Comments on Mitali's Fire Escape: Mea Culpa in Writing Race

And would you only define or describe the race ...

2009-04-22T22:13:00.000-04:00
And would you only define or describe the race of non-white characters?In the spirit of thinking proactively, I'm going to try merely asking myself "Compared to whom?" when I find myself defining and describing any of my characters, comparing not only the substance of the definitions and descriptions themselves, but also the types of qualities (physical descriptions? passions? ethnic backgrounds?) that I find myself drawing attention to.

It seems like it would be such a simple thing to do. But the tough thing, I think, is that seeing in ourselves the need to take such a proactive step means accepting that we're not already as broadminded and evenhanded as we like to think that we are.

With your article and these follow-up discussions, you've got a lot of people thinking, Mitali, and I'm so glad these conversations are taking place.

Chris, thanks for stopping by. Of course your thre...

2009-04-21T10:38:00.000-04:00
Chris, thanks for stopping by. Of course your three goals are valid reasons to write about subjects of other races. I wouldn't only want to be a biographer of Bengali-American women who write books about Bengali-Americans. Yikes. How narrow can we get? Biography is always about crossing borders, across contexts and class, across generations if we're writing about a historical figure.

But this call to proactive thinking still applies in non-fiction as in fiction -- let's be aware of how and why we're writing about race. When are we describing a person's race? Is it important to do so in the narrative arc of the biography? If so, how are we describing it? Which terms are we using and why? In the fifties, for example, it would be valid to describe someone as a "Negro." Now you'd have to say "black" or "Black" or "African-American" or "African American" (depending on whom you ask, and each term has a reasoning behind it.)

And would you only define or describe the race of non-white characters? If so, why? What about if the subject lived in the fifties? Would you use the racial terminology of those days or of present-day North America, which is changing even as we speak?

Complex and confusing, I know. Tough decisions. But it's worse when we don't bring our reasoning above the waterline to be viewed in the light of community. Because what takes place under the sea inside each of us when it comes to race is murky at best, and slimy at worst -- myself included, although I wish it weren't so.

Thanks for tackling the subject, Mitali. Your arti...

2009-04-20T07:21:00.000-04:00
Thanks for tackling the subject, Mitali. Your article immediately has me thinking about the relationship between the white authors of nonfiction (like me) and the biographical subjects we select. I'm of at least three minds on the subject -- wanting to add to the diversity of biographies available to young readers, considering whether non-white subjects rightfully "belong" to authors of the same ethnic background, and wishing to simply pursue whichever subjects interest me and do the best job I can with them, regardless of our respective backgrounds.

What a good explanation. You display such humility...

2009-04-11T22:51:00.000-04:00
What a good explanation. You display such humility that is refreshing and endearing.

I can appreciate how the first question in my arti...

2009-04-08T15:50:00.000-04:00
I can appreciate how the first question in my article -- "Are the non-white characters too good to be true?" -- along with a challenge to include a diversity of characters when apropos could make writers (not just white ones) feel heavy-laden.

My hope is that as a community of writers, regardless of race, we bear the weight of these questions together for the sake of the children and young adults we serve.

And if I may be honest, regarding the white writer...

2009-04-08T15:19:00.000-04:00
And if I may be honest, regarding the white writer's question. Can we for once have a discussion about race and the members of the dominant culture not play the victim? Why is there always a white person who inevitably says, "But what about me?" For once can we talk about people of color without having to say something to make the white person feel better? I am tired of these discussion always coming back to how the white person is misunderstood or treated badly.

The purpose of the article was not to pick on white writers nor to make you feel guilty or any similar bad way.

Mitali, I SO appreciate your articulate and honest...

2009-04-08T15:08:00.000-04:00
Mitali, I SO appreciate your articulate and honest approach to all of these concerns. I will continue to read and think deeper and clearer as I write.

kathleen

Mitali,

I commend you for answering the rea...

2009-04-08T15:03:00.000-04:00
Mitali,

I commend you for answering the reader's question about overexoticizing characters. It is important to explain and to reiterate the importance of not falling trap to this kind of characterization. I'm glad you didn't waffle here. The one problem is Westerners wanting others to be exotic in the first place. The second of course of the objectification of women.

I read an article not long ago about the rise of rape of Asian women and the rapists reporting that they were attracted to the women in part because they were exotic. Now we know rape is about control and not sex, but the idea of targeting women because of their ethnicity and how they are viewed because they are exotic is disturbing on another level.

Comments on Mitali's Fire Escape: Mea Culpa in Writing Race

And would you only define or describe the race ...

Chris, thanks for stopping by. Of course your thre...

Thanks for tackling the subject, Mitali. Your arti...

What a good explanation. You display such humility...

I can appreciate how the first question in my arti...

And if I may be honest, regarding the white writer...

Mitali, I SO appreciate your articulate and honest...

Mitali,I commend you for answering the rea...

Mitali,

I commend you for answering the rea...