Writing Without Marginalising
I'm going to try not to show my ass too much, but any and all critiques are welcome.
I have this idea for a post-apocalyptic scenario. I've actually written almost 75K words on it (thanks to NaNoWriMo), but it was the part of it that would happen in my neck of the words. (The demographic around here is decidedly white and our largest non-white group is Hispanics. The whole area is getting better, but progress is slow.) My own background is white as can be and largely non-religious as well, though I briefly took up neo-paganism in my junior high and high school years.
The post-apocalyptic idea is this: one day, roughly %99.99 of the human population of the planet disappears. Not straight across the board, but it works out to about that much. The point is that the world has been separated, and those who have magic in them are where the story takes place. The version of "magic" in this scenario is largely skill based, with people having unusual and/or instinctive skills in a certain area (so far I have hunting, gardening, healing, building, and animal husbandry, because those were useful to that particular setting). I'm debating having more flashy, Harry Potter style magic, but right now I'm sort of sticking with Circle of Magic-type magic.
My question for you nice folks is this: how do I write about groups that I am not part of without making them "Magic Negros" or "Wise Indians" or similarly insulting and marginalising stereotypes? Is it even really possible at our current levels of society, with all the appropriations and stuff that happens every day?
I would also deeply appreciate anything that anyone can tell me about ideas of "magic" or "mysticism" in the various peoples/religions/cultures that I am ignorant of. Or sources you can point me to that explores the idea of magic in different cultures. I'm particularly interested in Native American, Romani, and African-American, and I really want to avoid doing more harm to peoples who are hugely taken advantage of in fantasy literature anyway.
Thank you in advance!
I have this idea for a post-apocalyptic scenario. I've actually written almost 75K words on it (thanks to NaNoWriMo), but it was the part of it that would happen in my neck of the words. (The demographic around here is decidedly white and our largest non-white group is Hispanics. The whole area is getting better, but progress is slow.) My own background is white as can be and largely non-religious as well, though I briefly took up neo-paganism in my junior high and high school years.
The post-apocalyptic idea is this: one day, roughly %99.99 of the human population of the planet disappears. Not straight across the board, but it works out to about that much. The point is that the world has been separated, and those who have magic in them are where the story takes place. The version of "magic" in this scenario is largely skill based, with people having unusual and/or instinctive skills in a certain area (so far I have hunting, gardening, healing, building, and animal husbandry, because those were useful to that particular setting). I'm debating having more flashy, Harry Potter style magic, but right now I'm sort of sticking with Circle of Magic-type magic.
My question for you nice folks is this: how do I write about groups that I am not part of without making them "Magic Negros" or "Wise Indians" or similarly insulting and marginalising stereotypes? Is it even really possible at our current levels of society, with all the appropriations and stuff that happens every day?
I would also deeply appreciate anything that anyone can tell me about ideas of "magic" or "mysticism" in the various peoples/religions/cultures that I am ignorant of. Or sources you can point me to that explores the idea of magic in different cultures. I'm particularly interested in Native American, Romani, and African-American, and I really want to avoid doing more harm to peoples who are hugely taken advantage of in fantasy literature anyway.
Thank you in advance!