Fantastical Racism: Writing Diverse, Imaginary Races and Cultures
Imagine the following scenario. You get sucked into an alternate version of Earth full of superheroes. The only problem? Superheroes aren’t celebrated. They’re feared as a threat to humanity. They live in hiding, knowing that if they’re discovered, they could be imprisoned, executed, or even experimented on. And because their superhero abilities are genetic, they wrestle with the knowledge that if they have biological children, they’ll be in just as much danger, as well
There is a term for what these superheroes are experiencing… Fantastical Racism.
In order to understand what fantastical racism is, one must understand two things:
What a fantasy race is.
What racism isn’t.
Fantasy Races
A fantasy/sci-fi race, also known as a fantasy/sci-fi species, is any imaginary group of sentient beings distinct from humans. Prominent examples in popular SFF sub-genres include:
High Fantasy: Elves, Orcs, Ogres
Space Operas: Aliens, Cyborgs, Robots
Paranormal: Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies
These races are distinct from humans because they have a set of traits or abilities that set them apart and can usually be passed down genetically. And whenever there is a genetic set of traits that sets a group of people apart and affects the way they are perceived in society. That is, effectively, a race.
Popular examples from books, comics, shows, and movies:
Supers in The Incredibles
Mutants in X-Men
Elves, fantasy dwarves, and orcs in The Lord of the Rings
Vampires, werewolves, and vampire/human hybrids in Twilight
Wookiees in Star Wars
Grisha in Shadow and Bone
Half-demons and demons in Inuyasha
What Racism Isn’t
Racism, in general, is a living, breathing system. It’s more than just disliking a person because of their ethnicity or race, or “hurting someone’s feelings,” though those two things are alarming enough on their own. Racism is when every facet of a society is designed to subjugate specific groups and reinforce harmful beliefs about them, generation after generation, to the point where hatred and cruelty are mistaken for a neutral, unchangeable truth.
In fantastical racism, the fantastical/sci-fi groups aren’t just “stand-ins” for marginalized races in the real world, but rather, they echo the same struggles these real groups experience.
And it doesn’t just stop with race. From queer identities to disability representation, echoes of real-life marginalized groups that have fought the oppression that the dominant culture continues to try to bury them under have always been woven into the metaphor of fantastical races.
Like gender, sexuality, and real-world race, fantastical races are another marginalized lens from which to interpret each character. If the fantastical race in your story experiences discrimination and prejudice, you must deeply consider the dominant culture of the society you’ve created.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is a framework developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw to understand multiple identities and their effect. When the oppression of these identities overlaps, the experience of them magnifies exponentially. But just because one is marginalized doesn’t mean you understand the experiences of others. People who have experienced racism can somewhat understand people who have experienced sexism or homophobia/transphobia (keyword, “somewhat”).
Intersectionality is common in stories with fantastical races. These intersecting identities are important to consider when determining how easily each one of your characters can move through their society, think Black vampires, for example. The experience of a vampire is one thing, the experience of a Black man another, and the experience of a Black vampire is a completely different experience.
Once you decide to include or create a fantastical race, this can’t be avoided in your work, nor should it be. Instead, it’s a matter of how well or how deeply you would like to address and acknowledge this power system. How have you acknowledged the system of race and racism in your setting?
If you choose to avoid considering the unconscious biases that might go into creating a race, or don’t take the time to avoid harmful stereotypes, they may begin to creep into your work in unexpected ways.
The concept of fantastical intersectionality will be explored in Part 2 of the Fantastical Races: Worldbuilding series.
The Solution: Is All Fantastical Racism Bad?
The solution to fantastical racism isn’t getting rid of it altogether, because stories with intentional fantastical racism aren’t automatically bad. Just like there are plenty of books that handle the topics of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism with respect and nuance. There are plenty of works that are richer, deeper, and more complex because they don’t shy away from questioning power structures within their imagined worlds.
However, the key is doing it with respect. Avoid creating fantasy races and species that are all good or bad. Try not to create fantasy races and cultures that are nearly identical to real-world ones (refer to Allegory vs. Lazy Writing below). Make sure there are valuable strengths and sympathetic weaknesses to every nation, race, kingdom, and culture. If there’s a war or cultural conflict, avoid easy explanations like “both sides were equally right and wrong.” Or, “these two groups just didn’t like each other for some reason.” This rarely reflects the truth of real conflicts on Earth and can be difficult for marginalized readers to relate to. Usually, in any conflict, someone “threw the first punch,” even if the person who got punched bit them after. That painful history and record of events is worth pointing out, even if both sides may tell the story differently.
Fantastical racism is complex, layered, and compelling. Stick around for more on this topic coming soon.
Shanice Felix is a Black, second-generation, Haitian American, queer woman. By day, she puts her B.A. in Film and Media Studies to the test by working as a freelance editor and beta/sensitivity reader, helping creatives tell the stories that make their hearts sing. By night, she fangirls over her favorite books, movies, anime, and fanfics. Don’t get between her and a new chapter update on Ao3. BlueSky @shanicefelix.bsky.social