Image: Michael Broad I'm currently rewriting a novella I wrote in the late 1990s. I always remembered it having some weird elements, but ones I liked--like a hero who locks himself in the bathroom to break down crying.
But I didn't remember sticking my protagonist in black face. !! Well, first she dresses up as an Orthodox Jew, then she dresses up in black face. In both cases to sneak past someone, to see someone else.
I fixed the Jewish thing by making her Jewish. I even changed her last name to the name of an Israeli guy my friend had a Mad Crush on in grade 7.
The blackface was even easier to fix. Someone makes her up as Josephine Baker from the Making Faces book by Kevyn Aucoin, and so she can pretend to be the sister of her black boss, who was invited to this dinner party. Why a sister? Why not a friend? And why wouldn't any Aucoin transformation do?
I am a white person but I can learn.
Another thorny problem I ran into was the boss. She's a hippie, so during the dinner scene she's a bit high. Can I have my only black character high? I left this one for the moment. She's not a stoner, she's a very successful business owner. She's not on crack. And she finds grass in the glove box of the other (white male) business owner in the book.
Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe I'll change it anyway. In any case, here's the thing about being "politically correct" which these days is apparently tantamount to being a Nazi: It's just about taking a minute to think through your creation, and learn to see outside your own perspective, and try not to be an asshole.
Recommendation of the Day: Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward
But I didn't remember sticking my protagonist in black face. !! Well, first she dresses up as an Orthodox Jew, then she dresses up in black face. In both cases to sneak past someone, to see someone else.
I fixed the Jewish thing by making her Jewish. I even changed her last name to the name of an Israeli guy my friend had a Mad Crush on in grade 7.
The blackface was even easier to fix. Someone makes her up as Josephine Baker from the Making Faces book by Kevyn Aucoin, and so she can pretend to be the sister of her black boss, who was invited to this dinner party. Why a sister? Why not a friend? And why wouldn't any Aucoin transformation do?
I am a white person but I can learn.
Another thorny problem I ran into was the boss. She's a hippie, so during the dinner scene she's a bit high. Can I have my only black character high? I left this one for the moment. She's not a stoner, she's a very successful business owner. She's not on crack. And she finds grass in the glove box of the other (white male) business owner in the book.
Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe I'll change it anyway. In any case, here's the thing about being "politically correct" which these days is apparently tantamount to being a Nazi: It's just about taking a minute to think through your creation, and learn to see outside your own perspective, and try not to be an asshole.
Recommendation of the Day: Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward
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