I'm going to start this post out with a link to the Racebending website. It's dedicated to highlighting racial inequality in media and what changes should be made to make equality a reality in the entertainment industry.
Now then. It's recently come to my attention (it wasn't pointed out to me, but I noticed it myself, rather) that some of my stories could be considered "whitewashed," or lacking in racial diversity.
My best explanation is that I don't consciously think about it. When I think back to my friends from high school, it never registered that I had an African-American friend or a variety of Asian friends. They were my friends. It was that simple. Even when I had to describe them to someone, it usually sounded something like, "Oh, she's about 5'7" with black hair, skinny, with a pretty face and sort of smaller eyes...oh, and I guess she's Asian." After high school, my white friends were actually in the minority. Then I married into an Asian family. I have no excuse for the lack of diversity in my writing considering the diversity I've been surrounded with for most of my life.
When I was writing Chasing Faith, it never even occurred to me. Admittedly, I have a favored look for my female protagonists - small stature, sort of pale, with black or reddish hair, and with green or hazel eyes. Most of my protagonists fit that bill at least somewhat, and Faith is no exception. However, I don't know why most of the other characters wound up being white. I think it was laziness, honestly. Blond hair and blue eyes? Not much need to describe further.
Of course, part of reading is in interpretation. Even some of those who read The Hunger Games were surprised (or even outraged) to find out that a few notable characters were black in the movie, despite being described that way (or ambiguously) in the book. Often times, readers imagine what they'd prefer. In Chasing Faith, Consuelo and her siblings were explicitly described as Peruvian; however, Raven and her family were implied to be at least partially Hispanic. Did anyone pick up on that? I don't know. I imagined Drake as African-American as I wrote him. Did he come off that way? I don't know. I'd be interested in feedback on that.
In my new project, I've been focusing a bit more on diversity. One problem I'm facing thus far is that every single last name is pulled from a book written about the upper-class lifestyle in the 1920s...and as such all of the book's characters were white. It's making things a tad bit frustrating because, to me, the names don't seem to match.
Then there's the question of what extent I should pull in cultural references (and thus do immense research for fear of getting it wrong), or if I should make the characters more "Americanized." This is the problem I'm facing when writing the trio of Arabic siblings. It would be wonderful to reference Islam in ways that aren't a stereotype - for instance, having the sister choose to wear a shayla or hijab as part of her faith, rather than having it viewed as an oppressive restriction. But then, what if I get everything wrong?
I think I'm reading far too much into this right now. Faith in myself and I can deliver, right? Anyways, here's a sneak peek at some of the character descriptions for my current novel, which is what got me thinking about this to begin with. Hope the payoff was worth the rant.
Maddox Buchanan: Half-Hispanic (Mom), half-white (Dad). Less dark than his older brother, Markus, since he spends less time outside. Often bullied.
Kareem Ismay: Arabic. Mom left the family years before. Older brother Aakif is a bully (see above), and younger sister Aisha holds more to their faith than the boys.
Pepper Gatz: Both parents are African-American, but since Mom's grandpa was white Pepper got a throwback gene and appears to be white, with light skin, brown eyes, and chocolate brown hair. Still marks race as African-American. Less favored by her parents than twin sisters Shanda and Chantal, who actually look like their parents.
Holly Quinn: White, but fake-and-bakes. Light brown hair and blue eyes. The not-so-nice girlfriend of Kareem. Her brother Hector is blond with blue eyes, and isn't so nice either.
???: I can't tell you everything!
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