I keep thinking about this idea on and off. It’s for a genre I normally don’t write and probably will never want to write.
Anyway, here is the idea:
A white therapist who happens to secretly be a racist towards anyone who is not white gets a black female patient. He is uncomfortable and hate the idea of it, but as he understands the girl and her world, his racism lessens, and he starts to find her more interesting than his white patients.
The story is set in the 1970s and takes place in some American state where blacks and whites are somewhat divided.
Normally, a story like this would bore me and make me bitter, but I’ve thought about it twice and it makes me wonder why that is.
Unless I make an urban fantasy or something, but even that will make me unhappy.
I’ll keep the thought there until I decide what to do with it.
Well, it’ll probably involve a lot of research into the history of racism and segregation, and possibly into the history of how therapy was perceived back in the day (because, idk, therapy can sometimes be frowned upon, right?), so if you’re willing to put in the effort for the research, then you can try, why not?
I think you’ll also have to decide where in the states you set it and what the financial statuses of the characters are going to be.
Maybe your brain is looking for a relief from all the thinking you’ve been doing for Alterra? My brain does that. It goes off into exploring a genre that is not the genre I’m working on. Which is why I typically work on two different genres, or, try to anyway.
I know which is why I don’t want to do it especially for this type of story.
Stories that are set on Earth and focus on real-life problems/issues greatly anger me.
Maybe. I mean the thing with Tales of Alterra was really stressing me out. I mean don’t get me wrong I LOVE the idea of Tales of Alterra but trying to get it right is tough.
Still, this story idea is so out of the way for me.
Take a break I think you need a break from Alterra for a while. Your brain needs to refresh. That’s my advice, anyway, based on my own experience being in your similar situation before. But your choice, of course, what you want to do.
I’ve had ideas for a cute romance which is totally not my area. I would consider it and consider it and then the idea would pass and I would never think about it again…until another day suddenly, but then it would pass again. That’s what would happen to me anyway. Usually it’s when I’ve been obsessing over a WIP.
It depends on the era as to when the man would be considered socially acceptable, as far as how to write him.
Most of my life, the majority of people didn’t give a damn if you were racist as long as you kept it to yourself. Before my father’s generation racism was more overt, meaning the nature of how you presented yourself changed a heck of a lot of you wanted to fit in. These past few years it has swung way the other direction and beyond to the point where we can’t separate racism from subculture. (Being generic: most black males I interact with are 40-80 years of age. They tend to be politically and religiously conservative. That also means that a lot of what the younger generation won’t tolerate, the older ones will or even actively practice. Although far less conservative, it’s about like the dividing line of Dave Chappelle. Very polarizing act.
So, a modern racist would have to hide it and may never vocalize the racism or the change of heart. The further back you go, the more overt the character could be.
The secondary part is that you’re going to have to set the parameter of what is racism.
where is the line?
We’re already to the point where political ideology is pushing that if you are white or white enough, you can’t help but be racist–which is a depressing mentality and gives no one the motivation to overcome because they have no ability to overcome.
Conversely, it’s being pushed that only whites can be racist because “we own the culture”.
Being a rebellious person by nature, I more struggle with the end of not becoming the monster people demand to make of me, just for sheer spite. “Don’t call me Karen, I’ll show you Karen.” At that point, it’s not ideology, but onreyness. Makes me wonder how many times people are the petty we assume them to be due to us being the problem, not them, but they are tired of it.
And then there is soft-racism, probably where your therapist would be at. No actions to show that it’s a hatred of race, but a dismissal of problems.
A good example of this one in the medical field is that most diagrams for rashes are on pale skin. You can tell what a rash looks like on pale skin–its an eyesore. The darker you get the harder it is to see the redness, so you have to look for other indicators. I think it was only like 2 years back a young doctor set out to make these checklists for darker skin. Why the heck it took so long when there’s a major increase of minority doctors for decades, I don’t understand.
Or, if it is accepted by the community, is it racist? This one is even tougher because some of the things I see being pushed really seem to come from racism while fighting racism. Lowering test scores instead of providing safe environments for children to have the time to study, making education a bit more tailored to needs instead of cookie-cutter for “inclusivity”. This isn’t even a race thing, but it is both a social class or region thing: that is not CAUSED by skin color, although there might be correlation: if an inner city is violent and not conductive to learning, for example, or a rural area is struggling for funding, the population mix is going to reflect that lack.
Wow, you are really putting some thought into this. LOL!
This is merely me sharing an idea for a story and genre I don’t like to write.
There is no need to explain too much. I say this because I will not make this into a story. It is just too Earthy for me, and I grossly hate it.
I just wanted to get this idea out of my and hope that I don’t ever think of something like this.
I apologize for making you put a lot of thought into this.
I believe it’s a very difficult subject to handle engagingly. If it’s done well, I’d read it as I’m fairly wide-read.
But it’s by it’s nature one of those book club books where soccer mom’s go to gain brownie points. Not a Soccer Mom, yet.
If you can’t get rid of the thought a decade from now, I’d rethink whether you wanted to do it. But it’s likely a not while young/not while angry project.
I think you need a break from Alterra for a while. Your brain needs to refresh. That’s my advice, anyway, based on my own experience being in your similar situation before. But your choice, of course, what you want to do.