today on kammy teaches u how to write: black characters
i hope u read that header and i also hope u pay attention .. this community does a shit job of not being racist and my black ass is tired of it!! here’s some tips on how to write a black character its literally just basics that i think people should know before they pick up a black character!!
black is not a bad word. it really isnt, it’s just a race. :/ saying someone is black isn’t a negative thing, it is what it is. if your character is black and they’re from america? europe? asia? australia? it doesn’t matter, they’re black, that’s it.
black =/= african american. okay so like .. i feel like this should be common sense and it coincides with the first point but still, it’s not interchangeable and it erases black people from different cultures. just because your character is black doesn’t mean theyre african american. african american is a term applied to black people in american or black americans if you don’t like the term african american if your character is black and theyre from canada.. they’re not african american, don’t do that, they’re black canadian.
black people live all over the world. i mean literally all over the world, thats whats up with the african diaspora. theres afro american people, afro latinx people, afro carribean people, afro asian people, anything you can think of?? there’s black people. just because someone is black doesnt mean that they come from america, africa, or the carribean, black people are from all over and are just as much as a part of culture or a country than anyone else. they have different cultures of course and you should always be respectful of them!!
be respectful of religions that originated in black cultures. ok so this one im gonna try to be respectful myself about and not swerve out of my lane. ive seen too many people take legitimate afro diasporic religions that are just as legitimate as christiniaty or islam and make them exotic and even when theres plenty of posts on and off of here explaining why thats wrong and an inaccurate description of their religion. just because you dont understand it as well as other people do doesnt make it evil, exotic, or some kind of witchcraft. and before someone comes for me about this and says ‘well isnt that what you did with rafi??” absolutely not!! i have stated that her religious beliefs do not coincide with the fact that shes a witch and her witchcraft and religious beliefs are not interchangeable or the same thing multiple times.
be aware of racialized words and terms. i know im not the only black person thats been called ghetto or ratchet and i sure as hell wont be the only one. words like thug, ghetto, ratchet, gangster, are racialized and usually synonyms with black. stay away from these words when you describe your character. they are just as harmful as saying any variation of the n word.
do not!!!!! say the n word!!!! i shouldnt even have to say this!! oh my god!! if you yourself the writer is not black don’t put that on your blog, dont say nigger, nigga, nig nog, nigglet, nig, niqqa, none of that shit in OR out of character!! if it looks, sounds, or starts off like the n word?? dont you even do it just dont. its not even worth it, besides, not every black person says the n word anyway, it’s really ridiculous for you to even feel the need to add it into dialogue. if they do say, dont write it!! not even if your character is talking to another black person just dont even play with fire dont do this!!
dont completely destroy or misuse aave and other words/things/languages created by black people. aave is really popular on here as you all know as well as ball slang (or may not know depending on what youve seen on here) and its probably the most misused thing ive ever seen on this site. some nonblack people consider it talking ghetto but it literally is its own language, aave that is and you should be respectful and mindful of it like any other language. yaaas? on fleek? slay? hunty? drag? “___” af? no chill? gas up? fuckboy? bruh? bae all aave & ball slang created by black people (in the case of ball slang, black & latinx trans women) so please .. PLEASE be respectful when you use it and understand what the hell you’re saying in the first place. if you’re about to use aave or ball slang and you dont know what it means, just dont even bother with it or else you’re gonna sound ridiculous and say something like “chillin with bae lowkey on fleek bruh” i know yall dont want that.
it’s okay to make a dark skinned black character. i feel like i shouldnt even have to say this, but here i am. a big thing i see when i rarely do see black characters on here is that theyre light skinned or sometimes almost white passing. thats okay because there are light skinned and white passing black people, but dark skinned black people exist as well (me being one, yes, hi.) if you feel like a dark skinned character doesnt fit your blog or characters aesthetic because theyre too dark or god forbid, you think theyre ugly because theyre dark, you need to take a good long look at yourself about why that is and why you attribute negative traits to darker skin, thats ugly in and of itself.
ok so that’s all i got for right now!! i hope it made sense and will help you if you ever make a black character!!
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