Greetings,
I'm writing a fantasy novel for my series currently, and since this is an urban-fantasy/sci-fi novel, there are modern people of various fantasy races.
I plan to introduce a couple of new characters, Jytans (fantasy Japan/Korea) in the story. The story takes place in Qereni (if the UK wasn't so posh) and Qereni is at war with Jyta, and following the repercussions of war that breaks cracks between races, I want to properly portray the racism these two characters will face as they are introduced. Could I get some help on how to do it right, without over-doing it?
All help is much appreciated.
Thank you.
Well, the best advice I can offer is something I heard a while ago. Write racism, by all means, but don't write about it. If you aren't white, don't write a story focusing entirely or mainly on racism, just make it a thing referenced.
Anyone else have protags that are racist?
Yeah, but never to an extreme extent. The supporting characters for mine usually are moreso
Like all my good guys from Althalos are super racist.
Hi there! POC writer here. What type of racism are you wanting to portray? Systemic, institutionalized, legalized, common? I'll do my best to give pointers!
Common, I believe. It is caused by a war, similar to the oppression of the American-Japenese after WWII, if this makes sense.
Ooh okay! Let's talk microaggressions then. Since I'm not Asian, I'm not a 100% viable source, but I'll try my best.
People like to make fun of differences. Children may use slurs and pull their eyes and put on a thick accent. People may use borderline slurs such as calling all Asians "Ling ling" or making fun of the way they pronounce certain words. They may think people different than them are dangerous and untrustworthy. I remember some propaganda I read from WWII, which compared Chinese people to Japanese people ("How to tell the difference"). They called Chinese people good natured, simple, etc while Japanese people were shifty, squinty, angry. It's never blatant "I hate x type of person" its more "never trust x type of person."
Parents may hold their belongings and kids closer. Young "progressives" may comfort a Jytan friend by saying "You're not like the others, you're different/better than them".
Basically a lot of us vs them rhetoric. But please don't try and write a story about the struggles of racism and discrimination if you haven't experienced any yourself. It will likely come off as sounding inconsiderate or fake. Good luck!
I'd recommend looking at some propaganda from WW2 if that's what you're trying to emulate.
Going off what Sarah said, one thing I remember from a book that I read that took place in an internment camp (some of it, it was about the daughter of the pastor whose church was mostly made up of Japanese people who got put in there, and he went there to hold services for them) was that in one scene, all of the Chinese kids were sent down to the school office and came back with big buttons that proclaimed that they were Chinese and not Japanese. And then the whole "you're pretty X/good at Y, y'know, for being a Jytan" thing.
Thank you! This is great information. ^~^
