A post going around says normalize black stories without racism and trauma. I agree, and I’ve been making that argument for years.
Here’s the problem underneath it: a lot of creators are convinced that if they don’t work racism or slavery into a character’s arc somewhere, they’re a sellout. So you end up with predictable characters you can read from a mile away, kneecapped by the people writing them.
And it’s talking out of both sides of the mouth. People say they want black characters to be prominent, loved, adored the way legacy characters are. Then they advocate for the same story being told over and over. You can’t have both. The characters that caught on didn’t have that as a crutch. They just had to be cool.
You can acknowledge a character is black. Nothing prevents that. Our most popular character is black. We just don’t spend entire storylines dwelling on it, because everybody can already see it.
Also worth saying plainly: the black experience isn’t monolithic. Black folks in Chicago aren’t black folks in Dallas, aren’t black folks in Houston, aren’t my family in Arkansas. There’s an enormous amount to write about outside of trauma.
When these characters don’t land, it gets blamed on investment or the odds. Sometimes it’s the approach. If the marketing leads with the identity instead of “I made something cool, come check it out,” that’s a choice with a predictable result.
I want to see people do better at this. I’d love to see more original characters from every walk of life. It just takes creativity instead of a crutch.
