(If you happen to be a person of another color.)
This post originally appeared at Midnight Breakfast, and is reprinted here with permission.
MariNaomi / BuzzFeed
Recently, a friend of mine asked for feedback on her manuscript. Her novel was filled with complex characters, a thought-provoking plot, and enough intrigue to keep the reader riveted. I did what any good editor and friend would do, honestly praising the good parts, and delicately noting which parts could use work. This part is confusing, I wrote. This part seems out of character. She nodded along while reading my notes, completely prepared for all of my comments, except for one: Where are the people of color?
When we discussed this later, she (a white writer) admitted she feels uncomfortable adding people of color (PoC) to her fiction, as it feels disingenuous. "Write what you know" and all that. How could she add, say, a Japanese person without it seeming like a token gesture?
MariNaomi / Via midnightbreakfast.com
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