Hey so recently I was making a character and got to the colouring phase when I realized I wanted to make him black. The problem is that I already built up large portions of his backstory and characterization which I'm worried will become problematic with him being Black...
Basically he's an necromancer with heavy ties to blood. He dresses as a clown because he doesn't like to look at the scars from a run-in he had with some flesh-eating bacteria which "killed" him. The way he got said infection is due to his immense love of rats and the fact he isn't exactly that smart. His general personality was planned to be just completely full of love despite being very morally grey and pretty dumb. Is there anything I can do to keep as much of his intended personality as possible without him seem racist? Or if not is there a way to keep him dark-skinned without being problematic?
Black character w/ flesh-eating disease, dresses like a clown and portrayed as unintelligent
We do not recommend writing this, as is. The character seems like a racist caricature.Â
There’s not a lot of redeeming qualities put forth to rework the character into something not insensitive. It might be easier to thoughtfully assign him an equally important role, just as a different character. If that cannot be done, we’d recommend shedding some layers of these stereotypes.
The clown part stands out as the worst bit, in my opinion (Colette), and feeds that caricature image.Â
Combined with the:
Necromancy - not bad in itself, but is heavily misrepresented so must be handled respectfully.
Association with rats - they are seen as dirty and lowly in some / many perspectives. Your story also associates them negatively, as he literally gets a flesh-eating disease from dealings with rats.
His being “not smart” - which can feed the stereotype of Black people being inferior in intelligence.Â
Again, these elements in isolation are more workable. All stacked together, it becomes troublesome.
What are other ways he can hide his scars without dressing as a clown? There’s always clothing, masks, thick makeup, surgery, etc. One can cover up their scars without pulling a Joker.
He can love rats, have pet rats or even work with them as a scientist or something. He could have had a run in with rats, like an infestation in the city of his home, that caused him to get bitten. Getting bit by them could’ve been bad luck or an unfortunate consequence, and doesn’t need to be because he acted in a way that puts the blame on him or his lack of smarts.
Smarts should not be measured in one way. I don’t think we do people justice to call them ableist language. In what other ways is the character talented? Is he artistic, a great musician, have a green thumb, a great storyteller, good with people? Look into the multiple forms of intelligences for ideas.
~Mods Colette and Norma
