Apparently the entire discussion (mostly on LiveJournal, but elsewhere too) started by Elizabeth Bear’s essay about “writing the other” has been given this name. (Internet memes – gotta love ‘em.) The entire debate so far has been catalogued here (including the posts made by my pal Jane Irwin, from whom I originally saw this discussion).

The initial response to Bear’s post suggested Bear was being hypocritical since, according to the writer, Bear has written stereotypical characters of color in her work. Unfortunately, I can’t speak to that point because I had never even heard of Bear prior to all of this. Still, I believe both sides make legitimate points. There are experiences unique to the perspectives of people of color that ought to be acknowledged when writing characters of color in order for stories to ring true, even in a fantasy setting, and if you’re not gonna be consistent about it, expect readers to call you on it eventually.

I can relate to this from the writer’s side of things: back in my early days of self-publishing, I attempted to write a gay character in my comic and patted myself on the back for being diverse. Looking back now, I can see that I succumbed to some of the stereotypes about gays. I was ignorant. I didn’t know nearly enough about gay life and culture at the time, and sad to say, it showed. If I were to make another comic with a gay character in it, I won’t make that mistake again, I can promise you that.

Within the corporate comics ranks (Marvel and DC), I believe there are some non-black writers that have a very good overall average when it comes to writing characters of color. Garth Ennis is a great example. For one thing, he’s not afraid to write black villains and to make them just as nasty as white ones, but even his “civilian” black characters have a specific worldview and perspective that make them come alive. Take, for example, the cop in Punisher: Widowmaker who fears he’s going down the same path as Frank Castle after being forced to shoot an armed teenager. The conversation he has with his white psychologist is powerfully written and commendable for the multiple layers of context. He’s not just a cop in that scene, he’s a black cop, and his perspective as a black cop in a predominantly white workforce affects the way he views the psychologist and her approach in dealing with him.

Ennis is consistent in his approach to writing black characters throughout his comics work in general, but in his Max Punisher run it stands out even more. (I’ve said it here before, I know, but I believe his Punisher comics are on a level with Moore’s Swamp Thing and Morrison’s Animal Man and Doom Patrol. They’re that good.)

I think Kurt Busiek is another good example. We’re seeing it now in his current Astro City story arc, “The Dark Age,” but we’ve seen it before in his Jack-in-the-Box two-parter and even in his Samaritan one-shot, which featured a powerful black villain. Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker’s Gotham Central was wonderfully diverse, and they consistently treated their ensemble cast as individuals.

Bottom line: you can have a character of color in your story and write him or her without any stereotypes and claim it as a victory for diversity. But those writers that go the extra length to find the things unique to that character’s worldview will find that their stories resonate deeper and have much longer lasting emotional repercussions.