Racism Isn't Always a Good Option for Evil

Friends, rivals, or enemies: They all work. [August de Richelieu (Pexels.com)]A lot of writers include some level of racism in their writing, and this may be a problem. Racism represents an easy conflict. It's like bullies in a high school story: It allows us to abuse our protagonists while showing who the bad guys are. Since racism is such an obvious evil, it allows writers to show the line between good and evil while giving the good guys a little sympathy. By showing someone is a racist, we very quickly show the reader who to root for and who to hiss at, making it a good choice for anyone. But there are some issues to consider.

When Too Much Racism Is A Bad Thing

Admittedly, including racism in a story can be cathartic: It gives the writer a chance to deal with feelings that he may have problems dealing with in another way. However, there is the problem that it can be a bit cliched; that is, it seems to be an easy default for some people, especially when they are dealing with the Southern United States. Worse, it can lead to having a mustache-twirling villain who is out for some sort of genocide; while this can be fun to do every so often, not every racist needs to be, or even should be, a genocidal maniac.

It can also be a cliché you need to avoid. If every one of your bad guys is defined by their racism then you may have a problem. Too many writers stop at racism, and ignore that racism is usually just the first layer; they need to explore that second layer for some real fun. You have those that are racist because they are simply abusive, but also those that follow along; it's better that someone else suffers than them. You also have those that see all but their immediate circle as secondary and those that use people for whatever use they see fit.

You need to explore those layers if you want to do some actual writing.

It's also important to remember that not all negative relations have to be defined by race. If your main black character is extremely political, then it's not hard to see others being off-put by him; this has less to do with his skin color than that people simply don't like fanatics. (Yeah, there is the possibility that people could carry over any negative feeling to another black person, but that's what makes interpersonal relationships so much fun.) The takeaway here is to remember that interpersonal relationships can be complex; two people of different skin colors can hate each other for reasons that have nothing to do with skin color.

In short, racism is just a tool and one that can easily be used like a hammer ("if you have a hammer, everything is a nail"). Put it away and use your saws and crowbars more often.

Don't Exclude It Completely

This isn't to say you should never create a dark world; those can be fun in their own weird way. Sometimes you get understandably tired of virtuous knights, wise dragons, and unicorns that give rides to virgins; sometimes you want a world where the forces of darkness have won, or at least left their mark. It can be interesting to explore even the darker areas of a light fantasy world; light needs darkness to balance it, after all, and if the light parts are oh-so-good, then what would the darker parts look like?

It can also be used to show the darker side of humanity. A hero may be a good person, but has problems; by starting him off as a racist and allowing him to outgrow that, you show that the character has grown as an individual. This is especially true if the character has to overcome a lot of personal issues, including if the reason for the racism was because he was assaulted by someone of the race in question. This has to be handled carefully, however; it does have a strong possibility of coming across as ham-fisted if it is done wrong, so keep that in mind.

Ultimately, it's your story. However, seriously debate including it simply because it's problematical. A major point to consider is that you should be writing a world as you want it to be. The world should represent your dreams, your wishes, your desires; the world you create should be the one you want to live in. An ideal fantasy world should represent the ideals that you want in the world. Include racism if you need to, but seriously debate why you are using it and try to avoid using it just for the sake of an easy conflict.