Racism in Novels

Two months since I wrote a piece for my blog, so I thought, let’s go for a nice, lightweight subject. Racism? That’s my idea of a light subject? Nope. Anything but. “To Kill A Mockingbird” has been removed from schools in Biloxi, MS because it made people uncomfortable. Well, that is what it is supposed to do. [Note to self: send a copy to my cousin, so her kids can still read it].

Those of you who have seen my profile picture (A Year of Selfies) will notice that I am not Caucasian. Born in London of parents of Indian origin, I have a relatively light skin, but trust me, growing up in what was an Irish neighbourhood (Wembley), I was fairly obvious. I had all the racist teasing which included not being allowed to join the girls’ games in primary school. So what? Boys were much more fun. Who needed dolls when you could play wargames.

As an adult, I can react accordingly to racisim. There was that group of Indian doctors, who called me ‘BBC’: British-Born and Confused. I told them I wasn’t confused. It hurt though when a child in my son’s Cambridgeshire primary school called him a ‘Paki’. My son had the perfect retort, which was that of the twelve nationalities in his family tree, Pakistani was not one of them.

But on to the subject of this blog: Racism in Novels. I am a member of several author promotion groups on Facebook. I write in what is admittedly a crowded genre of paranormal romances, but when you look at this link, using the keywords paranormal shifter romance, what do you notice about the book covers? All the characters are Caucasian. Yet, in terms of race, what could be more different that being of different species, let alone different skin colour? Even when the shifter animal comes from a species on a continent with darker skins such as African or Indian, their faces are still pale.

I am guilty of this. Only on one of my current books do the characters show racial differences, namely Merysekhmet (Amazon link here). Ramses, as his name suggests is Egyptian, and Elizabeth is a dark-haired American.

The question is why does this happen? Is is ‘market constraint’? Does it bother a potential reader that the cover might show a mixed race romance? I would like to think not, but if that were the case, why don’t we see more covers with mixed race characters? Does it mean that a cover with a mixed race couple sells less? Or, are our readers not so narrow-minded.

I am not sure I know the answer. However, in these days of the #takeaknee protests, not just in the USA, but also in Germany, understanding race and how non-Caucasians can be disadvantaged, is absolutely key.

How can the status quo be changed if we are surrounded by the ‘ideal’ being a Caucasian couple, regardless if it is a M/F, M/M or whatever else.

The next time you buy yourself a book, just consider that.

LINKS TO THE BOOKS IN THE DIARIES OF THE CWN ANNWN and HELLFIRE PACK SERIES

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $0.99 or free on KU: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £0.99 or free on KU: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY