Color Me Purple
Back in the 60’s one of my journalism professors asked, “When is it appropriate to mention the race of a person involved in a story?” Hmmm…
Traffic accident? No.
School board protest? No…unless it is about race?
Rape suspect arrest? Well, no, but… Are you thinking an inter-racial rape should be reported as such? Why? Because it is worse than same race rape? Inter-racial dating and marriage is more than common these days. Look closely at the ads on TV.
Murder victim?
Announcing a run for office?
How about saying something like “a largely Hispanic neighborhood?”
These are areas where journalists can get in trouble.
What about authors? The journalist must decide to reveal or ignore facts. Fiction writers are trying to describe a scene and its characters. No problem?
Are your ethnic characters caricatures in look and language? (Like Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Owen Wilson in those cop/cowboy movies) Are the people of your race portrayed as “fine” by contrast? Maybe the answer should be a question: Why do you need to describe the race? Are you reaching for inclusion like the Mod Squad (60’s TV shows for $50, Alex), the four original protagonists of James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series or the gang on Hunters? (Amazon TV, Nazi hunters) Or is there some reason this person needs to be Black/ White/ Asian/ Native American/ whatever?
George R. Stewart a half century ago hid the race of a major character in his award -winning Earth Abides. A pandemic survivor who thinks he is the last person on earth, suddenly finds a woman. They fall in a passionate embrace and become the Adam and Eve of the story. It is not until chapters later that another survivor shows up and mentions she is black. The idea was electric in the 60’s. Times have changed.
Is it possible to write fiction where the characters are never described by race, letting the reader assign whatever ethnic group they want to the characters? Hollywood is fiddling with the idea that the next James Bond actor may be not just black, but female. Should we care? Would Moby Dick change if Ishmael was black? (Yes, the ethnicity of the boat’s crew was symbolic.) Would mad Jack be any different in Stephen King’s The Shining if he was Hispanic? (Probably not. Can’t you see Benicio Del Toro in the role?) My journalism professor asked us to be careful to examine our motives and assumptions. I am asking you to be creative and sensitive…and considerate.
