Writer on Woke

Life is so confusing for all of us right now. People are so afraid of saying the wrong thing and offending someone or being accused of being inappropriate. How should this affect our writing? Well, I'd like to purge my own thought process out here today.

First of all, what is the definition of racism? Old Merriam-Webster had a pretty thorough definition. They list it this way, "having, reflecting, or fostering the belief that race (see RACE entry 1 sense 1a) is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

I can't speak for everyone but this description DOES NOT fit my history. Therefore, when I am writing I'm doing what writers do. I'm describing a person by their God given attributes. So if I'm describing someone with dark skin, brown skin, black skin, light skin, white skin, pale skin am I a racist? No. Am I disrespecting a race? Not intentionally. I'm simply drawing a visual for the reader.

Logically, I'm disrespecting you if I ignore your uniqueness. What makes you, you. Including your skin color, color of eyes, color of hair, etc. As I've mentioned before, good writers write with their senses. That means I write what I see, not what I feel. It's not meant as a slam, or a judgment by any means. Nope, it's a fact. And it's unjust for anyone to accuse me of having an elitist, superior attitude because I simply write what I see.

If you're worrying about someone attacking you because of how you describe a character, try to separate the perceived lofty judgments of others from truth. There is a difference.