Add them, Ariel! :)

What about a main character that is mixed race? As in someone who is half Caucasian and half Native American?

Who are the ethnic main characters in the Sookie Stackhouse books included here?

Lucia wrote: "Hey I'm looking for a good book, preferably a series to read. I really liked L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress series because there were so many characters of color. Any suggestions please?"

I loved that series too. Have you read her Werewolf series? That's what I'm currently reading.

I agree that someone from Spain, Portugal, Germany, or Italy may be white (there are large populations of POCs in those countries, you realize, so we shouldn't assume someone from those countries is white by default). If you're talking about my mention of Latinos, those are South and Central Americans, not Spanish or Portuguese people, and a lot of them are not white.

new_user wrote: "POC may be better... Re: Latino/a, yes, they can be white, but the point of the list is to suss out literature with some diversity. (Anyway, in Skin Game, the Latino hero is explicitly stated to be..."

Not nitpicking but someone say from Spain/Portugal is caucasian and would be the same as someone from let say Germany/Italy I really don't see the diversity in that it's more of a cop out and a much bigger issue than to go into for the sake of this list. Yet I do understand the point of the list and support it fully, there needs to be more diversity in the literary world.

Vallarey wrote: "The Holy Terror wrote: "mia wrote: "I love this list, but caucasian is really a racist term"

While I won't agree that one blog post can determine if a word is racist, I will say that I struggled w..."

In Addition being called Colored or "Person of Color" is more outdated and frowned upon among black people than African American or Black would ever be. People of Color was used way bck in the 50's and 60's and has many connotations of deep southern racism and is not used in any circle of black people I know, ever.

The Holy Terror wrote: "mia wrote: "I love this list, but caucasian is really a racist term"

While I won't agree that one blog post can determine if a word is racist, I will say that I struggled with naming this list. I ..."

Hey I am not sure If thisis how I reply to thispost but I have taken Cultural Diversity Classes as well and Communication classes and I am afraid that CAucasian is the "Politically Correct" terminology. As Well as "African American", "Native American" So on and So Forth. While it may "racist" or outdated even, it is what is recommended for social circles as well as professional enviroment. Some people dont like the politically correct terminilogy. I myself prefer Black over African American but it doesnt bother me to be called either.

POC may be better... Re: Latino/a, yes, they can be white, but the point of the list is to suss out literature with some diversity. (Anyway, in Skin Game, the Latino hero is explicitly stated to be non-white.)

Re: Arabs, it depends on who's judging. On paper in the US, we are considered Caucasian. In reality, we are many races, but since we're sometimes brown, don't speak the Romantic languages, and usually non-Protestant pariahs, many identify as POC.

Thank you for making this list. I wish the Authors would take a look at the list. Why can't the women protaganist just be one race. Why is it that the black females have to have red brown hair and green eyes or blond hair. I mean really. Black hair brown eyes can be beautiful too. You may want to add Dream Chaser By Sherrilyn Kenyon. It's been awhile since I read it and I beleive I remember them hinting that she was black but exactly stating it. (Once again author puts Green eyes auburn hair, blah, blah,.) However on the authors website the person in charge of answering questions states that she is Black, (even though the picture they show doesnt look like it) The book is good and short. Does have a few intense sex scenes so not for the young readers.

The Flooze (Michelle M.) wrote: "My two cents:

Holy Terror and I have discussed the list name privately before and it's been mentioned above. It was chosen primarily because so many of the genres discussed focus primarily on "whi..."

I think its a great idea to use diversity in. With the tags and the description everyone would understand without being triggered, right?
~
I just saw Liar here and I'm pretty sure its a modern fiction. The only fantasy part is the fact that she's a liar if I'm right

Also, I find it *headdesk* tragicomic that when I google "non-caucasian" the first hit is a wiki article entitled White People? (That right there probably indicates it's the wrong term to use.)

The only relevant passage of the wiki refers to the Canadian Employment Equity Act:

"In the 1995 Employment Equity Act, '"members of visible minorities" means persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour'. In the 2001 Census, persons who selected Chinese, South Asian, African, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Middle Eastern, Japanese or Korean were included in the visible minority population.[81] A separate census question on "cultural or ethnic origin" (question 17) does not refer to skin color."

It's a squicky label, fraught with issues.

My two cents:

Holy Terror and I have discussed the list name privately before and it's been mentioned above. It was chosen primarily because so many of the genres discussed focus primarily on "white" leads - a tragic tendency that's not adequately reflective of the world we live in.

Hell, some readers even white-wash PoC characters, as we've seen from the recent ignorant backlash against casting choices for The Hunger Games and The Mortal Instruments.

"Caucasian" (and derivatives thereof) is truly a loaded term, especially when you consider that the GR audience is international. Americans are somewhat used to it being thrown around because it's on every fricken official form we ever have to fill out, from school applications to census forms, etc.

I think a more egalitarian name choice would be "Diversity in..." PoC and non-caucasian are in the list tags, so people will still be able to find it if these are the search terms they use.

The wikipedia entry has a lot of sources on this subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasia...

(for more related stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_F... plus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientif...)

Its not one blog post. It was the first article that came on google, but theres a lot of research about it if you want to look it up. I'm gonna look for something more trustworthy on this.

The thing with "people of color" is that is a chosen name. I know a lot of people dont feel confortable using this - and I think in my country this has a whole different meaning than what was intended... but its the most accept term.

Maybe there isnt a word that means all the races except white, and we could just use a explanation instead of a concept?

mia wrote: "I love this list, but caucasian is really a racist term"

While I won't agree that one blog post can determine if a word is racist, I will say that I struggled with naming this list. I am in the United States and Caucasian means "white people" to me. Though yes, we discussed early on that calling this list "Non-whites in blah blah blah" sounds awful, I didn't really know what else to call it, because it essentially is a list of books with every race except white. So the list calls out the one thing that isn't on it instead of the multitude of things that are because then the title would be ridiculously long.

To me "people of color" sounds just like "colored people" which is awfully racist. I know it's an accepted term (right?) but I think designating the characters as a "color" is wrong.

I love this list, but caucasian is really a racist term(http://raaw.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/...) . And even if the word's history werent based on racists ideas, it would be like saying "non-white". We should use a term that is not derivated from white, right? What about "people of color"?

Btw, http://www.racebending.com/ did a panel on diversity at San Diego Comic Con.

There's some more info on their tumblr:

http://racebending.tumblr.com/

And Bleeding Cool and EW did short pieces on it:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/07/1...

Nadine wrote: "So are you judging this on what the USA considers white, and aren't some hispanics considered white."

I think that's more a question of race vs. ethnicity which, while often intertwined, need not be. This list is meant to highlight diversity of any kind in the fantasy/sci-fi genres since multiculturalism is not as easy to find as it should be!

So are you judging this on what the USA considers white, and aren't some hispanics considered white.

Emma wrote: "Julie of the Wolves and Memoirs of a Geisha are definitely not in any way spec-fic, and I don't think My Girlfriend is a Geek is, either."

Thanks! I have no idea why people add those types of books to this list. I'm not going to delete them yet because it looks like 5 people voted for Julie and I want to look at their lists to see if there are any others that don't belong. When I get home and have the time to comb through them, I'll delete those books.

With this list being so long now, I appreciate it when people call this sort of thing to my attention : )

Julie of the Wolves and Memoirs of a Geisha are definitely not in any way spec-fic, and I don't think My Girlfriend is a Geek is, either.

Lucia wrote: "Hey I'm looking for a good book, preferably a series to read. I really liked L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress series because there were so many characters of color. Any suggestions please?"

Have you tried Octavia Butler's Fledgling? Or any of her novels?

Thank you so much

Samantha wrote: "Jessica wrote: "What's the paring in the Sadow dwellers?..."

They were described as dark to caramel colored skinned with black wavy hair as if Indian."

Jessica wrote: "What's the paring in the Sadow dwellers?..."

They were described as dark to caramel colored skinned with black wavy hair as if Indian.

Same thing for "the Bluest Eye." Non- Caucasians it does have. Sci-Fi/fantasy/Paranormal/Speculative elements it does not.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, while a great book, is as far as I can remember historical fiction not fantasy.

Kaliis wrote: "Don't know if anyone's mentioned, but the Main Characters in Changeless are Scottish and English/Italian. The only non-Caucasian Character that shows up is a mummy who isn't even a character, but a plot point."

People add stuff that doesn't exactly belong without me noticing, it's gotten 6 pages long so it's a bit hard to find them all, but thank you for pointing this out!

Italians are considered white in the US, so I will remove them.

Don't know if anyone's mentioned, but the Main Characters in Changeless are Scottish and English/Italian. The only non-Caucasian Character that shows up is a mummy who isn't even a character, but a plot point.

If we're really stretching, we could consider her to be latina, but I thought that we were looking for specifically non-Caucasian/European protagonists, or characters at all, and this series doesn't have any, votes or not...

As for the great and fun , , , , the protagonist believes he's Native American, that's how he looks...

The rest is spoilers.

Just saw this list now- sort of thinking that The Hunger Games might fit the description but I'm not sure.

Thank u

Skin Game - the love interest is Hispanic. I forget what the female character is though, I think she might not be white either. Forged of Shadows, I'm guessing the female protagonist is Chinese.

I have no idea about the Shadowdwellers though, hopefully someone who's read them can shed some light on that one.

Samantha wrote: "Lets not forget Gena Showalter's, The Darkest Secret from the LOTU series, and Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian. Oh and the entire shadow dwellers series by Jacquelyn Frank: Rapture, Ecstasy and Pl..."

What's the paring in the Sadow dwellers?

Could someone tell me the races of the characters in and

Samantha wrote: "Could someone explain to me how "The Main Squeeze" made this list? I just read that book and both lead characters were caucasian shifters."

I haven't read it, and it's always easier just to ask the person who voted, especially when the list is so long. Like I said in message 68, just click on the number of voters and it'll pull up who voted and then you can click on their list and leave them a personal comment. Jan, Silvia, and Benita all voted for it so you should ask one of them. Jan is probably your best bet.

Could someone explain to me how "The Main Squeeze" made this list? I just read that book and both lead characters were caucasian shifters.

Lets not forget Gena Showalter's, The Darkest Secret from the LOTU series, and Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian. Oh and the entire shadow dwellers series by Jacquelyn Frank: Rapture, Ecstasy and Pleasure

The Flooze (Michelle M.) wrote: "I haven't read Ukiah Oregon yet but I thought the protagonist was Native American, at least in part?"

I think you're right. I was thinking about him being non-human, not about what ethnicity he appeared to have in the story.

I haven't read Ukiah Oregon yet but I thought the protagonist was Native American, at least in part?

Nancy wrote: "So many high quality books on this list! Thanks for creating it :)"

Thanks, and you're welcome!

mlady_rebecca wrote: "Someone added the Ukiah Oregon books. I read the books and loved them, but can't recall what character(s) would put them on this list. Anyone know?"

Since it was Julia who voted for them, I've asked her. If you click on the number of voters for an individual book you can see who voted and then click on their name to get to their list. Feel free to follow the discussion in case I miss the answer.

Someone added the Ukiah Oregon books. I read the books and loved them, but can't recall what character(s) would put them on this list. Anyone know?

So many high quality books on this list! Thanks for creating it :)

We need more books like these. More diversity works for me.

Pretty much the entire cast of Cold Magic/Cold Fire counts for this. That includes the main protagonist and love interest. I figured Tankborn counts too although I haven't read it. That imprint was created specifically to support leading POC characters.

Did I miss Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness in the original list of 100? I was looking a bit quickly ...

It's a hard notion to convey without offending someone along the way, but the intention is to create a list of genre books that highlight PoC as opposed to the typical 30-something protag of European ancestry. I'm thrilled when I find a book involving a cast of characters as diverse as the world I actually live in.

If anyone has a suggestion in terms of word-choice for the list's description, please share. It would be great to make more people aware of the list and get even more books added!

The Holy Terror wrote: "I understand what you're saying, but in the US, Caucasian means "white people."

In the words of an Arab friend from my college days
"I'm not white, I'm not even American."

I understand what you're saying, but in the US, Caucasian means "white people."

This is a list of non-white people, but that just ... doesn't sound right to me.