Searching for resources: Addressing race without racism

[Professor Murder]

Theres some interesting thoughts shared in the Writing with Color blog

the main point though is Describe ‘people‘ not phenotypes
- people within an ethnicity dont all look alike

• avoid stereotypes
• check your motivation

Thanks. I will take a look.

 

[Malmuria]

This may be overly simple, but just consulting a thesaurus is helpful in diversifying NPC descriptions. Other than, also overly simple, but read good fiction to see how characters are presented. For example, read some Octavia Butler, and see how she presents characters that are both fantastical and real.

 

[Ancalagon]

Ah. I see where you have gotten confused. I am not talking about stats or abilities. Pure physical descriptions not rooted in racist tropes or conventions.
Example: The PCs meet the blacksmith. The blacksmith has features consistent with a Samoan man. But I don't want to say, "He looks Samoan." He isn't Samoan, because the setting isnt Earth, instead its a fantasy construction. So how would I describe them?

Ah thank you - I sometimes "jump" when I see an "outrageous" comment, but it's not fair for me to assume that I never misread! Glad we cleared that up.

Anyway, I think what you need to do is take "samoan" and break it down - a few generic comments about how that looks (ie, what are you trying to convey with that word?) and then add comments about THIS GUY SPECIFICALLY looks - does he have one eye or an interesting scar? An interesting cloak, or a dour expression?

 

[billd91]

Ah. I see where you have gotten confused. I am not talking about stats or abilities. Pure physical descriptions not rooted in racist tropes or conventions.
Example: The PCs meet the blacksmith. The blacksmith has features consistent with a Samoan man. But I don't want to say, "He looks Samoan." He isn't Samoan, because the setting isnt Earth, instead its a fantasy construction. So how would I describe them?

Pre-write some descriptions based on photos. Describe based on how they look. Maybe use index cards with some synonyms so you can pull a quick description.

 

[Yora]

As I see it, the concept of race was invented specifically for the purpose of racism.
Western philosophy established that "all men are equal", but they still wanted to benefit from slavery. To have it both ways, they created the loophole that "only white men are actually men". To pseudo-scientifically justify why only they themselves are equal. There is no discussion of race without racism.

If we want to talk about cultural differences between different groups of people, we have to talk about cultures. Not races.

 

[Tonguez]

Just an anecdote re describing people - I’m brown (at least in my head) and I remember a european friend once described my sister (who worked in a gym) to her mother as a big, tall, dark skinned, athletic amazon. I was puzzled and said “she’s not dark though, I’d say she’s fairskinned - almost as pale as you are” (banter followed)

luckily her wise mother opined that “I think you two may be working on different standards of what dark and fair mean”

 

[dragoner]

Ah. I see where you have gotten confused. I am not talking about stats or abilities. Pure physical descriptions not rooted in racist tropes or conventions.
Example: The PCs meet the blacksmith. The blacksmith has features consistent with a Samoan man. But I don't want to say, "He looks Samoan." He isn't Samoan, because the setting isnt Earth, instead its a fantasy construction. So how would I describe them?

Pictures are best, then one doesn't have to bother with a description. Otherwise with words, he is burly, is about what I'd say, sometimes their name can be a sort of clue.

 

[Richards]

So bare with me...

Are you...asking us to get naked with you?

Pictures are best, then one doesn't have to bother with a description.

That's what I do. Any prominent NPC gets an initiative card: a printout of what they look like glued to the back of an index card with their name (or description: "Human Blacksmith") on the back, cut out to the size of a playing card, and covered with Con*Tact paper and cut out again. We primarily use these cards for initiative (jotting down everyone's initiative rolls on scratch paper and then building the initiative card deck so we can see whose turn it is), but they're also useful in showing the players what the NPC/monster looks like. My selection of initiative cards currently fills five index card holders.

Johnathan

 

[Professor Murder]

Pictures have their place, but a lot of DMing in my experience is reactive. That can include PCs walking into shops you hadn't accounted for, or looking for city officials who have no name until encountered.

 

[Professor Murder]

As I see it, the concept of race was invented specifically for the purpose of racism.
Western philosophy established that "all men are equal", but they still wanted to benefit from slavery. To have it both ways, they created the loophole that "only white men are actually men". To pseudo-scientifically justify why only they themselves are equal. There is no discussion of race without racism.

If we want to talk about cultural differences between different groups of people, we have to talk about cultures. Not races.

Again, as I feel I made clear in my opening post, I'm not speaking to detailing a culture. I'm purely talking about how to physically describe people in a respectful way without referencing real world races or ethnic groups directly by name.