Shackling the Pen

Should someone be allowed to write characters of other races and nationalities? Though a timely question, to demand that people not write from the perspective of someone of another race, culture, gender, or religion is absurd for multiple reasons. At its core, it cuts the writer's creativity off at the knees. Suddenly, the human experience is religated to one perspective, making the world two dimensional and devoid of reality. It also denies the humble writer the opportunity to make important statements. In my opinion, some of the most important early statements ever written on racism were written by white people. Let me be clear, these authors did not presume to know all the nuances of the African American experience. What they did know was that what they were seeing was wrong and they used the African American characters in their works to call out the evil that is racism. As far as this pasty Irish boy is concerned, so long as the characters are written with the humanity they deserve, no difference should be off limits.

For my first argument I ask the reader to imagine trying to write a story about early twentieth century New York. However, you are not permitted to write about anyone except for those of your race and cultural background. Your work would not be able to convey New York at all. New york is a city of immigrants and this was especially true at the beginning of the twentieth century. Many of these immigrants lived in close proximity to those from different parts of the world which often led to a mixing of cultural nuances. Of course, the close proximity of different cultural groups could also lead to tensions and violence. Either way, without characters of differing cultural experience, you wouldn't be writing about New York, you'd be writing about a super-sized Mayberry U.S.A. In short, if the writer is denied the multi-cultural sights, smells, music, tensions and true character that is this great city of immigrants, they simply cannot convey the reality that is New York.

For my second argument I would remind the reader that some of the first, "Main Stream" works regarding racial injustice came from white authors. Mark Twain's, "The adventure's of Huckleberry Finn" and Harper Lee's, "To Kill a Mocking Bird" helped to bring the reality of racial injustice to white America and the world. Though I hated the way Huck Finn looked at the runaway slave, Jim at the beginning of Twain's novel, I could see the subtle change in the boy's opinion of his escaped slave companion as they traveled the Mississippi. Jim went from being a source of humor for Huck and a target for his jokes to being a valued friend whose quest for freedom became a righteous cause. Jim cared for Huck despite the cruel treatment he endured at the hands of the boy. Jim's nobility, compassion, and devotion to the cause of freeing his family from slavery taught Huck what it truly means to be human. I also remember reading Mockingbird and cheering on the noble lawyer, Atticus Finch's stand against the injustice his African American defendant faced when falsely accused of raping a white girl. Atticus knew he would likely lose, but he could not stand to see an innocent, good man railroaded simply because he was made a scapegoat for the true rapist, the girl's own father. Twain and Lee's works sparked curiousity and a sense of righteous indignation in the hearts of the reader. This curiousity led many to read the writings of Fredrick Douglas and W.E.B Dubois which gave African American writers and thinkers a greater voice. It also created a sense of empathy for those who were forced to endure racial injustice in the Jim Crowe south. Twain and Lee never claimed to fully understand the plight of African Americans, but they knew wrong when they saw it. This is what they wrote about and they portrayed the African American characters in their works with humanity and compassion wrapped in a cloth of harsh reality.

My opinion may not be popular, but there it is. No sector of humanity should be off limits to a writer. So long as the writer embraces their characters with a sense of empathy and respect they should be able to use characterizations of every race, culture, ethnicity, gender identity, or religion in existence.