Thoughts of putting racism in your works

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Working on a chapter tonight that caused me to pause and reconsider if I wanted to add this or not.

Situation

My MC is a white guy helping evacuate people in a Japanese city during a zombie apocalypse. I decided to add an element of hostile survivors who don't want anything to do with him due to him being a white guy, even going as far as to insinuate that it was his government that decided that nuking them wasn't enough, that they caused the zombies. I also called my MC a slur I heard is common for Japanese people to call white people.

I have killed and maimed people in my writings before and had no issue, but the moment I consider using a racial slur to insult my MC with a potentially hostile character, I freeze up.

What are other people's thoughts on the subject?

 

[Louhi]

As long as you don't glorify the subject, it's all okay.

 

[Rezcore]

My friend's novel, Ravenwood Ranch will have at least 3 slurs in the first chapter. Responsible character will be shot, but it's set in the old west

 

[AliceMoonvale]

Yeah, that's a tough one. I think anything is fine as long as it's not glorified.
Personally, I don't agree with people using real-world slurs and dropping hard R's.
Just my preference, I guess.

In a dark fantasy I'm writing, there's some racism and prejudice toward other races/species due to historical conflict, etc. I create my own derogatory terms that mean absolutely nothing to the real world. lol

 

[NotaNuffian]

Working on a chapter tonight that caused me to pause and reconsider if I wanted to add this or not.

Situation

My MC is a white guy helping evacuate people in a Japanese city during a zombie apocalypse. I decided to add an element of hostile survivors who don't want anything to do with him due to him being a white guy, even going as far as to insinuate that it was his government that decided that nuking them wasn't enough, that they caused the zombies. I also called my MC a slur I heard is common for Japanese people to call white people.

I have killed and maimed people in my writings before and had no issue, but the moment I consider using a racial slur to insult my MC with a potentially hostile character, I freeze up.

What are other people's thoughts on the subject?

It is cool.

You can also skirt around the topic if you like, but the topic will always be present, like poverty, classism, elitism etc.

Because it is pride and prejudice. And I love it.

 

[Eldoria]

I tend to expose hidden social wounds in the real world to fuel narrative conflict. Narrating racism as a story conflict demonstrates authorial honesty, exposing real-world social facts as social criticism. As long as your protagonist doesn't condone racism and views it as a social problem, it will actually fuel the story's conflict (where every conflict demands resolution, not justification).

 

[empalgepuk]

I try my best to tread on this topic carefully. For now, I haven't used slur, but might use that for fictional groups of people. Or simply tie the slurs to where a person came from (as in places) regardless of race and ethnicity.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

It's tricky. Trying to seriously play down the racism (and jingoism) that was a part of the Wild West while not embracing it outright has been a major challenge at times in "Digital Cowboy Dane" - interestingly enough, one of the major VILLAINS was offended when one of his underlings STARTED to use a slur...

 

[NotaNuffian]

It's tricky. Trying to seriously play down the racism (and jingoism) that was a part of the Wild West while not embracing it outright has been a major challenge at times in "Digital Cowboy Dane" - interestingly enough, one of the major VILLAINS was offended when one of his underlings STARTED to use a slur...

Was said person offended because of association or appropriation?

Either way, still funny.

 

[Envylope]

Go for it. People use slurs even in light hearted fantasy novel. When the bad guy is calling elves "knife ear" or whatever. Real slurs might make people uncomfortable, but it's fine in stories with dark themes.

 

[Corty]

N’wah. - Dagoth Ur, circa 4E299

Ps:

they are more angry about slavery. The most hate I got was when I showed it happening. Bunch of softies appeared from nowhere.

 

[Arkus86]

In my opinion, as long as it's context-appropriate, you are pretty much free to do whatever you want, as long as you do not glorify/encourage it and as long as it outright does not break the rules of the site or laws.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

I got a literal swastika on the face Nazi being one of the pillars forging the future of mankind after powers get introduced in my story. Go for it.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Was said person offended because of association or appropriation?

Either way, still funny.

He just considers it very disrespectful, and respect is important to him.

 

[NotaNuffian]

He just considers it very disrespectful, and respect is important to him.

Huh.

Goes to show you that some villains still have decent qualities.

Anyway, why is he a villain?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Huh.

Goes to show you that some villains still have decent qualities.

Anyway, why is he a villain?

Spoiler

He was programmed that way...

 

[NotaNuffian]

Spoiler

He was programmed that way...

Oh.

 

[DismaiNaim]

Use the slur.

If for no other reason, AI wouldn't.

 

[MFontana]

Working on a chapter tonight that caused me to pause and reconsider if I wanted to add this or not.

Situation

My MC is a white guy helping evacuate people in a Japanese city during a zombie apocalypse. I decided to add an element of hostile survivors who don't want anything to do with him due to him being a white guy, even going as far as to insinuate that it was his government that decided that nuking them wasn't enough, that they caused the zombies. I also called my MC a slur I heard is common for Japanese people to call white people.

I have killed and maimed people in my writings before and had no issue, but the moment I consider using a racial slur to insult my MC with a potentially hostile character, I freeze up.

What are other people's thoughts on the subject?

I get it.
Personally, I'd say write what you're comfortable writing.
If you're going to include it, do it, but make it real.
Don't just put it in for shock-value.
The same goes for any, and all, other 'difficult topics'.
As for my own approach, they are all very real parts of the world, and human history. So I include them as part of the world-building, but don't necessarily include them in my stories because they aren't narratively relevant.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I wrote a short story once about gang-bangers in Miami squaring off against werewolves, and I REALLY had to work on the lingo before I started this. You see, gangs have their own languages, and because I was dealing with young, black men, I had to be extra careful not to step on toes. I imagine any white author looks at a black character they've created (or any ethnicity, really), and thinks, "Hmm, okay, how should they talk? And how should I keep it from being offensive?"

And I'm sad to say this, but limiting yourself like that hurts the creativity. Fact: You're going to offend someone with anything you write. If you have a character of a different color, write the character as you want to. What if the book deals with racism? Then illustrate that fact. You might have to glorify it at first, for the sake of the story, (like in a bullying/fight scene) but the main idea behind that MUST be that racism loses at the end of the day.

It just has to. Racism must not be allowed to win, or become the major focus of the plot. That's my opinion anyway.