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Cultural Appropriation: can a white writer ever create minority characters?
When is it okay for a white writer to create a black character? For instance, I'm white, but writing an urban fantasy featuring a bi-racial (black mother, absent white father) jazz musician who's down-on-his-luck... because he's a heroin addict like many jazz musicians. It's set in 1978, and (like me back in the late 70s/ early 80s) he's a huge P-Funk fan so he slips P-Funk-isms into his thoughts, like calling the antagonist, a white drug dealer he owes money to, as "Sir Nose d'Voidofunk." My question is, would folks see that as cultural appropriation? I'm interested because I'm a huge social justice progressive and yet often feel stymied by political correctness. My intent is to embrace Jimmy (who I really, really like despite his flaws). In fact, of all the characters in my urban fantasy world, Jimmy's the one most like myself (though I've never tried heroin and am a middling jazz guitarist at best). Thanks in advance. PS. Everyone wins. But in payment, I'll read your most recent work and comment. Please tag me in your comments.
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AJAY9979 in Fiction
93 reads

I am More than a Color

You know that black friend who comes in a sitcom and has one funny line and exits to wait for the next awkward moment when they, the black friend, can come in with a cliche black joke? Of you course you do. Those black supporting roles are everywhere from Friday to Law and Order: SVU to Mike and Molly. That friend is more than a color, but you know that. You’ve done research. This character isn’t just a filler character or an attempt to make a socially relevant piece without embodying a character. One of my favorite Rupaul’s Drag Race quotes is that April Carrion didn’t “embody the role of a fat character”. (Spoiler alert I guess, if you live under a rock.) That means being fat is about more than pressing a bunch of padding against your body just like being black is about more than having melanin close to the surface of your skin.

Being both fat (despite my best efforts >.<) and black, I can identify with both roles. I have seen fat people who embrace their curves without ever wanting to be skinny, and fat people who will go to every length possible to be skinny. Being a part of the later, I really envied the former because of how easily they love themselves. How dare they embrace who they are when everything in the media says they should be different, and if they aren’t, they should hide between self-deprecating jokes and try to wedge themselves behind the main cast and tag alone quietly until it calls for a socially conscious moment to talk about whatever minority they fit that day? Why does the media think people have to tokenize every minority there is? Of course, this is a question you’ve pondered and yelled at and is most likely the root of you trying to be different and asking this pretty awesome question.

There are two answers, depending on what you are trying to do here. If you would like to not be offensive, you have to take into account what everyone wants. We don’t want tokenism, so toss that out. Only have a minority character that adds more than comic relief or fill a quota. That’s easy, right? But what should they look like? Looking at a black character, how should they look? Dark or light? If they’re light, you’re a colorist. If they’re dark and go against a public view, it may not sell. What about their style? Afro? Box braids? Perm? Do black people do perms anymore? We don’t want to look like white people. We go natural. Should they fight? Why do all black people have to fight? Is that too aggressive? Fighting makes you aggressive? What about them? What did they do to deserve that ass whooping? What’s wrong with aggression? Tattoos? Piercings? Glasses? Let’s face it, every decision you make will be shot down by the inner social wokeness editor if you let it.

The second answer is to say fuck that and write for you. Writing for you means to make that character your best friend. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never looked around a room and chose a friend based on what society thinks about me or what friends I already have. Your best friend’s appearance typically means nothing. If it does, it’s not that they’re black or white or have box braids, an overbite, thick glasses, and a slight limp. It’s that they wear Twenty One Pilot hats every day or they wear an Arizona Cardinals hoodie or they wear shorts even if it’s -8 outside. Just like you wouldn’t pigeon hole your best friend into a comic relief role or a “savior of the media”s cruel mistreatment of black characters since they started doing black/yellow/redface to avoid hiring minority characters.

Now, that’s not to say that their race and background don’t matter, but let’s face it. If in the first ten minutes of meeting a person, you know their whole life story, you are most likely going to run away from them. Just like knowing someone lets you slowly learn about them and their quirks and their story and whether or not you like them, your story should do the same for the reader. Take us by the hand and introduce us to your character. Tell us who he is. How he is as a person. That he keeps his shoes crispy (clean, so you don’t have to consult Urban Dictionary). That he hates Kraft mac’n’cheese. That he only listens to opera and Mozart. Then as we get to like him, add more. His mom works late and he has to take care of his younger siblings on Tuesday. Then keep going, unwrapping layer after layer like you’re peeling an Ogre. (It’s a Shrek Joke.)

If your characterization is good and you pull us into a friendship with this man, no one will even notice when you make a socially unconscious mistake since normal people don’t walk around charting their social unconsciousness. Long story short, make it unique and be you and don’t worry about what other people say because, let’s be honest, if they’re complaining, they already bought your book and you’ve already won.

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