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Biracial MC/Predominantly PoC Setting

johnsonjoshuak

Troubadour
Ok so I hope I don't open a can of worms here, but I'll try not to.

The setting for my new book is a nation made up of predominantly People of Color. As in 95% "medium-dark to very dark" skin. The nation is actually one of the strongest in my world so.

The question comes in with my Main Character. She is a biracial, poor, peasant who started as a simple solider and has worked her way into an officer corps that is dominated by nobility.

The only thing I'm concerned with is readers thinking that my MC is only the MC because she's part white. She already faces a great deal of discrimination based on the other factors of her upbringing, but the racial aspect is an important one.

Thoughts? I'm about 14k words in so it's not too late to change it up.
 

Reaver

Staff
Moderator
Hopefully readers will be more concerned about whether or not your MC is a likable, well developed character and not her race.

I appreciate that you're not trying to "open a can of worms". As long as members who post in this thread keep things respectful and considerate of others, there shouldn't be any problems.

If someone does violate forum guidelines, rest assured that the offending post(s) will be deleted and the thread locked.


Thanks for contributing to Mythic Scribes.
 
If made a thread recently describing a similar situation. Just avoid the white savior narrative as much as possible, make sure the colored population isn't seen as primitive with one of them with white blood saving them. This was no issue for me, because my plot didn't revolve around that, but it's tricky if you want your character to be a classic hero who saves the day at the end.
 

johnsonjoshuak

Troubadour
If made a thread recently describing a similar situation. Just avoid the white savior narrative as much as possible, make sure the colored population isn't seen as primitive with one of them with white blood saving them. This was no issue for me, because my plot didn't revolve around that, but it's tricky if you want your character to be a classic hero who saves the day at the end.

Fortunately this nation is actually one of the most powerful in the world. One of the few with a standing army and a reputation for both military and diplomatic clout. Their problem isn't that they are primitive but rather their society is so stratified by wealth and class that they can't see the value in allowing commoners into the upper ranks of the military and government.

And yes this character will lead the eventual victory, but by virtue of the fact that she isn't a noble concerned with image or reputation.
 
The only thing I'm concerned with is readers thinking that my MC is only the MC because she's part white. She already faces a great deal of discrimination based on the other factors of her upbringing, but the racial aspect is an important one.

From your other description, this has an almost Othello feel, albeit with colors switched. I wouldn't be worried that people will think she's the MC because of her racial background; that's actually a valid reason, in some cases.

Hopefully she doesn't have her own Iago, or she overcomes him if so!
 

Russ

Istar
I think a story where there is a turn around...someone is systemically discriminated against because of their partially white heritage is a great idea and has a lot of value. You should not face much flak for it at all.
 
You can find the previous thread
here. I'm actually the one who started it :)

Please don't think that you need to change your character's ethnicity to please readers. Honestly, I wouldn't think it at all but if I did I suspect that I would be more inclined to think the opposite - that you're using a multi-ethnic character to fill a diversity quota (rather than b/c she's 1/2 "white").

I'm multi-ethnic so if you have any hesitations concerning how to write a realistic character, feel free to message me.

I have a few questions ... Is your character Bi-racial or multi-ethnic? Does she have siblings? What is her mother? And are there more than 1 languages used in her home?

Honestly, people like to talk about how much racism and prejudice there is in the world and while I don't want to dismiss it, I've personally received and witnessed WAY more racism on the minority side than the white side. [Was once told I need to stop sharing that I'm mixed b/c it'd be better to say I'm "mexican" than "white" ... ]

Actually last week I was in a Cardenas (a mexican market chain) with my family & the workers (the women making tortillas, the men behind the meat counter, the bakers, the women stocking shelves, AND the cashier) literally refused to talk to my mother (a blonde haired, blue eyed German/Swedish-American)and several of my sisters . They'd only speak to my father (Spanish-Mexican) and me (all of the above though I look Northern Mexican). Yeah ... being multi-ethnic can be weird.

I hate to be one of those people that constantly self-promotes ... But I'm going to anyway since I believe it might really help you develop the character and the complexity of a multi-ethnic identity. I recommend reading my article 5 Things You Need to Know About Writing Bi-racial and Multi-ethnic Characters. Again - if you need to bounce ideas feel free to message me :)
 

johnsonjoshuak

Troubadour
Thanks a ton!

In answer to your questions: I might be confused as to the difference between bi-racial and multi-ethnic. I would describe her as bi-racial (the nations in my world don't do a lot of mixing even within the same groups), half "eastern-European" and half "African" (using quotes there only because it's a secondary world fantasy and these people groups are only loosely based on these people groups).

She didn't have any siblings only because her parents were killed when she was younger. Her mother was the "eastern-European" and her father was the PoC.

Both languages were spoken within the home, and there was also the "trade" language (which is really just a common language formed by smashing the other languages together) whenever they went to deal with merchants. They lived on a major trade route within a day's travel of both nations.

I skimmed your linked post, and I do have a question about her parents. As I mentioned, none of the nations really cross-polinate but it's not entirely unheard of. The area that the character is from is a border region with heavy trade going all four directions so it's a little more common for two people of different origins to get together. So not common, but not something I really feel that I need to explain because I'm going to make it clear that the area sees a lot of trade and travel.

I'll definitely take a look at your website for some hints. I've also been looking at Writing with Color for tips on how to describe PoC without using offensive terms.
 
Bi-racial in the real world can refer to mixing the (supposed) 3 "races" of people ["white", "black", and "yellow"]. It sounds like you character fits this description. In fantasy "bi-racial" can also refer to literal races [half-elf/half-goblin] so I wasn't sure it could've gone either way.

IMO Multi-ethnic is probably the more PC term but it's less specific as it can describe anybody of mixed ethnicity (Russo-Swiss, German-Argentinian etc.) So, as a mix of Mexican & European ethnicities, all of which technically fall under "white", I'm multi-ethnic not bi-racial. It's kind of like rectangles vs squares. One definition encompasses all, the other doesn't.
Also, I was just curious how you saw your character.

I'd agree you don't need to explain it - if they live in close proximity & interact with each other that's enough. I'm assuming the language is something like Yiddish then (with German & Hebrew)... did the parents have to learn each other's languages or did they already know it before meeting?

My mother doesn't speak Spanish so they decided it'd be easier to just stick w English. [I learned Spanish in college because people approach me in Spanish ALL the time.]

Speaking of which ... this is called "indexing" -in reality there are MANY different Hispanic-American communities but in the US there's a split between 2 subcultures- those that publicly speak Spanish (generally the ones that you might see flying a Mexican flag or cheering for other countries in the Olympics) and those that don't (the ones who identify as American first - even if they can speak Spanish, they typically won't do so in public).

Though it's more common among women, (linguistic) indexing is a subconscious method for many minority groups to discern if a person in question is "one of us" or "one of them". It can also be used to figure out an ethnically ambiguous person's ethnic identity.

Frequently when I meet new Hispanics, (even if they speak English) they'll try to speak with me in Spanish first. If I respond in Spanish, I'm "in". If I respond in English I either insult them because I've signaled that I understand the language but refuse to use it in public (it's therefore assumed that I'm "white-washed" or otherwise embarrassed of "our people") or I'm mostly "in" because (despite having a white mother) at least I know enough to understand. If I express confusion or respond "I don't speak X language" it's seen as a rejection of the culture, the people, the history etc. and I'm therefore "out". The only thing more insulting is to respond in a completely foreign language (such as German) as I've seen one of my sisters do on several occasions. Rather than suggesting you don't identify as Hispanic (or whatever), it says you've abandoned that identity in favor of another (whiter) one.

It doesn't just happen in Spanish speaking communities though - I've seen roommates get indexed in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc I've personally gotten (what I believe was) Arabic. When I was confused I got a lecture on how I shouldn't be ashamed of my culture and my people ... it was really awkward.

Just something to consider when you're writing...
 
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