But an interesting conversation I had on Twitter about presenting your characters that are people of color brought up issues that I have struggled with in the "Sleepwar Saga" series I'm writing now. The poster made a very good point, and yet I can't say I 100% agree, either.
The Tweeter in question advised writers to state up front the ethnicities of their non-white characters. The poster said that the presumed-white mentality is so strong that if you don't bring ethnicity up as one of the first things about your character, they will be assumed white by your audience and that view will be hard to shake.
I agree with this, actually. I think diversity is important - not just in regards to race, but sexuality and physical ability, too - and so it is important that the reader recognizes this about your characters so as to experience the diversity correctly.
However... I worry about stating up front that a character is black, South Asian, Hispanic, whatever. Why would that concern me? Well, for a couple of reasons.
One is that when you're being introduced to a new character, you are absorbing their primary traits in an attempt to understand who they are. If one of the main traits I choose to mention is that a character is (say) Vietnamese, then the worry (possibly unfounded) is that the reader will pigeonhole that character as "Asian" above and beyond any other attributes.
In other words, they'll remember that the leads include: "the smart one, the athletic one, the nerd, and the Asian chick."
Yes, I can have a well-rounded character with all sorts of subtleties, but if I have prioritized her ethnicity as a defining feature, will the reader do the same?
Also, I never want to "other" my characters. That is to say, if I feel the need to state one character is black, but never think I have to point out that the others are white, I have singled out "blackness" as aberrant. I am presenting white as default and describing any deviation from the assumed norm. And I never want to do that.
Most of the time, I try to describe one characters whiteness for every instance I talk about another character's non-white color. To ensure that it is a descriptor applied equally and not to demarcate those people who stand out as non-standard.
Their upbringing (of which culture, and society's response to their ethnicity, will be a part) certainly is a strong influence on who they are. But the color of their skin or the shape of their eyes ought not to be who they are. On any level, as far as I am concerned.
I like to use strong and unique names for my characters when I can. If everyone is "Pete", "Dave", "Sandra", "Jill", then it is all too easy for the reader to forget which bland label belongs to which individual. If they have stronger, less common, names then it is easier to tell them apart.
Luckily for me, this also helps with the dilemma of introducing a character's ethnicity. In "Straw Soldiers" two minor characters (Kaz's friends at school) were named "Julia Ng" and "Daisy Rivera". I hope that any reader knows the ethnicities of these girls without being told.
Similarly, my current work in progress features an extremely minor character named "DeShawn" whose skin color I do not feel needs to be stated. His personality is not a stereotype, but his name is recognizably African American in the way that "Brian" would not be.
This can't be done for every character who is non-white, of course, but on occasion is does bypass the problem I struggle with.
What do you think? How problematic is it to single out a character's ethnicity for comment? And how problematic is it not to do so, and have the reader just assume everyone is white?
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