14 Harmful Ways White Authors Show Their Internalized Racism
Edit yourself before you edit the page and stop writing harmful content
I’m an editor, judge, hired plot wizard, and sometimes sensitivity reader. Along with my work life, I’m also an avid reader on Medium and other platforms.
Publishing is inherently racist and more often than not uplifts the white writers over the writers of color, especially if they are dark-skinned. These are just the facts of the industry. Because of those industry facts and the history of our world racism is inherent in all of us.
None more so than the white writer, the unedited white supremacist behind the screen.
From my years working with writers of all shades and backgrounds, I’ve picked up on some repeat themes in the works of white writers who don’t realize they are writing with a racist and white supremacist framework. These are everyday people. Some are in interracial relationships, have Black or brown family members, or are “woke”.
The racism lurking within goes absolutely unnoticed by them until a person of color points it out. And even then, there’s a large chance the person will discard their comments.
I write this because maybe it’ll save other people of color the pain of reading work that is laden with racist remarks, resources, and findings because there are some white writers who genuinely want to change, to be a voice against the hate, an ally in the ruck.
This list won’t have solutions because that’s not my job, not my labor. If white writers want help with this, I’ve compiled a list to help writers get started in writing more diverse stories and connecting with other writers who are doing this type of work. But it doesn’t stop there.
Writers have to be committed to uprooting their own internalized racism and doing the hard and difficult work of anti-racist training.
Ways Your Internalized Racism is Showing Up in Your Stories
- Avoiding writing any people of color characters
- Never mentioning white characters race but pointing out people of color’s skin tones
- Copy and pasting from other cultures and calling it inspiration for new societies without crediting the cultures they’ve pilfered -This could be stealing words, customs, etc.
- Saying race, racism, colorism, etc. don’t exist in their work because they’ve decided to not include it
- Only using research from white publications, professionals, and sources
- Not getting feedback from people of color writers and readers
- Tokenizing the one person of color in their story
- Writing stories about or connected to race where no people of color are present
- Having white characters explain to people of color characters their own identities
- Never having people of color in positions of positive power
- Depictions of people of color don’t go beyond stereotypes, tools, or bad jokes -Writing caricatures of Black culture for example.
- Only reading craft advice or tips from other white authors
- Never using people of color in their cover photos
- Never sharing people of color stories in your work unless they are negative
If you’re a white writer who’d like to support the work of a Black writer and say thanks for pointing out common flaws and harmful content in your work, consider pre-ordering an upcoming book or game from my science fiction, horror, and fantasy book store.
Aigner Loren Wilson is a queer Black SFWA, HWA, and Codex writer. Her work has appeared in Tor Dotcom, Better Humans, The Writing Cooperative, and more. She strives to help writers reach their publishing goals and attain their dreams. Subscribe for access to masterclass courses in writing, editing, and making a living as a writer.