a few tips for writing poc characters —
so i’m not trying to claim that i am all-knowing about poc characters or whatever, but you really have to be aware of a few things before you make a character who is a person of color. this is extremely important because, well, if you aren’t aware of these things, you probably are perpetuating erasure/subtle racism in the rp comm and no one likes that!
people of color (POC) ocs are vastly underrepresented in the roleplaying community. the poc oc that you have/are thinking of writing is a very crucial point of representation, no matter how small your bubble of the community is, and should be treated with respect.
what does this mean? it means:
you should not whitewash your character unless there is a valid explanation in this characters life as to why they are so assimilated into western culture.
you should not mock the race you are writing if you are not of that race (and even then, be careful because internalized racism is a real thing).
you should be aware that if your character is a poc, especially a darker-skinned poc or east asian, your character has probably dealt with discrimination. to deny that your character has dealt with discrimination (unless, say, your character has never lived in the united states and was of higher class in their home country)(even then, be careful) is racial erasure.
you should always be educated about your character’s culture. if you write a mexican character without being educated on the culture of mexico, that’s like adopting a mexican baby while being white and throwing all notions of culture and race out the window in favor of yourself. it’s not right. if you have time to research the different types of werewolves for your werewolf oc, you have time to read up on cultures you might be portraying.
don’t make their culture an accessory. it is not an accessory. it is something very real in our lives that is too often erased.
be sensitive! if you are writing a poc character and you make a subtly racist notion, don’t get up-in-arms when someone calls you out. always question your portrayal, because it’s not ‘just writing’ — you should be respectful and mindful of the race you are portraying, not ignorant and harmful.
this is not a 'you should write like this' kind of post. this is not bashing ~~purple prose~~ or telling people to stop using thesauruses, i am, by no means, trying to tell you how to write.
i am telling you to be respectful and mindful of the cultures you write. it is vital and important, and if you don’t want to respect the poc original character you are writing or the people their culture they represent — then there is definitely something wrong and you need to work on that.
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