A part of my story revolves around fantasy racism, but as a white person, I'm not sure I'm able to write about it (read description)
Hello! So, in the story idea I've been outlining for a while, two of the more central characters are demons, meaning they stand out in a crowd. For context's sake, while they aren't really demons in the truest sense - they simply have demon blood from way, way back. They aren't naturally dispositioned towards evil in any sense. But on top of the horns and unnatural hair (white in the case of these two characters, but it can be things like bright red, or green), they are born with magical abilities, whereas the majority of the population needs to spend extensive time and money on a high education to learn magic. These two characters work as circus performers, currently.
The thing is that this conflict is essentially a fantasy version of racism, especially in the ways it affects these two characters. And because of that, I sometimes feel uncertain whether or not I'm able to write about it, because as a white person, I wouldn't necessarily be speaking from experience. However, I am gay, and in some ways, this element of the story reflects that, too: the characters are seen as things to be watched and entertained by, but not as people, and they're seen as unnatural things that you should hide your children from when they walk down the street. This idea isn't the main issue of the story, but it does drive a lot of one of the demons' character arc, as they go from feeling powerless to having more power than any one person can handle. But again, I don't want to write it inaccurately, or in a way that downplays or goes overboard. Any advice?
(Edit: I also want to avoid making the characters be two-dimensional, or having their whole being revolve around being a demon - they do certainly have more personality and point to them than being demons, but again, it does play a large role in one of their character arcs, and it affects the other demon as well.
Also, they are not the only non-white characters in the story - considering that the main characters all come from different parts of the world, only one out of the central 6 is a white human. But considering that these different parts of the world don't really interact with one another that much, and the place that these two demons live is really the only place you find demons, it doesn't impact their day-to-day life as much.)
Posted Jul 1, 2021, 12:07 AM UTC · edited