Treating Race and Ethnicity in Your Fiction Writing

I am not an expert on race relations in 21st century America, but as a writer, teacher and citizen of the world, I cannot ignore the issue of race.

Every time I hear someone say, I’m so sick of hearing about racisim, I want to say. Well, too bad. You are going to hear about it. You will continue hearing about it until it doesn’t exist any more, and then you’re still going to hear about it.

Racism is one of the great tragedies of human history. It has caused so much sheer misery, that every single one of us must make ourselves aware of it, whether we like it or not. And, in case any of my readers are thinking it isn’t a problem any longer, let me direct you to this post.

As a white writer, I have tried to become aware of the use of race in my fiction. What I’m posting here are not solutions, but problems. I’m offering little in the way of analysis. I’m merely pointing out some issues I’ve confronted as I write and that I’ve seen other writers struggle with. By posting about them, I hope to churn up some discussion, and to hear what other writers have to say about this complex set of issues.

Omission

I am ashamed to admit that my first novel did not include a single Hispanic character, despite the fact that the story took place in a region with a very high Mexican American population. Not only were there no Hispanic primary characters—I didn’t even mention a single person of Hispanic heritage in the entire story. This was inexcusable.

White writers omit characters of color from their fiction for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it is unconscious, as it was for me when I wrote my first novel years ago. It can also be a deliberate choice: White writers are often uncomfortable writing characters of color and leave them out for fear of writing something inappropriate.

Sometimes the problem is that the writer doesn’t make their character’s race clear. In the author’s head, the character is Black, but they never make it apparent on the page. The thing is, most readers assume characters are white unless told otherwise.

Invisibility is one of the most insidious aspects of racism. You don’t have to make a blatantly racist comment to perpetuate bigotry. All you have to do is leave people of color out of the picture.

Stereotyping

Stereotyping is alive and well and blaring across TV and movie screens. The Asian student math whiz. The Black criminal. The Hispanic gang member. The strict Chinese parent. And ethnic stereotyping doesn’t stop there. Just take a look at shows like The Sopranos and Jersey Shore to get an idea of how Italian Americans are portrayed.

Drawing characters who fit ethnic stereotypes isn’t only wrong—it’s also bad writing. It’s facile, shallow, clichéd. Characters who are multidimensional, unique, and authentic offer your readers much more than worn-out caricatures based on ethnic stereotypes.

Romanticizing

“I’d love to go to India,” a friend once told me. “Everyone is so spiritual there. And utterly non-materialistic!”

Having lived in India, I can say this with some confidence: Some people there are very spiritual. Some people are utterly indifferent to spirituality. Most lie somewhere in between. There are very materialistic people in India, and there are people who are not. India has 1.3 billion people, and guess what? They’re all individuals!

Romanticizing is a particular form of stereotyping that sometimes seems harmless—even positive. To a naïve writer, it may seem fine to depict, for instance, a Native American who is a wise shaman, close to nature, always going off on vision quests. Who would object to that? To name a few: the Native American kid who loves hip-hop, the Native American scientist who works in a lab, the Native American woman who’s raising kids in the suburbs, and all the other Native Americans who aren’t shamans.

Cultural Appropriation

When I was a little girl, I wore a band around my head with a feather in the back, carried around a toy bow and arrow set, and called myself Singing Dove. I was “playing Indian” in the same way that I might play at being a fairy or a princess warrior. I was too young to understand, and no one around me saw, that to Native Americans, their culture isn’t a game.

For any culture that has been subject to oppression, the adoption of their dress, music, religion, and art by people who are not part of that culture is an intrusion.

This is perhaps the most tricky of all the pitfalls writers—and anyone—can fall into. Is it cultural appropriation to do yoga if you aren’t from India? How about making tamales in your own home or taking lessons in African folk dance when you’re not from those cultures? Cultural influence spreads, and it’s all right in many circumstances to enjoy the rich offerings that come to us from all parts of the world.

But what about using another culture in your fiction? Can you authentically write from the standpoint of someone from a religious or ethnic background you don’t share? Can you draw from the symbols and philosophies of cultures not your own? These are questions that need to be examined thoroughly when you write.

I would love to hear from other writers and readers, especially those of color, about these questions. For the time being, I will continue to write with awareness, and remain ready to listen and learn.