As a writer should race be a factor in what your work is about?

Maybe this question came into my head since I have been reading Langston Hughes’s essays recently. He was a firm believer in writing what you know. Now, I know that he is not the first to say this but he definitely is one of the first to live by that rule. Race is always a uncomfortable subject, especially when you are dealing with one race being oppressed. Yes, we have come a looong way from those days when life was harder for certain races than it was for others, but there are still some issues that need to be addressed. For the sake of not making any of my followers feel uncomfortable, I will try and just stick to my personal struggles and ideas. As a young aspiring writer I have plenty of ideas for my stories and characters. Whenever I start a story there is always the question of whether or not my main character should be African American simply because I am. Of course I am aware that I have to branch out and not have all my characters resemble me in race. But sometimes I wonder why I should have to feel guilty about making my protagonist African American? Would it make my story any less engaging? Maybe I am scared my writing wouldn’t be taken seriously. But is that my fault? I am scared that if I have a story centered around a black character it might be deemed unbelievable simply because I refuse to submit my work to fit certain stereotypes. None of my characters will speak in slang or be typically “ghetto”. I refuse to do this because I know plenty of black people who are nowhere near what rap songs, and demeaning books and movies depict us to be. Why should I depict my characters as something that I am not even surrounded by? I feel that the large number of African American books depicting ALL their African American characters as such should be reprimanded. Yes, there are black people who speak and act a certain way. Who have come across drugs and prostitution, and maybe aren’t as cultured as others. But trust me, that percentage of them aren’t as high as society would like you to believe. There is nothing wrong with having those characters written about, as long as they are portrayed in a fair and unbiased way. They are making it that much harder for other writers who want to introduce a different type of black character to the world. One who is equally as realistic. I look at novels by Toni Morrison, novels that center around slaves who are illiterate, but there is a story behind it and the book itself isn’t affected by it. Its time that African American writers start speaking for us all and show readers that we are more three dimensional than history has shown.

Let’s face it, first impressions rely heavily on looks. I don’t mean looks, as in how pretty someone is. Looks, as in someone’s style. As much as we all like think that we judge our first impression on personality, secretly, we are eyeing what shoes are being worn, how the said person’s colors are being coordinated. Is this a bad thing? I would like to think not. After all a person can easily mislead you about their personality…..but there is no hiding whether or not someone has style.

I happen to be a 19 year old girl in one of the biggest fashion capitals of the world. I have friends who can get a glimpse of fashion week right out there window twice a year. So what do you do when you live in a playground for fashion designers and models? You keep up…and in any way that you can. The streets of New York are virtually a runway. Its not enough to basically look cute or pretty, you have to stand out. Now some people like to take the Lady Gaga route but , personally I would like to describe my style as the understated showstopper. Mainly because I’m on a very small budget, but mostly because I am one of those firm believers of the saying “less is more”.

So if you’re reading this you probably are a alot like me. Young student trying to make ends meet, you work, go to school, and play in the city. You come across countless girls wearing amazing outfits. Despite the outfit looking like a million bucks, your somewhat trained eye (thanks to years of fashion magazines and window shopping) knows that it didn’t cost a small fortune. This poses the question: how do they do it? Luckily, females in New York have countless resources. There are plenty of blogs, fashion magazines, and how to books helping us all look great for less. For those of us who can’t afford Alexander McQueen and Dior, we have H&M’s , and Forever 21’s in practically every part of the city. We have stores like Century 21 that give discounts you wouldn’t believe on big name brands.

Now that we have so many options available to us, all we have to do is create a new look. In a city where first style impressions are EVERYTHING, coming up with your own look is almost as good as being able to afford designer threads on a daily basis. Almost.