Writing a likeable racist character

[robertbevan]

I was going to bring up Archie Bunker, but you guys beat me to it. But maybe I can add something new with examples from my own work.

They are modern thirty-somethings for the most part, and grew up in the southern United States. They know racism is wrong, but it's so deeply ingrained in the culture they were brought up in that racist remarks or observations will occasionally slip out of their mouths, which they then immediately regret or someone else calls them out on it.

An example from Dungeon Crawl...

Tim took the liberty of answering Julian’s question. “Drow are an evil race of elves. They have black skin and white hair.”

“And that makes them evil?” asked Julian. “You could just as easily be describing Morgan Freeman.”

 

[Scribble]

I was going to bring up Archie Bunker, but you guys beat me to it. But maybe I can add something new with examples from my own work.

They are modern thirty-somethings for the most part, and grew up in the southern United States. They know racism is wrong, but it's so deeply ingrained in the culture they were brought up in that racist remarks or observations will occasionally slip out of their mouths, which they then immediately regret or someone else calls them out on it.

An example from Dungeon Crawl...

Although I grew up in Canada, our culture is very influenced by US culture, via television. I watched Archie Bunker as a kid. This stuff is in all our brains, just from growing up where we have. We need to exert effort in order to consciously transcend it.

In some intro psych classes I learned about experiments where you would slap:

your right knee if you see a white face
your left knee if you see a black face
your right knee if you see a positive adjective
your left knee if you see a negative adjective

They would time the participants. Then, they mix it up.

your right knee if you see a white face
your left knee if you see a black face
your left knee if you see a positive adjective
your right knee if you see a negative adjective

Everyone could do it, nobody hit the wrong knee, but it takes everyone a lot longer to do. This isn't just among white students, but among black participants as well. What it means is that we are all working against a great influence, and it takes some mental exertion to overcome it. What is concerning is that delay, because it's often a split second decision that carries a lot of weight, as per a policeman having to make a quick choice.

I find it unrealistic to read characters who are utterly oblivious to differences in race, particularly between fantasy races. How alien would a Neanderthal be to us, and they are genetic cousins. Imagine something far distant. I like to see that kind of struggle in fantasy because it has actual meaning for us in our real lives, so we can relate. The whole story doesn't have to be about it, but it's interesting enough stuff to work with.