"That’s a starting assumption for me — the world is racist, the culture I grew up in is racist, I’ve internalized and carry around a hell of a lot of racist baggage, and on some deep level, many of my basic assumptions are racist. So are yours. That sucks. But I also don’t feel particularly guilty about it, and neither should you. It’s something you’ve inherited, living in this world. The onus now on you isn’t to wallow in guilt — it’s to be aware of these deep-buried attitudes, and consciously try to avoid letting them dictate your choices in life." Mary Ann Mohanraj
As a followup to the whole RaceFail thing, I have been considering the consequences of the "default white middle-class American" assumptions that lurk in much of our literature in this country, and, more specifically and particularly, how does one change that in terms of mechanical, writerly choices? What does a writer do?
[There's lots of places to get background, and a source for links is Coffee & Ink whom I linked to a couple days ago. Go there first; or, if you don't have that much time, check out this article by Mary Anne Mohanraj on John Scalzi's blog about the debate. It is only part one, so there will be more, later.] {3/15: PART II is here.}
So let's define this.
It occurs to me that we are left, as writers, with a bit less to go on during this Racefail 09 talk than one could ask for in terms of how to fix a cultural bias. Look at this well-meaning article by a small press. The gentleman talks about communities and communication 'with other sf/f groups around the globe,' but does he say what the writing would entail? Nope. And neither does anyone else I have found as of yet.
You mean there's no definition? Didn't say that; but I haven't found it myself. Still looking. But I'm not going to wait on someone else. I want to talk about that particular issue. And I want to consider it and think about it strictly in terms of the writing and only the writing. I don't think a self-help article on the subject will be of any use unless the individual reading it is willing to consider how they think and discover how the other 'side' thinks by dint of effort and exploration within and without.
And that still won't tell me how to write so I'm not an inadvertant racist.
Defining the fix for the writing.
Essentially, it's complex. And I know I'm going to get this wrong, and yet must start at some place. And the unbiased default will evolve as our faulty default is revealed to our own minds. Assumptions that are absorbed like mother's milk don't just dissolve and go away; they have to be examined so that we know all the roots and leaves and bark, so that we can retrain the thing like an espalliered tree to a shape we desire. And we have to also make the effort, do the work.
But this issue of a default setting in fiction is more than a mental attitude. Our thinking is one thing; the mechanical aspects of writing--all the myriad physical elements with which a writer makes a story--changing these is how the writing is retrained. It's what and how you write. It's the mechanics of the writer's toolbox that have to be reexamined and changed as well if we are to get this right. Characterization, settings, dialog, narrative--all the elements of the writing have to be shaped to remove bias. And even theme should maybe be brought into play (although I despise theme-heavy books). But subtle undercurrents of prejudice or other problem areas could perhaps be examined in your novel. (And, as a matter of fact, I have a subplot involving prejudice and hypocrisy in my vampire novel and awareness of this very issue should make it stronger and more relevant if I can only pull it off.)
The too-easy route.
Perhaps the initial assumption is that you could just add in a mixture of races, ethnicities, sexual orientations and religious points of view to your character list and then go write what you would have anyway.
But that doesn't change anything, really. The characters, if they sound, act and--most telling--perceive just like everyone else, can perhaps be seen as the author mocking the diversity she's trying to create--or at best just failing badly. Can such a simplistic change make your book more in line with reality and avoid the 'white default' setting? Nope. Such a ploy would be at best tokenism; and at worst would probably sound like a sackful of stereotypes, or perhaps more offensive, your unwitting implementation of a 'magical negro' or misappropriation of another culture.
So how does one attempt to make the change without coming off as a jerk?
My first assumption is that we writers need to start reading what is written by people of color, or gay writers, or whatever type of folks you wish to understand. And we must notice those elements that show our smug white attitudes for what they are. That a person of color (PoC) chooses to mention certain aspects of perception and attitude regarding race relations or culture is significant. If you're a person of privilege (e.g. white in this country) or from another race/ethnicity than the author, you'll be able to see the differences, too, if you are open to them. (Generally, if something makes you want to squirm, that's likely a good point to stop and look around!) And ask questions when you find these scenes. Study them for the more subtle clues, ask why the character reacts the way they do when you wouldn't respond that way, etc.
One author whose work is really terrific and whom I've been examining for clues over the last couple months: Tananarive Due. And because I think she's such a great writer, at the moment she's my touchstone and textbook for how to write as if I weren't operating from a 'white default mode'.
In her "My Soul to Keep," I think that the things that indicate racial differences are actually fairly subtle, but they serve to point out the differences in white versus African American experience.
One such passage that caught my attention was during the main character's lunch with a close friend and colleague who is white, and his casual assumption they they two can take a project of hers and make it into a book. She's a reporter who is being nominated for a Pulitzer, and yet she thinks it remarkable that her friend can just make the assumption that he can do anything because, in our pov character's mind, he's white and it's pretty much true. And because of his position of privilege he's blind to the problem she has and her hesitancy--despite the fact that this character is also gay. The entire scene and conversation shows the woman's reactions, which are subtle and significant, but this paragraph illustrates the point:
"Here he was, practically handing her the one thing she'd longed for as long as she could remember, and she was stammering with excuses. That's the difference between us and white folks, she told herself. They don't stop to say "I can't" or "Should I," they just do. And it was a skill, sooner or later, she would need to pick up despite herself." p24 "My Soul to Keep"
Or this bit:
"Jessica and Alex won scholarships to a lily-white private school for gifted children when they were young, so they'd been socialized around whites except at church. When the scholarship money ran out, Jessica's adjustment to a mostly black public high school hadn't been easy. Huddles of black football players snickered at Jessica when she walked past, a gangly bookworm. One boy Jessica didn't even know sneered at her, saying she must want to be white since she was in honors classes with all of those white kids. To fit in, Alex had taken on a homegirl demeanor and found a boyfriend in high school, but Jessica never did. She'd felt like the same outcast in college, even with twenty pounds more shape and a sassy haircut." p. 50, "My Soul to Keep"
Which brought me to my second assumption: You don't have to beat someone over the head with the issues, just bring them up, just NOTICE them and ADD THEM IN!
It's little things like these passages which point up differences in perception based on experience and culture/sub-culture/religion from the perspective of those not operating from privilege. Those are the sorts of observations that those of us belonging to the privileged culture can be so blind to and which now we must learn to see in order to portray the world clearly. (More clearly, really. I think that writers do strive to show honesty and truth when they write.)
So it's both the things you say, how you say them, and the fact that we need to cross-pollinate our thinking by reading more broadly. Like many things that are "obvious," it's taken a some mulling over to come up with this. (Oddly enough, I've been mulling over this topic for several months now, and poof! up goes the flamewar of RaceFail!)
And my third assumption? Don't laugh, but I realize the people of color are likely sick of having supid white people ask their stupid questions. So my third assumption is that white writers shouldn't run to people of color for approval of their writing*. Why? First off, getting someone else's opinion doesn't erase your responsibility for what you write; and second I think asking a person of color's opinions, edits or approval, while potentially useful, is more likely going to provide your privileged white butt an excuse (to yourself at least) for when you render your characters badly. It removes the anxiety and drive to get it right. It can make you lazy. So don't give yourself an opportunity to point the blame at someone else for your failure. Just do your level best and suck it up when/if you get lambasted upon publishing. Because the school of hard knocks is how we learn. (*However, if you have good friends who can provide some input, this is a different matter than just emailing a PoC writer and asking for their feedback. Your mileage may vary.)
And my fourth assumption is probably pretty obvious: This will feel like a lose/lose situation at first, because a lot of people will be unhappy at you for various reasons. Some people are not going to like your attempts, no matter how well you write. Some people appreciate the effort. The readers who are used to the 'white default' will likely notice the changes, and many won't be comfortable with them. And lastly, let's not forget the issue of cultural misappropriation. Understand this: Particularly among indigenous peoples, whites writing about their cultures and myths can be a really sore point. Many resent this assumption that it's okay to write in their culture from their perspective. (But more on cultural misappropriation later.) But sometimes you just cannot please everyone.
Continuing as we mean to go on.
I figure I'll probably suck at this as I try to better the performance of my non-white characters in my various projects. It's long been a discomfort of mine, the suspicion that my characters of other races, religions, cultures will be flat or stereotyped. It's made me hesitant to portray people of color at all, which of course adds to the 'white default' system.
But I think that my genre is well suited for leading the change, because speculative fiction is famous for pointing out flaws of culture (1984 and many more!). So it seems appropriate that we sf writers all consider what's being decried and make it, at the very least, old fashioned to write with the "white default."
Let's try to be better. Let's reset the default.
(And this is pretty much all I'm going to say on the matter.)
Links (added as I find them):
Deepad's essay "I didn't dream of dragons"
Nisi Shawl's essays on "Writing the Other"
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