Is this racist?

[foxnflames]

Her's hair and eyes are explained as genetic legacy, not part of her mutation, and play for her backgrounds.I say that if Marvel could do this, you could too.

Marvel doing something and any other creator is not the same thing. At all. And you literally addressed the elephant in the room with this statement, rendering it a moot point. From the OP, we don’t know why this character has white hair. Like you pointed out, there’s a reason for storm having her hair color and eyes. And gee, her name has cultural significance to her.

General statement: I don’t see why some of y’all are cherry picking and doing all these leaps and bounds to miss the point so hard.

@Prince_Wumbl you are a gem. There’s no way I’d expend so much emotional labor repeatedly making the same point. You’ve explained yourself and the point and I’m sure drawing it out in crayon wouldn’t help.

@Tanako there’s a big difference in choosing to dye your hair and slapping some random features on a black character. And even if said character had an unnatural hair color, it’s a choice by the creator, which still begs the questions, why.

Editing to add: racism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A black character with white (and any other color) hair isn’t inherently racist. But shying away from Afro centric features and the like is a slippery slope and I’ve seen so many people take a tumble. Also, as said above, giving characters culturally significant names (also a general statement) because you think it “sounds nice” is appropriation.

And comparing eastern and western culture when it comes to a lot of things (names) is apples and oranges.

[TAMAnnoying]

This discussion is usless since we don’t have nearly any information about the world building.

Like absolutely zero.

People seem to always forget the factor that parents are the ones who’ve named to character and thus would be the people responsible for the well chosen or badly chosen name.

Parents can name their children whatever they want so long as the government approves of it- which again is world building information.

You could call your character/child Tree if you wanted. Is it weird? Yes. Is it something you can do? Yes. Will people call them tree if they meet them? Maybe, maybe not. Professor OAK is a name that exisits and is in fact named after a tree SO.

I don’t even know if this is a historical story which naming conventions would be important or a “neo Japan- totally not actually callafornia” setting where naming conventions arnt even a real thing anymore.

If it’s supposed tp be a modern setting then naming conventions aren’t even important anymore because there’s PLENTY of children named after GOT characters now. People name their children after things they like most of the time so like???

The only actually racist thing about this entire conversation is people are asking if someone with dark skin is allowed to be called a word that means “white” thinking skin color is more important then

1. Personally
2. Family
3. Setting
4. Time period
5. Any amount of time on world building
6. Story
7. Themes

[IndigoShirtProd]

People seem to always forget the factor that parents are the ones who’ve named to character and thus would be the people responsible for the well chosen or badly chosen name.

Right, true, but um, yea, the creator if the character has the be all end all on what a character's name is. And also Shiro could easily be a nickname given to the character as well, it doesn't have to come from their parents or guardians.

The only actually racist thing about this entire conversation is people are asking if someone with dark skin is allowed to be called a word that means “white” thinking skin color is more important then

Let's not call people asking questions and informing themselves in an effort to be less ignorant, racist. There are plenty of loaded questions out there that have those specific implications. I would posit, that this is not one of them.

[Tanako]

which still begs the questions, why.

does it really matter? its a fictional character so it shouldn't matter. every one is free to create what they want as long as it's not offensive. i know its hard to tell whats offensive to people but you can't please everyone. I have a Russian character with red hair, I also have a white boy with orange hair. and i have a black character with natural pink hair. in my creation, the colors are natural not died.
at the end of the day, they are all "fictional", characters.

All i'm saying is, its ok to be creative with your characters. there is no rule that says you have to be ethnically correct when creating a character. its freedom of choice.

[LCT_m_a_d]

I wouldn't say it's useless, I think one important point raised (to a level of contention) is that "not racist" isn't the only checkbox that makes many people feel comfortable with how people are portrayed.

I hope voicing my opinion on the matter would offer insight from a black individual with dark feature complexion. I don't want anyone to deny dark people with light complexion, as much as I'd like creators to appreciate black people with common darker complexions when it comes to design.

Of course I'm only one person, so you are welcome to respect or disregard my individual opinion as far as you value my right to share it. I always appreciate the courage it takes to learn about people first and represent individuals, and not just their tolerated portrayal.

[foxnflames]

These “fictional characters” are vessels for representation in media. And “as long as it’s not offensive” is a cop out. Because as long as it’s not offensive to who? The people who most novels and comics and Tv shows and movies cater to? Because it’s not people who look like us.

My stories center BIPOC, mainly black people because of the lack of positive representation, especially toward dark skinned black men. Even though I’m black, I’m still careful of how I portray my characters because while they’re not real people, we as humans draw connections and comparisons to things in real life. So I’m not about to sit up here and perpetuate negative stereotypes of people who look like my friends, husband, coworkers, family, etc. All my characters are created with care so I’m not about to flippantly say, oh they’re not real and as long as no one calls me out on it then it’s fine.

I never said that you or anyone couldn’t be creative with character design, but each feature has some type of purpose, whether intended or not. You might pick a hair or eye color because you like it, but you can’t control how people perceive it. And to blatantly ignore that notion as a creator is beyond careless.

[Tanako]

I have no faintest idea on what you are getting at. and to be honest, I don't share the same view as you so you might as well stop trying to prove your point to me. you owe me nothing and I don't owe you anything as well.
The original post say "What do you think? Is it racist, or we overthink it?". And I gave my opinion and here you are attacking my comment.

to be honest, all that you have said means absolutely nothing to me. I gave OP my perspective so let's all stay on topic.

[R.n.P]

no its not racist, that would be a reach to say so, you're just referencing the characters hair

[joannekwan]

While not blatantly racist, all of this information can explain how the character could be interpreted negatively. And hopefully you can relay the above points to your friend. Clearly the Black community is not a monolith (and neither are any POC groups) and some find more problems with the specific character than others. It's up to your friend to decide if they wish to proceed with the caveat that the character could rub some folks the wrong way.

Since we don't know your friend's world setting (maybe everyone has cheesy names based off some aspect of their appearance), perhaps a solution to better the situation could be to include more Black characters that have natural features and quirky names.

[ar-ninetysix]

I feel like I should elaborate on the bit about Light lol

Canonically speaking, Light's name is technically still Japanese, but apparently the author made the decision to pronounce it like the English word "light". So if we were to strictly go off the kanji alone for his name being written out, then his name is actually Tsuki which means "moon".

Anyways.. I think y'all are needlessly arguing based off of assumptions, could this seriously not wait until the OP can clarify the creator's intent?? Are you that eager and impatient to prove each other wrong???

[foxnflames]

Lmao I’m not attacking your comment or proving anything to you. I merely wholeheartedly disagreed with what you said. You’re simply one of many people on this post.

And funny how you didn’t know what i was getting at but gave an apt reply.

[bluejamtoast]

My point is for the way the name is read. Its not a normal reading of the kanji, Ohda specifically chose for him to be called Light a non japanese name

Are you that eager and impatient to prove each other wrong???

Nah, its not that deep, just trying to clarify my point

[LCT_m_a_d]

I'm assuming I didn't clearly convey my thought. Regardless my point isn't to contest you or convince you to respect me or my position. I won't defend or justify it. I just hope this was insightful to the OP and again I appreciate the err on the side of humanity.

[DiegoPalacios]

No one here is denying you the right to share your opinion.

I agree that the goal here is helping OP with their question.

[lomcia]

No racist for me. It's normal character. Why make such a big deal with skin colour? If she sees her character like that just do it. It is not racist. If someone thinks it is he should think twice. Its like u would made albino character and name him Burakku or Kuro it is a normal name... Just do her character.I think she will be unique and Im looking forward to see hers OC

[thecrystalrook]

90% of the time, the only people I see calling a race card on this type of thing are the people it has no impact on. It's fiction, it's a fake character. We're not bound to real-world scenarios as writers. And even if we were, why is it problematic for a person of color to have white hair? Have we never come across this IRL? If the answer is no, I do in fact find that hard to believe.

In any case, as long as you are not mocking and making fun of a stereotype or culture, then no I do not think its racist. That's what it comes down to. Don't be negative and derogatory.

[Kaydreamer]

Can a third party comment whether my responses come across as rude?

You didn't come across as rude. It was pretty clear to me that you just wanted to have a good-faith discussion. Maybe the other person was having a bad day and misread your intent, I dunno.

I really appreciated your clarity.

Also, Atsuko Jackson is a fantastic character! I loved that anime, but I totally forgot it existed. She's a great example.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

It's not racist in any correct use of the word or its underlying beliefs. However, there will be someone, somewhere who will call it racist & tell you they were offended. I think if you use the name it will help if there's a backstory on why they carry that name so that it doesn't appear to be a joke.

[midnight_pencil]

Im way late in this discussion, but it was in my related and I couldn't help but answer. As a person of color,In my opinion, a black character with white hair is perfectly fine, there are many people out there in real life with many skin tones and many colors so I don't mind it in the slightest. I do think the name "Shiro" is a bit off, so unless the name is important or plays a part in the story, I would just pick a different name.'That's just me though,

[ratique]