Fantasy races and bigotry

[Black Dragon]

The issue of race is, obviously, a very sensitive matter. As an author, do you ever explore topics such as racism, bigotry and intolerance by using the fantasy races of your created world?

If so, do you find this to be constructive? Or is this a topic that is simply too sensitive to explore in a fictional setting?

[Ravana]

Fiction authors explore it all the time… though far more in science fiction than fantasy. And usually in undisguised form: the characters are all human, and differ in skin tone, nationality, religion, or any number of other ways humans have shown intolerance toward one another. So it's hardly "too sensitive." I would find it objectionable if it were portrayed in a positive manner; on the other hand, portraying it in an ambiguous manner could be quite productive. If you are going to "explore" it, rather than merely present it, you'll need a certain amount of ambiguity: the bigots can't be entirely "bad" people, or else you're preaching, not illuminating one of the darker but nonetheless more commonplace aspects of the human condition.

[Donny Bruso]

I would say that some of my characters are mildly racist. In Dark Crusade I created a continent that is part desert and part temperate climate, because well... It's fantasy, I can do whatever I want. ;P Anyway, the desert portion of the continent is populated by people who are based upon the nomadic peoples of the middle east. The rest of the 'races' in the story for lack of a better term, since they are all human, usually refer to them as 'sand eaters' or 'desert-roaming buggers'. I don't condone bigotry in any way, shape, or form, so personally that is about as far as I am comfortable going. To have my characters de-humanize these people simply because of the color of their skin, while certainly in line with some of their personalities, is repugnant to me, so those opinions of theirs can be held in private.

[Greybeard]

I don't condone bigotry in any way, shape, or form, so personally that is about as far as I am comfortable going. To have my characters de-humanize these people simply because of the color of their skin, while certainly in line with some of their personalities, is repugnant to me, so those opinions of theirs can be held in private.

Would a villain who is motivated by racism be crossing the line?

[Legerdemain]

Would a villain who is motivated by racism be crossing the line?

I would not think so, depending on his background. All of the LotR characters were racist, with the belief that all orcs and goblins were born with original sin and must be culled. Does that mean Tolkien was racist? Honestly I think that he was trying to convey the opposite. People should universally attack evil, hate, war, waste, destruction, and malice, and he used the evil races as a personification of all the evils we should fight in the world.

Many villains are motivated by racism. Think about the Smurfs. Gargamel was completely racist. "I don't want to eat them, I don't want to turn them into gold, all I want now is to DESTROY THEM!" He saw them as a tool to use to make profit, for consumption, and then just a target for his hate. Racism is a strong motivation, and it's in a lot of fantasy works.

I think it's an interesting tool, but like all tools, should only be used by those old enough to understand the proper or improper uses.

[Ravana]

Would a villain who is motivated by racism be crossing the line?

Not at all. Even a hero who's motivated by racism wouldn't be crossing the line—as long as the reader is sympathizing with the hero in spite of the racism, rather than because of it. That's what I meant about needing to have some measure of ambiguity in the treatment of the issue. If there is none, your reader will probably wonder why you'd bother to depict it at all… sort of like putting a black [note racist innuendo! ] hat on someone to "show" he's a villain. Unless it plays an actual role in your story, I'd say skip it.

Tolkien's characters were "racist" in far more subtle, and far more important, ways than simply all hating goblins. Consider the views elves and dwarves generally held about one another, or which humans held about either and vice versa. This doesn't mean that Tolkien was racist—if he was, which of these was supposed to be the one he "favored"?—only that he felt the tension generated because of the different views was important to his story. If he did not, they would have all gotten along swimmingly… and evil would have been far easier to overcome. The distrust and isolation created by the tensions between races was a major factor not only in the survival of "evil," but also of its plans—these tensions are actively promoted by agents of the evil powers in several places. Which meshes well with part of what Legerdemain says: racism is portrayed as a negative force. Importantly, though, while the evil races may personify (i.e. symbolize) all the world's evils, they do not embody all the world's evils: "evil" can appear anywhere, not just in externally "obvious" places, it is nobody's exclusive province, and an evil is just as bad and just as damaging when held by "good" people as by anyone else.

[Ravana]

For another good exhibit of what can be done with racism: Glen Cook's Tower of Fear features a three-cornered social structure of mutual distrust that is a large factor in what drives the plot forward. And to keep things interesting, those aren't the only "corners" of the social edifice: they're just the ones that the general population recognizes, and as such mask what's really going on as often as they do provide the impetus for it.

[Legerdemain]

I would like to bring up another point, if I will. I like how Ravana points out the more grey area within race and usage in works, and I concur with her musings. However, I thought of something under a separate but similar line of thinking. Should slavery be portrayed in works among races, how should it be handled, and how can it be/not be systematically racist. For example, I remember reading a story that included dwarf slaves, all of which were "black" in color, and I couldn't help that though the work was obviously against slavery, the author made all the slaves black... is that racist in itself? Though the author was saying it was bad, he/she still didn't make the slaves human, but instead the systematic "other" that racism has always created to portray prejudice.

Thoughts?

[Donny Bruso]

I find that the best way to portray slavery in a non-racist manner is to make it very clear that the slavery isn't about race, it's about the fact that you were conquered in battle, or had to sell yourself into slavery to avoid something, or because you needed money, or even you were just laying there and got locked up, a la Gladiator.

One of the best examples I've found of including slavery in a book without making it racial is in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin. There are slaves of just about every race included in his descriptions of the slaves you come across in his books, and he even makes it clear at one point that certain races will even sell their own kind into slavery. It's not about race, it's about the fact that you lost the battle, or your parents needed money, or you were an unwanted child. Just about anything but race.

[Seth]

This might be just me, and publishers around the world may well disagree, but I think sensitivity of topics related to racial issues of any kind is highly exaggerated. Talks about equality and tolerance etc are very popular nowadays, but expecting authors to treat all races as 'equals' in their world because of real world developments is pretty short-sighted. By that logic, writing about wars, religious conflicts, or heck, some simple villainous torture should be taboo as well?

Not saying that any fantasy world with more than one race in the story should always include racial oppression or anything - but in a medieval setting, I'd say NOT having any kind of racial bigotry is almost guaranteed to be bad storytelling.