forum Anyone know how to write a subtlety racist and rude character?

Started July 26, 2019 by @SpaceCadet_Bongo

tune

Hello Everyone

I am brainstorming for some ideas in a upcoming OC world of mine called Binding Wall, and I need your help writing one of the main antagonists. The story is set in Antarctica, where a child is taken from every country to be trained as the saviours of the world. My main character, Zuri Akitola, is a Masai girl from Kenya and she is reserved and a little stand-offish. She doesn't mean to, but she does sometimes look like she has RBF (resting bitch face). Deep down, Zuri cares about her peers, and will put her life on the line if it means saving some of them. However, in a place that's filled with cultural tensions, not everyone is bound to get along. One Japanese trainee, a girl by the name of Natsue Kuro, is cruel and harsh towards Zuri, but the problem is, I don't know how she should act around her.

I don't want her to just out and out insult her skin colour or race, but I need to think of someway of being subtlety racist that makes the character truly conniving and despicable.

If you have any ideas or techniques you would use to combat this, please let me know, as it would be most appreciated. If you have any other questions, please don't feel shy to ask!

Thank you very much for reading! - Sunny :D

Hello! In my experiences with racism, most people don't often outright say explicitly racist things in the company of other people, mostly out of fear that someone else will step up and be like "that's not on mate," so you've got that right. If Kuro does go and just out and out insult her ethnicity it'll usually be one on one and out of earshot, or maybe she's backed by her friends or something.

A lot of racism usually goes unnoticed by people, sometimes people express racism without even realizing it, but it's pretty easy to see if you're looking for it. It wouldn't be strange for someone like Kuro to openly brag about national pride and whatnot in their training classes [i assume these are a thing in this world?] or make snide remarks about how maybe some countries don't dedicate themselves enough and contribute rabble the whole world-saving movement. I don't imagine that'd she'd name any countries in particular but Zuri would just know that Kuro was referring to her and the children from her neighbouring countries, but she wouldn't have any proof so she wouldn't be able to do anything about it and that would definitely drive her insane. Casual racism is the kind of racism that people aren't really aware of, and a lot of it is just internalized prejudice that shows itself in little actions. This can be things like a lingering side-eye or an eye roll when Zuri says something, or even outright ignoring her. Treating her like she's dirty or contagious, like sitting as far away from her as possible or refusing to pass her things or accepting anything that Zuri may have touched recently. Using racial slurs or stereotypes as a "not that racist" and "lighthearted" joke, like how somebody would make jokes about Asians eating cats or dogs.

Kuro may also continuously put down Zuri, like your stereotypical jealous self entitled brat who refuses to be shown up by someone they view as lesser than them - think Draco Malfoy and his initial belief that the pureblood wizard families were superior to muggleborns. In this particular instance, because Kuro isn't supposed to explicitly bring Zuri's specific lineage into the picture, I'm talking about how Malfoy would heckle the Weasly's about how he was better than them - how he would constantly put him down due to Ron's financial status, his initial jealousy of his friendship with Harry, and his disgust that neither Harry nor Ron had anything against Hermione's status as a muggleborn, or "mudblood," even if Ron was the only one out of the golden trio to actually be a pureblood. I assume Kuro would be cruel towards Zuri due to a similar superiority complex, since they aren't any more different than Draco is to Ron.

I feel like all of this would get to the point where Zuri would be very well aware that Kuro has it out for her, but without cold hard evidence, she would just be left very frustrated. Zuri may very well begin to perceive everything Kuro does as an attack, and maybe lash out in what may seem an erratic matter to her oblivious peers, making her seem like the bitch. idk Kuro sounds very sneaky and manipulative. And you know very well that they're your characters and not my own, so feel free to ignore this bit.

idk, i feel like im not making much sense, but there you go. feel free to ask me more specific questions if you feel like im not just talking smack.

and I'm not saying it isn't possible since I'm well aware that it isn't just white people capable of racism, but I find it really interesting that you would choose another POC to show racist tendencies. trust me when I say I'm keen to learn more about Binding Wall! ♥︎

@sheyna Your are so kind! :D. Thank you so much for writing your response (you evidently put in a lot of thought into it)! I’m glad you liked the concept too and it means a lot to me that you could share your views.

I’ll try answering some of the questions you asked

1: Yes, their is battle training in this world! Countries are grouped with a variety of people from different continents, so Kuro’s team consists of a Brazilian and a Moroccan, whereas Zuri’s team consists of a young Bhutanese boy and a Irish girl. Each country/student has an ability tailored with aspects from their culture. For example, Karma (the Bhutanese boy), has healing hands, since the Bhutanese is known for their healing practices.

The battles take place in this dome, just outside the main facility. Miss Byrne, the director (and person who brought the kids to Antarctica in the first place), makes the kids fight each other in simulated battles to see who’s the strongest. Kuro’s team currently ranks #2 in the facility and Zuri’s #15.

2: You are correct in saying that Kuro is very sneaky in how she does things. She has a soft voice, but a lot of the things she says aren’t particularly friendly, so some people take a while before they realize she just insulted them.

3: You were so polite in the last paragraph, don’t beat yourself over asking questions. :D (if anything I’m glad you’re asking!). To answer your last question, I didn’t want Kuro to be white in color, because that would only enhance the idea that white people are the only ones capable of racism. Racism can come from anywhere and anyone, and I know that cause I’ve seen racism from my friends, a lot of whom are foreigners (and they also get racism back). Why I made her Japanese though is down to two reasons

1 = my friend Kamiko wanted a Japanese Villain for some reason, XD. She just wanted to draw her I think

2 = it’s commonly understood that Japanese people are polite in nature, but they also (contrary to popular belief) Can be racist toward people of other nations. My uncle Shozo, said that when he and my auntie started staying in Kyoto, he frequently heard things about her viewed in a negative light (in terms of nationality). In summary, I chose Japan because we know them to be a very pleasant and polite nation, but I wanted people to not expect the character to be rude

I hope these answers made sense, and if you have anymore questions, I’d love to here them!

Thank you so much Sheyna! - Sunny 🌺

it’s commonly understood that Japanese people are polite in nature, but they also (contrary to popular belief) Can be racist toward people of other nations.

yeah i get chu, i've seen it in a lot of Filipino's in some of my mums circles - these days i only join them for the food.

Because you said one of her teammates is Morrocan, does Kuro also discriminate against her teammates? I'm wondering because they're both African Countries according to my memories of the map from Plague Inc. lol

Yep, Kuro can sometimes show racist tendencies towards her own teammates too. While Salman (the Moroccan) doesn’t notice it as much, Andre’ (the Brazilian) cops the most flak from her, calling him too dainty and weak willed to do anything helpful.

I might start a question page about Binding wall on a separate discussion. That way, people can ask questions about the lore, what each of the trainees personality and powers are like, interactions between characters, etc.

Thank you! - Sunny