“A Matter-of-Fact Approach to Diversity” in THE ELEPHANT OF SURPRISE?

I was especially pleased to read the review of my latest book The Elephant of Surprise over at AfterElton.com, because it’s been the first piece to touch on the issue of race and diversity in the book.

One of the main characters in the book — the love interest — is African American. Here’s what the critic said:

I also continue to admire and celebrate the series for its matter-of-fact approach to diversity. Especially this book. It never feels shoehorned in or written with capitol letter PURPOSE. It’s a simple reflection of the world we live in, by people who notice and simply don’t care all that much.

For example, because a sentence like that requires one, Wade is African-American. He’s also a bit of a cypher in the beginning, gradually revealing himself to Russell and to us. We’re drawn in because Russel is drawn in. First physically, then emotionally.

Readers will, no doubt, clue me in to other fiction novels that accomplish the same feat, but it’s the first time I can recall ever having read the candid thoughts of a gay white male regarding his attraction to a black male that wasn’t loaded down with stereotyping and racial junk. Russel briefly wonders to himself what it would feel like to kiss a black person but dismisses this as an errant thought and simply pursues the object of his affection without reservation. This stuck me as quietly, but thrillingly revolutionary.

I’ll leave it to the reader to decide whether or not this reviewer is right about my approach to diversity. But I can say emphatically: this was definitely my intent. If it’s a big deal, it’s because it’s a small deal.

I don’t give myself too much credit for including diverse leading characters in my books: blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, burn survivors, deaf people, the parentless, the disabled. These choices were partly conscious on my part, but I’ve mostly just been reflecting my own personal reality — now, when I was a teenager, and (especially) all the times I’ve worked with actual teenagers.

Nutshell? Teens don’t look and act like they (mostly) do on television.

But even so, I’m not a member of any of those above groups. And when I write about them, I admit to feeling a little nervous. I’m gay, so I know about stereotypes, about how certain characters are almost always portrayed a certain way, how the stories often seem to go the same cliched direction. I know how frustrating that feels.

I also think I know why it happens: writers think they’re being “truthful,” writing about how these characters “really are.” But writers are sometimes lazy. Sometimes, consciously or unconsciously, we just repeat or recycle the media tropes and cliches we’ve all seen so many times.

Most of us personally know people of different races and different cultures. But the sad truth is that most of our experience with other races and cultures still comes from movies and on television. How many times have I personally encountered a black drug dealer? Maybe once or twice. How many times have I seen one on television? Waaaaaay too many to count.

So when a writer sits down to write a black character or a drug dealer, it’s hard not to be influenced by all those media portrayals. It ends up being a very vicious cycle.

So how do you break it? First, by being aware of it. And then, by trying to forget all about it.

Ironically, that’s the approach I took with my characters as well. When Russel first meets Wade (the African American character), he’s definitely aware of his race. (Russel being Russel, he’s even aware of the racial stereotypes in his own mind and feels bad about them.)

But as Russel gets to know Wade better, his race mostly disappears. It’s always part of Wade, but an increasingly smaller part.

Russel wasn’t aware of this, but I, the writer, was. In my experience, this is exactly how things work in real life.

That said, when I was writing Russel’s initial thoughts about all this, I did worry I might offend someone.

I think it’s okay to feel nervous. Writing diversity is risky. No one’s going to criticize you for not including a black character (unless you’re Lena Dunham writing a buzzy, break-out show). But they might criticize you — strongly — if you get something wrong. Even if it’s only their opinion, and others feel otherwise, that stings.

But here’s the key: it’s hard to criticize honesty. Write the truth. Ignore what you’ve seen on television and in the movies. Write from your own life experience (and your research).

A character can be racist and offensive, but a book or story can’t be, not if it’s being honest.

And on an even happier note? What happens to Russel and race in The Elephant of Surprise is exactly what’s happening to society: race is sometimes a big deal at first. But after a while, it simply becomes matter-of-fact.

On this same topic of diversity in books, Malinda Lo posted some great advice this morning, and I’ve written about the subject before myself.

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