn't have her motivations and is just a comic relief. 2. X is very moral and avoids violence and conflicts. It's rooted in his childhood which wasn't really easy. Even when it comes to enemies of X, who are white people, he refuses to hurt anyone. In his frend group he likes to be the voice of reason. X also often is the mediator and likes to solve problems with compromises. He also believes that everyone can be changed and I feel that it is a little bit steoretypical? 3. He's coward and a little bit clumsy. While he likes to show off, he's not really strong. His lack of physical strenght, X makes up with knowledge and intelligence. Sometimes he is too confident and will make fun of the white woman who is less efficient than him. X is also scared of many things and I'm afraid it deheroizes him? His timid behaviour makes him postpone important decisions and sometimes it puts him in a bad light. He is also the one who messes things up and triggers the main events. His purpose is to fix things back to normal, but he's too insecure. 4. After traumatic experiences, he becomes more nervous, anxious and grumpy. He has valid reasons to feel this way, but I don't want him to fall into Angry Black man stereotype. I'd appreciate and be really thankful for all the feedback. When I started writing my novel, I wasn't really educated on racial stereotypes, but I've never intended to put harmful tropes to represent POC characters in my writing.
these kind of seem like non-issues. The fact that your character seems pretty well rounded suggests that you're not stereotyping anything. Stereotypes are reductionist, two-dimensional representations. the magic negro is by definition a supporting character. I guess there is an Angry Black Man stereotype, but the fact that both of these statements refer to your character suggest that it doesn't apply to him. Just because a black man gets "nervous, anxious and grumpy" (none of which are even the same as angry) doesn't mean that you're stereotyping him. If my information is correct, black people experience negative emotions too sometimes.
I agree with @Friedrich Kugelschreiber. As a black man I can say you ride a little close to the line in parts, but never really cross it, and it sounds like you stay on the right side enough that I can't see a real problem. The two tropes it sounds like you are worried about are "Magical [other N-word]" and "Angry Black Man" Your character doesn't sound like either. And there is nothing wrong with a Magical black person (figuratively or literally) and there is nothing wrong with a Black Man expressing anger.... they become problems in a story when the ONLY traits of your black character is they are there to be Magical/Wise for the benefit of a white character, OR they just Angry all time (likely for no reason) showing no other emotions, personality, or character traits.
So he's not "sort of" bi-racial. He IS bi-racial ... by our terms (the terms of the universe in which we live). But ... If races don't exist, does it matter that the characters have different skin colors? It seems to me that in a non-racial universe, injecting any characteristics that readers will recognize as "racial" characteristics is going to work against the story rather than for it. So in other words, you have turned the trope into the MC, and the MC into the trope. Obviously, you can do that (and have done so), but in my opinion it doesn't remove the trope from the story, if that was your intention. It just makes a different character the trope. The way to avoid the trope, I would suggest, is to not treat either of them as the comic sidekick but to make them both main characters, and to make them equal partners in the story. If your universe is non-racial, why even mention that the enemies of X (who is half black) are white? Isn't that injecting a racial element into a story you say you want to be non-racial? So the woman (again, if this universe is non-racial, why do you keep mentioning her color?) is LESS efficient than a cowardly klutz? What does that mean, and how is that even possible unless she is so clumsy that she can't even tie her own shoes? Not all main characters are heroes. Did you intend for him to be a heroic character? If so, then don't make him scared of things. Here you are again injecting color (and race) into a non-racial universe. I don't understand why you even attributed colors to characters in your story if the intention was a non-racial universe. I respectfully suggest that you might want to rethink that.
