Writing.Com General Discussion

Since there's a tad more activity on this thread than the original, I figured I'd copy/paste my response from there to share with everyone.

Coming over from the General Discussion forum, I really want to jump in due to my experiences. From what I've seen, the biggest obstacle white writers face in opting to include POC characters is they will never get the most authentic picture since many groups have been taught to act a certain a way around white people. Thus, any research a white writer does will always been viewed through an altered lens. Let me explain why think this.

Thanks to being biracial, I can mingle among different racial groups with minimal interference. As a result, I have been able to observe different groups' behaviors in a way that's less biased than if I was completely white and in the group. I think the issue that many completely white readers encounter is they either go into stereotypes or try to hard to emphasize diversity in their works, the latter sometimes being interpreted as more disrespectful. This is where the altered lens idea comes into play. The resources they choose or the people they talk to come across differently to white people than to nonwhites. For example, I accidentally hit a Hispanic kid while riding my bike back in middle school. Because I look similar to what many people consider Hispanic (tan skin, dark hair and eyes), I got teased a little, but no one tried to jump me for hitting their buddy. If I had a more pale complexion, the reactions would have been far more defensive. (I suppose now might be a good time to mention I'm half white/half South Asian, which makes me look like a ton of different ethnicities.)

Ultimately, I think white writers can include POC characters but need to think very carefully about how they want to raise that point in the story. It's very likely that their initial efforts will show that skewed research, but I don't think it's impossible to overcome.









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