Advice/Help Is it okay to roleplay as characters that aren't a part of your race/ethnic group?

[Nihilum]

The only thing I had issue with what you said was when you mentioned that you consider a person's race to be as insignificant as eye colour. I personally know a few minority people whom, if I said that to them, I think would probably hit me.

There are a lot of people out there that take their roots very seriously.

There'll always be differing levels of how much emphasis someone puts onto these sorts of things. I have a contrasting experience in which pretty much all of my minority friends hate when people view their race as some great big important thing to fuss about - it makes them feel like they're being the target of white saviorism or they're being chosen as the token character.

In terms of 'insignificance' though, I meant that it's just another physical trait when I'm viewing a character. I don't think of them any different just because of that one thing; it falls under the same category as 'gender' or 'sexuality'.

 

[Jannah]

There'll always be differing levels of how much emphasis someone puts onto these sorts of things. I have a contrasting experience in which pretty much all of my minority friends hate when people view their race as some great big important thing to fuss about - it makes them feel like they're being the target of white saviorism or they're being chosen as the token character.

In terms of 'insignificance' though, I meant that it's just another physical trait when I'm viewing a character. I don't think of them any different just because of that one thing; it falls under the same category as 'gender' or 'sexuality'.

In some stories a character's race or ethnicity can be relevant. In those cases the writer should be portraying them realistically without relying on negative stereotypes.

 

[Nihilum]

I sort of assumed that not doing negative stereotypes was a given? <brow raise>

 

[Jannah]

I sort of assumed that not doing negative stereotypes was a given? <brow raise>

Some unskilled writers still do it.

 

[The Great Sage]

Stereotypes don't just pop into existence for no reason. Whether they reflect positive or negative personal attributes is irrelevant.

What would the world be if we had no Italian mobsters? Or German evil scientists?

 

[Hallow]

My answer to this question is: is Eminem the Rap God?

 

[Hootle]

My answer to this question is: is Eminem the Rap God?

No. He's good in his own way however.

 

[Ito-Hayashi Kaida]

So for some context, I was on Twitter the other day and I saw a post basically saying: "White people shouldn't roleplay as bipoc characters because they'll misrepresent and misportray them"

I've always roleplayed with many different ocs, a lot of them being bipoc. Although usually set in different universes and such. At least not in our own world setting. And the times I have its always been dystopian, like a post-apocalyptic plot, or using our world's geography as a blueprint but making it fantasy. Though since it's usually set in a made-up fantasy world, does it still kind of apply the same? Of course I wouldn't roleplay as a bipoc character trying to depict the bipoc experience.

I don't want to misrepresent or misportray anyone, especially minority groups because I know how harmful that can be. I do lots of research on the characters I create to make sure there wouldn't be anything I would be doing wrong or misrepresenting. I'm not sure if the post was about non-poc writing about poc's experience or not. And I wasn't able to ask if that was what they were talking about.

Tl;dr Is it okay for me (I'm white) to have bipoc characters? Is this like an unspoken thing that I just didn't know until now? Does this mean I should delete all of my non-white oc's?

Also I did ask this on another site but they recommended a roleplay forum to ask it on instead.

Edit: A big thanks to everyone who's responded with their thoughts and feedback!

I'm a reality shifter, and shifting to Taishō Era Japan, for a demon slayer desired reality, it's like more in depth roleplay, but you're only doing it with yourself in an alternate reality, and I'm a part of a discord server for it, and I offhandedly mentioned I was white. (I'm Caucasian, but like .. my skin color is decidedly not pasty white, yk? I'd be described on a skin tone chart as tan/light brown, and on a color scale, my skin color would be like #CF9E7C) and I'm having people freak out at me bc my OWN CREATED CHARACTER is slightly darker skinned, and mentioned in the character files as Asian. BECAUSE IT'S JAPAN IN THE 1910'S AND 20'S. (Character skin chart, depending on which character creator or marker shade I used would vary from my profile picture, to #94613C) and now people are like "It's racially insensitive, etc, etc, etc, you should just be white, and you should script that every race is socially accepted" but like .. i want it to be at least semi-canon to Demon Slayer anime and manga?? and i've had this OC since like, 2019???

(Images are of the same character, it just depends on what creator i was using, that's why scars and skin tone varies a bit.)
(The screenshots are of the backlash I was getting)

I feel like it's not fair, like what makes it a bad thing? I'm not being insensitive in anyway I can think of, besides its *MY OWN CHARACTER*

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

My answer to this question is: is Eminem the Rap God?

I believe MGK is the Rap Devil.

 

[GrumpySwallow]

I'm a reality shifter, and shifting to Taishō Era Japan, for a demon slayer desired reality, it's like more in depth roleplay, but you're only doing it with yourself in an alternate reality, and I'm a part of a discord server for it, and I offhandedly mentioned I was white. (I'm Caucasian, but like .. my skin color is decidedly not pasty white, yk? I'd be described on a skin tone chart as tan/light brown, and on a color scale, my skin color would be like #CF9E7C) and I'm having people freak out at me bc my OWN CREATED CHARACTER is slightly darker skinned, and mentioned in the character files as Asian. BECAUSE IT'S JAPAN IN THE 1910'S AND 20'S. (Character skin chart, depending on which character creator or marker shade I used would vary from my profile picture, to #94613C) and now people are like "It's racially insensitive, etc, etc, etc, you should just be white, and you should script that every race is socially accepted" but like .. i want it to be at least semi-canon to Demon Slayer anime and manga?? and i've had this OC since like, 2019???

(Images are of the same character, it just depends on what creator i was using, that's why scars and skin tone varies a bit.)
(The screenshots are of the backlash I was getting)

I feel like it's not fair, like what makes it a bad thing? I'm not being insensitive in anyway I can think of, besides its *MY OWN CHARACTER*

RP what you want. So long as it's legal, doesn't break ToS, and follows the rules of the RP you're participating in, you're not doing anything wrong and it all comes down to personal taste. Folks can leave if they don't like your way of playing Virtual Barbie. Don't even give these people a response; let the trash take itself out. It always baffles me how strangers on the internet think they can tell other strangers on the internet what they can and can't do and expect to be taken seriously.

I have a RP character who feigns ignorance when someone flirts with them because they're shy and don't know how else to handle such a thing. I was accused of making a "caricature of asexuals." I still use that character in RP and have fun with it because screw that person. People who want to find offense in things will find a way to be offended no matter what you do, so don't stress yourself out trying to tread on eggshells over something that should be a fun escape from RL.

Freaking out because someone's imaginary character doesn't share the same ethnicity as the player is bigoted in itself. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

 

[nerdy tangents]

So I think it very much depends on the context.

If you want to write a realistic story about immigration in the modern world, then yeah I think you should probably have some lived experienxe with immigration.

Mostly because it makes the story a lot more nuanced and authentic when your writing about something you actually experienced versus something you know about from pop culture.

Now if your writing a fantasy epic about dragon riders then I don’t think it matters what ethnicity your character is. Because it’s clearly a fictional world and you can write whatever you want.

For that matter even if it’s a realistic world just an unrealistic plot (Ex. Marrying a billionaire) then again go nuts.

But if you are wanting to make a more nuanced and grounded story based on a very specific experience then it’s usually best to stick to things you have experienced personally. It makes the roleplay feel much more authentic.

 

[Jannah]

So I think it very much depends on the context.

If you want to write a realistic story about immigration in the modern world, then yeah I think you should probably have some lived experienxe with immigration.

Mostly because it makes the story a lot more nuanced and authentic when your writing about something you actually experienced versus something you know about from pop culture.

Now if your writing a fantasy epic about dragon riders then I don’t think it matters what ethnicity your character is. Because it’s clearly a fictional world and you can write whatever you want.

For that matter even if it’s a realistic world just an unrealistic plot (Ex. Marrying a billionaire) then again go nuts.

But if you are wanting to make a more nuanced and grounded story based on a very specific experience then it’s usually best to stick to things you have experienced personally. It makes the roleplay feel much more authentic.

I think even the first is feasible as long as you do the proper research.

 

[GrumpySwallow]

I think most folks would prefer proper research to be done in regards to real world settings and history. Even in RPs with established fictional settings, such as MMORPGs, basic knowledge of the lore is very preferred. However, I'd still consider that personal taste. There are folks don't care and just want to have pretendy fun times, and if those folks find each other and get together, and have fun, then no problem from what I see. I used to RP in MMORPGs, and if I saw RPers that were outright breaking lore with their RP, I simply don't engage because that's not to my taste. No big deal. It's still not right to tell someone that they're not allowed to make certain types of character simply because of their RL ethnicity.

I often refer to RP as "Virtual Barbie" because besides that being what RP is, I like to think it highlights how absurd it is that folks can take RP so seriously to the point of doxing and harassing other people, or telling them that they're not allowed to make certain types of characters "because." It's a reminder to lighten up.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I think even the first is feasible as long as you do the proper research.

It really isn’t. Trust me as someone who actually does have experience with immigration (not personally but multiple people in my family have immigrated).

You really can’t replicate that lived experience with research unless you are interviewing an actual immigrant and you think to ask them a lot of really specific questions.

Because your going to be missing out on the authentic experiences of an individual if all you have to go on is broad information from research.

 

[Daisie]

I personally think you're alright to RP whatever you want, with as much or little research as suits your fancy, with the caveat that your RP partner should also be okay with whatever level of research you're at.

If you want to RP some very shallow representations of deeper subjects, cool. As long as you find a partner or group that's in the same boat as you, go for it. You're not publishing anything, you're not really affecting anyone except yourself and whoever you're RPing with, so if that floats your boat, then no one'll stop you. This is your private hobby.

 

[waterskine]

I think most of what I wanted to say has already been said by others, but I will add: roleplayers of colour often already roleplay characters that aren't a part of their race/ethnic group, i.e. white people, with almost zero backlash. We're expected to, even — there are more than a few roleplay groups and individuals that aren't very welcoming of non-white characters (who they can't just play the same way they would a white person) (whether they admit this or not).

To me, white people avoiding writing CoC entirely not only strikes me as hypervigilant, but also pretty lazy. Yes, writing CoC does require research and sensitivity, and characters' races don't consist of the mere colour of their skin (which is perhaps an issue worth addressing in another post). Yes, you might get it wrong sometimes. And yes, there are certain kinds of stories innate to a racially marginalised experience that are inappropriate for a white person to tell. None of this means that you should never ever ever RP characters of colour till the day you die, insert thunder crackle here.

If anything, white people avoiding writing non-white characters only contributes to a society in which PoC are expected to have intimate knowledge of how white people and their culture operate, along with their own, whilst white people have the mere option of paying attention to the experiences of PoC. I don't blame anyone if it's out of their comfort zone, but give it a go! At the end of the day, by researching PoC for fictional characters, you'll be expanding your knowledge on the lives of real people too.

 

[Jannah]

I think most of what I wanted to say has already been said by others, but I will add: roleplayers of colour often already roleplay characters that aren't a part of their race/ethnic group, i.e. white people, with almost zero backlash. We're expected to, even — there are more than a few roleplay groups and individuals that aren't very welcoming of non-white characters (who they can't just play the same way they would a white person) (whether they admit this or not).

To me, white people avoiding writing CoC entirely not only strikes me as hypervigilant, but also pretty lazy. Yes, writing CoC does require research and sensitivity, and characters' races don't consist of the mere colour of their skin (which is perhaps an issue worth addressing in another post). Yes, you might get it wrong sometimes. And yes, there are certain kinds of stories innate to a racially marginalised experience that are inappropriate for a white person to tell. None of this means that you should never ever ever RP characters of colour till the day you die, insert thunder crackle here.

If anything, white people avoiding writing non-white characters only contributes to a society in which PoC are expected to have intimate knowledge of how white people and their culture operate, along with their own, whilst white people have the mere option of paying attention to the experiences of PoC. I don't blame anyone if it's out of their comfort zone, but give it a go! At the end of the day, by researching PoC for fictional characters, you'll be expanding your knowledge on the lives of real people too.

Hoenstly, I think one of the challenges with writing POC characters is finding appropriate faces. I know a lot of people get hung up on that (which is reasonable since a white face claim shouldn't be used for a Japanese character, for example). Like, I've been in a position where I really wanted to write an indigenous Australian, but there's simply not a lot of faces that are of indigenous Australian descent. It usually means using a face of a different ethnicity entirely and how am I, as a non-indigenous person, supposed to know which ones of other ethnicities are acceptable to use? I have considered faces from other indigenous tribes, but again some people do get hung up and expect faces to match 100% with the character being portrayed.

 

[waterskine]

Hoenstly, I think one of the challenges with writing POC characters is finding appropriate faces. I know a lot of people get hung up on that (which is reasonable since a white face claim shouldn't be used for a Japanese character, for example). Like, I've been in a position where I really wanted to write an indigenous Australian, but there's simply not a lot of faces that are of indigenous Australian descent. It usually means using a face of a different ethnicity entirely and how am I, as a non-indigenous person, supposed to know which ones of other ethnicities are acceptable to use? I have considered faces from other indigenous tribes, but again some people do get hung up and expect faces to match 100% with the character being portrayed.

Oh man, definitely! The whole can of worms of trying to find and substitute faceclaims for groups that aren't well represented in the modelling world is why I myself avoid IRL faceclaims if given the choice. Among other things, it's a dreadful barrier to making diverse characters, even outside of racial traits. Still, I know the issue isn't always solved by using illustrated faceclaims, and not everyone can or wants to draw their own.

 

[Jannah]

Oh man, definitely! The whole can of worms of trying to find and substitute faceclaims for groups that aren't well represented in the modelling world is why I myself avoid IRL faceclaims if given the choice. Among other things, it's a dreadful barrier to making diverse characters, even outside of racial traits. Still, I know the issue isn't always solved by using illustrated faceclaims, and not everyone can or wants to draw their own.

I'm not really a fan of using face claims at all myself, but some RPers seem to require them. As a writer I just prefer to describe my characters and leave it up to the reader to fill in the blanks. If they're of a specific ethnicity and it's an important detail to know then I will describe them as such. I will also give them a name that matches their ethnicity. Like, I've seen some odd names that are out of place and don't at all fit the ethnicity of the character it's attached to.

 

[iceice]

So for some context, I was on Twitter the other day and I saw a post basically saying: "White people shouldn't roleplay as bipoc characters because they'll misrepresent and misportray them"

I've always roleplayed with many different ocs, a lot of them being bipoc. Although usually set in different universes and such. At least not in our own world setting. And the times I have its always been dystopian, like a post-apocalyptic plot, or using our world's geography as a blueprint but making it fantasy. Though since it's usually set in a made-up fantasy world, does it still kind of apply the same? Of course I wouldn't roleplay as a bipoc character trying to depict the bipoc experience.

I don't want to misrepresent or misportray anyone, especially minority groups because I know how harmful that can be. I do lots of research on the characters I create to make sure there wouldn't be anything I would be doing wrong or misrepresenting. I'm not sure if the post was about non-poc writing about poc's experience or not. And I wasn't able to ask if that was what they were talking about.

Tl;dr Is it okay for me (I'm white) to have bipoc characters? Is this like an unspoken thing that I just didn't know until now? Does this mean I should delete all of my non-white oc's?

Also I did ask this on another site but they recommended a roleplay forum to ask it on instead.

Edit: A big thanks to everyone who's responded with their thoughts and feedback!

yEs

 

[Marzopup]

What I don't really like about this debate (which isn't an attack on anyone in particular including OP; this is a general statement) is that when people question it I don't think enough credit is being given to the ability of writing as a way to practice empathy toward other groups?

People can relate to each other's experiences based on shared emotions. Someone may not be bipoc, but they do know what it's like to feel ostracized. While they will never know what it feels like for that to happen to me because of my skin color specifically, that's common ground from which they can learn to at least empathize with someone else's experience. And trying to write about a person in a group you're not a part of obviously forces you to reflect on those similarities to try and make an honest portrayal. This is a good thing. It helps foster understanding between people. It encourages people to seek out resources and educate themselves. Telling them they're not allowed to write anyone unlike them is just one more reason for someone to never venture out of their own bubble.

That is not to say that bad representation doesn't cause any harm, especially in professionally published popular media. But if someone is making a good-faith effort to write someone in a different group than them for a story they're writing for themselves or between friends, I think they deserve some grace. Constructive criticism isn't bad, but discouraging them from trying it altogether is.

 

[Briskie]

I think it's just fine! I'm Asian, and I have ocs of various ethnic backgrounds. As long as you're not doing it to make harmful stereotypes, they're just a character that you're using to express your creativity.

 

[gator]

Btw if the answer is yes, then you can only play humans.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

As long as the writer doesn't intentionally write the character to mock the ethnic/race then its fine. We're amateur writers here, no need to overcomplicate things. Go on, write things, make mistakes, and learn.

Also, as an Indonesian I would be delighted to see someone else trying to play Indonesian. I see it as an attempt to understand and enjoy our culture and that would be wonderful.

 

[WhiskeyMarten]

Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: Yes, but if you intend on making a character's culture/race/ethnicity an important part of who they are, or something that you will be writing about often, it would be good to put research in if it isn't something you're familiar with to ensure your portrayal is respectful and more accurate. If someone is willing to educate you (nobody is obligated to), then ask questions!