Hmm…we (Cindy and Malinda) discussed this and we aren’t sure whether there are more multiracial characters in YA than people of color from a single racial/ethnic background. Cindy did mention that it felt like among multiracial characters, it was predominantly white + another race. Malinda wrote one short story, “Good Girl” in the anthology Diverse Energies, that includes a character who is Asian and black, but it’s only a short story.
Good question! Anybody else have thoughts about it?
I have a cynical suspicion that biracial characters - or rather, biracial characters who are half white - are often viewed as a less intimidating narrative option by white writers and readers in particular. Because if a biracial character is half-white, then it excuses their being detached from their POC heritage, which means there’s less pressure for a white writer to do their research, with a (perceived) decreased threat of backlash about any race or culture-related errors for the same reason. Such a character might also be perceived as less threatening by white readers, who can safely view the character’s POC half as an ‘exotic’ feature of their otherwise normative whiteness; or, more charitably, as a way of appealing to both white and POC audiences at the same time. Note that I don’t agree with this logic; but I’ve often thought, too, that there are more half white characters than biracial or other POC in white-authored YA novels, and so have spent a lot of time thinking about why that might be.
(via malindalo)
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This is not a trend that I have particularly noticed, but I have many, many thoughts. First, the reality of our world is...
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