A No-Win Whiteness?

I want to write race, my white writing buddies confess. Demographics are shifting in America, and I know I should. But I feel stuck.

Most of them don't feel comfortable writing a nonwhite protagonist. How is that authentic? they wonder.

They don't feel free to create antagonists of color. How is that not racist? they ask.

And the answer isn't simply including secondary characters -- foils, sidekicks, or "magical negroes" who exist only to help or inspire a white protagonist. How is that not tokenis