Dismantling the White Default
Updated: Nov 12, 2022
Here's a sensitivity reader riddle for you: what is a major point of feedback I give to about 80% of manuscripts I sensitivity read for, but is so ingrained and ubiquitous in our culture that most writers have no idea they're even doing it?
Answer: Constructing and perpetuating a "white as default" in your narrative.
"White as default" is when whiteness is the litmus test for what is considered normal behavior, culture, and appearance.
Through media, books, visual media, politics, etc., we are socialized to think it's normal to be White and everyone else is defined by their proximity to whiteness. Think about how difficult it is to find "nude" shoes and lipsticks for most shades darker than a light tan. Or even try to find a non-White main character in a book or movie that isn't a biography or specifically about race.
A common problem I see is the disparity between the descriptions of the White vs. non-White characters. Almost all stories will have some kind of physical description of (at least) the major characters. How detailed the description will differ based on the writing style of the author and the character itself (not all characters require physical descriptions).
Non-White characters always have some form of description to make sure their race is made very clear, usually via a description of skin tone or by simply stating it outright. It becomes problematic, however, when there isn't a comparable descriptor for any of the White characters. The absence of a racial description (really the absence of race) IS the trigger for the reader to understand the character is White.
When authors avoid physically describing a character's whiteness but put effort into pointing out non-whiteness, what you're doing is perpetuating the invisibility of whiteness, standardizing it, making White the norm, and making everyone else the "other."
When you do this, you are helping to increase the privilege of being the standard that everyone else is compared to and judged by.
I need to point out that race isn't the only category where this happens. When we write about different marginalized identities, the non-marginalized side of that category is always the default. A character's non-hetero sexuality is overtly made known, where all others are assumed straight. The same goes for physical disabilities, gender binaries, citizenship, etc.
We know representation matters, so de-centering whiteness in literature is important, and it isn't difficult to address.
Here are some things to think about as you're working on your story:
As you think about your characters and how you describe them, be equitable. If you have a reason to point out that a character is brown or Black then you also have a reason to point out that another character is White.
Get creative in your descriptions. Please take a look at our post on how to describe characters of color. You can also use cultural and behavioral descriptions to give your characters’ race beyond just describing their skin color.
We're here to help. Hire a sensitivity reader to help you point out the moments when you are perpetuating these harmful defaults.