Writing non-white races

[the_wolfs_howl]

I've been thinking about this lately - not really because I'm currently writing about it, but because I was reading someone ranting about most fantasies having all-white casts, and because I've occasionally written about non-white characters and wasn't sure what to do.

This is probably most prominent in medieval fantasy, since most of those are based on Western Europe from the Middle Ages, which was mostly populated by whites. But fantasy doesn't have to adhere to that, obviously; these are made-up worlds. And even in non-fantasy writing, there will probably come a time when you write about non-white characters.

See, the problem I often have is that I want to write a non-white character - not to be politically correct, but because it fits the character - but I don't want to say something like "he was black" or something as if to parade the fact that I'm using a diverse range of races in my writing. In the end, when I wrote a story about a black family with a first-person narrator who wouldn't see any reason to say, "We were black, y'know," I just didn't mention it at all and then became frustrated because no one would know that I was intending them to be black, not white as the default tends to be.

In reading Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, which is about a black soldier in Vietnam, I noticed that he didn't often directly mention whether a character was black or not, but it became obvious from the way they talked with each other. The narrator would call his fellow black soldiers "brothers," and some of them would just talk differently than the white soldiers. He also used some racial tension to indicate who was which.

I can see how that would work in the real world, because you can use colloquialisms or accents or even names to indicate they're not just white, and can tap into other things like that, and the readers would be able to pick up on it. But what if you're writing in a world other than our own? What if you've got a land where everyone has tan skin and narrow Asian eyes, and to them it's normal and not worth mentioning? I mean, when they saw another person, they wouldn't describe him as, "a tan-skinned man with narrow, slanting eyes" or something, because everyone's like that. If a foreigner came along, they might describe him as "a pale-skinned man with wide, round eyes," but then wouldn't the reader just picture a bug-eyed albino or something?

Ideas, anyone? How do you deal with other races in your writing? Do you?

[Darth_Kirby]

To be honest the "default race" that people have in their minds will probably be determined by the culture they live in. If they live in Africa, they might read your story and see the characters as black (because that's what they're used to). I may be wrong about this, but I think that it definitely is a big factor. As for making it clear what race they are without bringing race into the picture, I think a simple physical description of the person would suffice for me. I just make sure to make it clear that I'm describing what the person looks like with no racial connotations in the text. That's just me.

[Kaligraphic]

What you're looking at in Fallen Angels is not so much race per se as culture. Instead of saying "This character is black", perhaps you could say "This character is from, say, a revived magical Carthaginian Empire. This civilization values trade and sailing ability, has this style of craftsmanship, that style of language, and individuals from this civilization tend to have these relevant cultural artifacts. Oh, and, since it's in northern Africa, he also happens to be black." That way, what you're writing is a New Magical Carthaginian, and you have an easy way to apply texture to the character's appearance, dress, mannerisms, speech, and even thought patterns. Maybe Carthage was strong enough to resist the Muslim armies, but held off Rome too and picked up Orthodox Christianity from the Greeks. Boom, you've got your character's religion figured out, and an easy way to differentiate him from European Catholic characters. Instant tension, and you're not even falling back on race yet.

Personally, I much prefer to define my cultures from the mind out - they think in a particular way, they shape and are shaped by their environment, they have a culturally appropriate artistic and linguistic base... and their appearance kind of naturally fits into place. Really, if you develop your culture well, you could practically make your character a tomato and it would work. I will note that unless you're aiming to copy a real-world culture, I find it easiest to leave racial characteristics for last. Among other things, it means I can move them around easily while I'm imagining them.

Largely, unless racial tensions are a noticeable part of your story or scenario, culture will be a much larger driver of interaction than race. Of course, you may find racial and cultural boundaries coincide, but understanding the culture will give you a much fuller expression of your character than "He's black/white/yellow/polka dot/whatever".

[USSRGirl]

Well, worlds are rarely composed of one race. XD So I usually deal with it by having a character make an observation as you would about a Chinese person "hm... dark hair, almond shaped eyes - must be Asian. From China maybe?" <- that's kinda a bad example but in my case a northern person would remark on someone being from the desert by skin color. Also accents, hair and eyes. If they're out of their own land, people could remark on them being a foreigner. The primary main characters have kids who are mixed from mom and dad's cultures, so sometimes I'll use that and have someone thinking "oh, he has his father's narrow eyes and darker skin". Or just straight up descriptions woven into the story. The issue with people not remarking on race is only a problem if you have just one race... which I'd advise you to avoid for realism. Normally people will walk up and say "oh, look at that girl. She's so pretty. She looks Italian maybe?" Or whatever.

The last one is kinda touchy buuut... for my two primary warring cultures I do use made up racial slurrs. XD It's not exactly portrayed positively, but it adds to the character and lets you know if you have two cultures who really hate each other's guts.

[uc pseudonym]

Ursula le Guin famously went half of A Wizard of Earthsea before a line where skin color was relevant (the main population has dark reddish skin, the only European-looking people are barbarian raiders). So depending on how you're playing things, it might not be critical to address this right away.

I mean, when they saw another person, they wouldn't describe him as, "a tan-skinned man with narrow, slanting eyes" or something, because everyone's like that. If a foreigner came along, they might describe him as "a pale-skinned man with wide, round eyes," but then wouldn't the reader just picture a bug-eyed albino or something?

I think done correctly, this is the best way to reveal the ethnicity of a main character without being distracting. Unfortunately, "correctly" depends on your protagonist. Some could think about the physical differences directly without feeling unnatural, others might be mildly prejudiced. I think there's generally a good way to give the reader the descriptions without feeling like you're dumping the information.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Wow, those are all really good thoughts. Thanks! I'll have to think about this some more next time I worldbuild a fantasy setting.

<_< And I really need to reread A Wizard of Earthsea, because everyone always talks about how that's one of the few fantasies whose default race isn't white, yet somehow I completely missed it.