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People of Color in Sci-Fi |
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Written by Alicia Williams
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Sunday, 23 September 2012 07:28 |
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A book isn’t an issue book because it contains a minority character. – s.e. smith
Most, if not all, mainstream genres have a dearth of minority characters, whether they be supporting cast or the protagonist. One of the explanations given is that books with minority lead characters are seen as issue books, i.e. the character has to be struggling with some issue of their identity and the whole story has to be about that issue. While issue books are important for the value they bring to a topic, having a minority character does not equal an identity struggle to be overcome. Minority characters can be included in any type of book, from science fiction, to horror, to mystery, and all the genres in between, without their race being the focal point of the story, or a hindrance to their character’s capabilities.
Science fiction especially gives the reader the chance to interact with a variety of people without having the focus be on the “issue” of being a minority. Below is a scenario that will be used throughout the article. Through it, we’ll show you how to create and include minority characters without making them clichés of life.
It’s the year 2657. Because a nuclear war in 2100 made Earth uninhabitable, humans spread throughout the galaxy; each surviving country picking a planet to recolonize. It’s been 500 years, and the descendants of Earth are on a mission to return home.
Creating Minority Characters
It’s hard to create a character set in the future because we have no basis for what it would be like. We don’t know what it’s like to live on another planet and have to travel by spaceship to reach another people or how our concept of race, sexuality, or what it means to be human will change. But, that’s the beauty of setting things in the future; you have the opportunity to make up your own world, history, culture, and rules.
Since our scenario is set so far in the future, it’s more than likely that the races that we have now will have evolved in some way. However, there is a possibility that some planets have kept their genetic makeup the same from their Earth days, while others might have physical markers of the differences in their genetic code. Whatever the case is, and unless your character was cryogenically frozen during the exodus and then never thawed, your minority character will not have any experience of Earth. Most of the stereotypes that we ascribe to people today will not apply to these new people.
That’s an important point to keep in mind. You have the ability to make any character into anything. For instance, you have a character that is from a planet that was colonized by the Nairobians. Through the years, they intermarried with the people that were on the planet already, and through their genetic makeup changed they still have dark skin. Once the character has been physically described, you can make them into anything. They could be the leader of the return mission, a stowaway passenger, an intergalactic pirate, or the president of the United Federation of Earth’s Descendants.
How to Include Them
The easiest way to devalue a minority character is to make them a stereotype. People from all races are on both ends on the good and bad spectrum. An intergalactic smuggler, a single mother, a mathematician, a general of the interstellar defense team, anyone, from any race, can be one of these characters. These characterizations are not exclusive to one race or another. Keep in mind what your basis is for your character’s actions, speech, and thoughts. In our scenario, a character from a planet that was populated by the people from old Earth’s Mexico has no direct experience with living in Mexico. It’s been 500 years since Earth was populated. There would be no reason to make him into a galaxy drug cartel because of the issues going on today.
The best way to include a minority character is to not focus on their race. Once you’ve described them to the reader, move on and focus on how they play a part in your story. Are they the scientist that figured how to clear the nuclear fallout and make Earth inhabitable again? Are they the stowaway that saves the fleet against an invasion because they have experience with intergalactic battle? Are they your main character that the entire story revolves around? Whatever the answer is, focus on moving your story forward. Something to keep in mind, if you wouldn’t focus on something for a character that was part of a majority, don’t focus on it for a minority character.
Conclusion
Authors must be cognizant of their worlds. While it can be easy to make the main character a minority, what’s often forgotten is the minority supporting characters. In our scenario our main character goes to the planet that was colonized by the people from China. It will be extremely odd if our character only interacts with other species without ever coming across the actual Chinese decedents. Whether our main character is a minority or not, it doesn’t make logical sense that they would not see one person that is native to the planet. Keep in mind that supporting characters shape your world as much as your protagonist does.
While there are more books being written with minority characters, there aren’t enough. Two book lists I found with minority characters were Goodreads list of Great Books with Leading Minority Characters and author Rachel Manija’s list of YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books with Minority Characters. Both lists are not exhaustive lists of every book with minority characters but they are a good start. Read through these lists, find books you like, and read them. Some of the books might stereotype the characters while others make no mention of the character’s race once they’ve been described. Make note of how, if at all, the character’s race comes into play. Are there any similarities between your work and these works? Do they make you think of other ways you can write your minority character? Do they make you want to include them?
Minority characters are here to stay; now let’s work on including them.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 23 September 2012 07:55 |
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