In a story, should a character's race be mentioned, because if you don't mention it, people will think the character is white?

[Anonymous]

Being a story that takes place in another universe and another planet, does the author need to mention the race of the characters otherwise they will think the characters are white?

[OfDeath]

Not unless you specifically want to portray the character as a particular ethnicity.

What ethnicity one imagines a character in a book largely depends on the reader’s own perception. Someone from somewhere like Europe or the United States of America may well imagine a character to be white if no other background information was specified by the author. However, if mentioned the character was from Saudi Arabia before ending up in space, they might imagine them to be of Middle Eastern appearance or if the author said they were from New Orleans, they may imagine the character to be African American. Whereas if the reader grew up in China or Japan and no physical, geographical or ancestral information was provided, they would probably imagine that character to be of East Asian appearance.

So the answer is no. Although some may imagine the character to be white due to their personal environments, not everyone will imagine the character to be white if you don’t specify the character’s ethnicity. If you would like to portray the character as a particular ethnicity, you must specify it.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Why would anyone assume that a character on another planet in another reality is a specifically more likely to be a european human rather than some unknown alien lifeform? 🤔

[Asker]

Maybe because the author would give signs that in his fictional world the characters are human? Maybe that's it... Or I don't know...

[Anonymous]

Yes, the author, if he wants, must mention the race of the characters. This would not be necessary if it were in the past, but today it is necessary. Whites are the majority and therefore are also the default. Even if different people read the story, most people will imagine the characters as white people, because white people are the majority and also the default. If white people imagine that the characters are white and discover that they are actually, for example, indigenous or black, some will say that the author is pushing an agenda. So if the characters are not white, it's better to make it clear.

[purplepoppy]

No. I it would be better to let the readers conclude his race from your description of him, his name, and his actions, rather than state his race.

[Asker]

How likely is it that people who concluded the characters were white will attack the author when they discover the characters are actually black? Some would call it woke perhaps?

[purplepoppy]

Unless they're racist to start with highly unlikely. It would be better to describe your characters at the beginning anyway than leaving it until halfway through the book

[SolitarySolace]

Just show the character on the cover of the book. Or give the character a typical black name or whatever. It’s not that hard 🤣

[Anonymous]

Lol only leftists think like this. Literally everything is about race to those pukes.

[Asker]

How would you imagine the character's appearance if the author didn't specify the character's race?

[Opinion Owner]

It doesn't matter. Seriously, and children don't think like that either, people like you put ideas like that in their head..

[Asker]

With all due respect, I didn't ask if it matters or not, I asked what you would imagine the character to look like if the author specified the character's race.

[Asker]

Children and adults are different. Children don't care about race, adults care about race. Those who complained about the little mermaid being black were adults, children would hardly care about that.

[Opinion Owner]

I never cared about her race, only that she could sing and do the part justice

[Iron_Man]

Yes you can