WRI–TING ACR–OSS MAR–GINS
IN the fall of 2018, I participated in a writing workshop at a liberal arts college where one of my white peers wrote a stereotypical Asian-American protagonist for their piece.
When critique rolled around, and a fellow student pointed out the stereotypes at play in the author’s work – namely how the protagonist was displayed as an overly docile mathematician – the author was stunned.
They asked, “What? Am I not allowed to write POC characters?”
My answer is simple:
No.
OK, maybe I exaggerated the simplicity of my answer.
Anyone can write any type of marginalized characters. If your writing is to reflect the world around you, then you’re going to have characters who fall into groups that you aren’t a part of. That goes deeper to write them?” then you’re asking the wrong question. A sign that you’re just not ready.
