Introducing a POC whose race won't matter until later

[Feo Takahari]

To give an example of what I'm talking about, it's important in the second chapter of one story that a formerly-human character is of Korean descent. I introduce him at the beginning of the first chapter with a Korean surname (Park), but not until halfway through that chapter could I figure out a way to organically mention his race (as part of an aside comparing prejudice against nonhumans to racism.) Prior to this, my beta reader assumed he was white, and she was surprised at the mention that he was Korean.

I've been told readers will be drawn out of the story if they're given a mental image that later turns out to be incorrect. In my experience, whenever I don't specify the race of a character, they assume that character is white. However, I've had a hard time integrating race into the clipped, staccato rhythms of my writing, particularly when other characters don't really notice or care what someone's race is. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this better?

 

[FireBird]

I would only get mad if you specifically said the character was white and then said he was Korean. If race isn't an important issue in your story then it doesnt matter what race your character is. If all Koreans were prejudiced against in your story then yes it would be an important detail to add. Don't force yourself to add things that aren't important. If you have a chance in your writing to bring his race up then by all means do it, but don't try to force the information in.

 

[Kit]

You could make brief reference to a family heirloom (ie, the wall hanging of ABC Korean city that had hung in his grandfather's living room). Or maybe he's carrying a book written in Korean or a letter in Korean from a relative or old friend.

 

[Jared]

To give an example of what I'm talking about, it's important in the second chapter of one story that a formerly-human character is of Korean descent. I introduce him at the beginning of the first chapter with a Korean surname (Park), but not until halfway through that chapter could I figure out a way to organically mention his race (as part of an aside comparing prejudice against nonhumans to racism.) Prior to this, my beta reader assumed he was white, and she was surprised at the mention that he was Korean.

I've been told readers will be drawn out of the story if they're given a mental image that later turns out to be incorrect. In my experience, whenever I don't specify the race of a character, they assume that character is white. However, I've had a hard time integrating race into the clipped, staccato rhythms of my writing, particularly when other characters don't really notice or care what someone's race is. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this better?

I agree that this is an issue.

Who is in the scene? If someone doesn't know Park, could you introduce them using their full names?

Try the things Kit suggested. If nothing else, I would forgive you saying 'John nodded at the Korean man. "That's right, Park."' I probably wouldn't forgive you of you didn't mention it to me and it felt like you sprung it on me as a surprise.

Sometimes you do need to tell.

 

[Feo Takahari]

In retrospect, the suggestion of a wall hanging works well--there's a bit near the beginning where his fiancee flops down on his bed and stares at the ceiling, and in later revisions, I could instead have her look at something on the wall. It'll still be at the end of the introductory scene, but at least it won't be halfway through the story.

To make this less about Park specifically, I also had trouble with a story where dark skin is the "default". I wrote in third-person limited, and the male lead had no reason to think about skin. After mentioning to my beta reader that the characters weren't supposed to be white, I managed to work this into the very end of the introductory scene:

"She was dark of skin and hair, far darker than Tolliver's pale brown, and in the gloom beyond the door, he could no longer see her. But he could hear her as she cried, and he thought of ghosts as he followed Vyce up the stairs, leaving her alone in the dark."

(It seems the stories where I've done best at this have been the ones where both characters are minority members for their time and place--"It was nice to see another brown face in the sea of pink that was the space program"--or where one's a minority member and they've just met--"I looked down to see a soft-faced native girl treading water below me.")

 

[Amanita]

I like the idea with heirloom or wall-hanging. If the character is a member of an ethnic group with distinctive names, mentioning the (complete)name would work too of course. If suitable situations arise within the story and if there are certain cultural specifics that can be easily included (characters who aren't allowed to eat certain foods, have to honour specific holidays etc.) this can serve as a good way to include the character's background as well. Your main character could notice the visible differences between himself and the other character as well of course.

I honestly don't think that it's absolutely necessary to lampshade the character's ethnicity, religion etc. right away. In my opinion, it should be mentioned somewhere where it helps the story or where there's a situation where it can be easily exluded without looking like a sign post saying "see, I'm a tolerant person who has characters of different ethnical backgrounds.)
I really don't understand why it's supposed to be more important to know right away which colour the character's skin is than to know the colour of their hair or any other physical feature. If the character is living under condition where it makes a great difference, this becomes clear during the course of the story quite quickly anyway.

 

[ShortHair]

One possibility is to piggyback the information. Make an observation that doesn't involve the character's ethnicity but allows you to mention it in passing. That way you get the information to the reader without making it seem like a big deal.

Someone might ask the character about recent activities. He can then say that he traveled to Korea to visit family.

Someone might ask the character about a certain skill, whereupon he can mention the school he attended in Korea.

 

[Kit]

One of the cool things about the heirloom idea is that it not only gives one a good way to toss in the character's race, but also impart that he's proud of his ancestry- that it is an important part of who he is.

I understand that we don't want the jarring effect of having the reader's mental picture altered halfway through the book, but I often find physical descriptions near the beginning to feel awkwardly shoehorned in in a contrived fashion. Every time I read a first scene with a character regarding hirself in the a mirror or pool of water- or "she brushes her (insert length and texture) (insert color) hair behind her ears" I roll my long-lashed hazel eyes.

 

[Feo Takahari]

What makes Daniel Park (to use his full name) uniquely hard is that he's almost entirely assimilated--his parents were Christian converts, he came to America in infancy, he grew up speaking English . . . Apart from a couple of things, only one of them plot-relevant, he barely ever thinks of himself as Korean rather than American. (The plot-relevant thing is that his father was the local champion at baduk--a game you may know as Go--and he taught him how to play. Rebellion, a slightly butchered version of baduk, is one of the most popular games in Hell, and Dan acquits himself reasonably well against demons who've been playing for decades.)

(To put it another way, I could have had Dan be a white guy who'd learned baduk for the fun of it, and in most respects, it wouldn't have mattered. Given the arbitrary choice, I thought making him Korean by birth felt less like cultural appropriation.)