Racism in writing
I am tired of racism/sexism handled clumsily in speculative writing. Otherwise fascinating books that manage to entrance me with their deft world creation and magic systems, politics, etc. And then they have to introduce the fact that a race or sex is discriminated against by saying, “but [as you know, Bob] women can’t own property!”
Bigotry is an ingrained thing, deep within the layers of society. You do not describe bigotry by saying outright, “Women can’t work outside the home,” you describe it be the lead never assuming that a woman COULD hold the position. And if she happens to be in such a position, he will look for someone else to talk to, or be otherwise rude. If someone is convinced another race is violent, they will lock their doors when someone walks by, or cross the street, not say, “well goodness, I’d never go there because of the [race] who are so violent!”
Normally people do not outright discuss their bigotry. They assume that everyone around them - even the people who they discriminate against - agree with them. Yes, it’s harder to write this, but let’s just attribute this to “show, don’t tell.” Show us the bigotry, don’t tell us that women can’t own property.
About the Author: I am a writer and podcast producer, writing for magazines and RPGs. I am a wanna-be fiction writer with several short fiction, comic scripts, and one novel sale. Playing For Keeps will be out August, '08.
Scott Spaziani | Sep 26, 2007 | Reply
I agree completely, and it’s really on the same level as doing an info dump. (which is of course, something I have problems with)
One great example of “Show us the bigotry” is in Robert Heinlein’s “Friday” in which the main character is genetically engineered living in a society that hates and fears what they see as Synthetic humans.
Chris Lester | Sep 27, 2007 | Reply
Good point. Another thing to keep in mind is the “I’m not a racist, BUT…” mentality. Many people who were raised in a bigoted culture will believe themselves to be race-blind, and while they may speak well of an INDIVIDUAL member of that race, their opinions about the race as a whole are still shaped by their ingrained prejudices.
Fantasy example from my Metamor City setting:
“Rafak Aliri? Oh, well, yes, he’s a very decent fellow. Very well-spoken, very educated. He doesn’t have any of that lazy Street-accent; if you were listening to him on the phone, you’d never guess he was a lutin. Amazingly polite, too, and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. I mean, I don’t have anything against lutins, but most of them aren’t exactly the sort you’d want to hire as a detective, are they? All that mystical, superstitious mumbo-jumbo and talking to animals and what not. You won’t get any of that from Rafe. No, sir, he’s a true-blooded Metamorian, as much as any human.”
Samuel Tinianow | Sep 27, 2007 | Reply
A Song of Ice and Fire, anyone?
jh | Sep 27, 2007 | Reply
I can summarize this blog post in three words. Show, don’t tell. It’s that grand writing lesson that we don’t even realize we’re violating until we’ve done it a few times.
Arkle | Sep 27, 2007 | Reply
I’ve never written racist characters before, but if I ever do, I’ll keep this in mind.
Eroom Tam | Sep 28, 2007 | Reply
Ironic you should post this - I am writing my first story that deals with racism and the challenge I am having is (1) putting myself in a racist headspace and (2) showing — not telling — the racism (although the character spray painting a swastika on a Jewish person’s home is a quick-n-dirty way to show it).
Thanks for putting this spark in my head.
Love the new pic btw.
fred | Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
If a writer wanted to show racism one of the best ways I can think of would be through an off-colored joke or a sports type comment.
Karl | Oct 2, 2007 | Reply
Great post Mur! I wonder if all this springs from a fear of being connected, as a person and writer, to these politicly incorrect views. Could it be a way to distance yourself from the politics? Cause we all should know that show is the way to do it. Or, it could just be sloppy writing.
Melissa Donovan | Oct 3, 2007 | Reply
Telling instead of showing is definitely one of the most common mistakes I see in writing, especially beginner writing. It’s also one of the biggest turnoffs I experience as a reader. Thanks for writing about this!
Bryce | Oct 6, 2007 | Reply
I think once you’ve started a sentence off with, “As you know, Jim,” the sentence is already well into a death spiral. Not just because the character is named “Jim,” which means you’ve got characters from the boring, non-speculative realm running around inside your book. It should read, “As you know, Hothkar the Benevolent”. The sentence is awful because it adds to the venal sin of “telling, not showing” the mortal sin of having a character say something she has no reason to be saying.
I agree that lots of authors use racism in a ham-handed way. Most often, I’ve seen it used as a “kiss of death,” where the author attributes racism to someone he’s just introduced, so we don’t question it when the protagonist has to kill him. If racism is seen as a capital offense, it tends to blind people to all but the most blatant forms of racism.
Really, racism is terribly common, perhaps even inescapable for most people. It’s enough a part of the human condition that I can say with great confidence to the guy who said, “I’ve never written racist characters before,” that he probably has, but he never put them in a situation where it had a chance to manifest itself.
Mattski | Oct 8, 2007 | Reply
JH hits the nail on the head; not three sentences into this post I was thinking the exact same thing.
Man, I’m going to go into all my manuscripts right now and search for the phrase “as you know.”
Thanks for another great post!
Mattski
P.C. Haring | Oct 9, 2007 | Reply
As I read this, I can recall at least two “As you know…” moments in my work. Back to the edits!
junkfoodmonkey | Oct 14, 2007 | Reply
Hi, Mur. I read this entry when it first showed up and I’ve been keeping it in mind. I was just writing something today and found the advice useful. A character who’d been injured had a female surgeon work on him in the hospital, in a culture where women doctors are rare. Rather than anyone going “a woman doctor? Outrageous!” I had for example, when she was discharging him from the hospital, one of his friends asking if she is authorised to release him, doesn’t she have to consult with someone more senior? (i.e. male!)
It works nicely for that character too, not just showing the general cultural attitude that he reflects, but I’m also contrasting his attitude with a couple of other characters, who were suprised when the woman doctor showed up, but that was overcome by their gratitude for her actions in saving their friend. So it shows (the magic word!) that they are more open-minded and the other guy is more conformist and rigid.
Thanks, Mur!
jfm
Luke H | Oct 22, 2007 | Reply
I don’t really mind sexuality/rasiscm in books (fiction) because it’s not actually true.