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I am tired of people acting like mixed-race characters are seasoning they can throw in their stories to make them not racist. If you are not comfortable writing a BIPOC character that is monoracial, you are not ready for the extra considerations required for mixed characters.
That being said, I’m so pleased you want to write mixed-race characters! Let’s all work together to do it better! There is so much nuance to our stories and our lives. Here are some questions to ask yourself when creating mixed-race characters. 2/16
What races are they? Not all mixed-race people are half white! Also, mixed people have children as well, so somebody can be triracial or quadracial. 3/16
What is their parents’ relationship to their culture? Have they made an effort to transmit or include their child in that culture? 4/16
Does one - or both - of their parents have racist beliefs and/or struggle with internalized oppression? BIPOC parents can also struggle with racism/internalized oppression, which can have a HUGE impact on mixed-race children. 5/16
Have they absorbed some or all of those racist beliefs? Do they reject some or all of them? How vocal are they about accepting or rejecting them? 6/16
How did their parents meet? Do their families approve of their relationship? What is the character’s relationship to their extended family? 7/16
How does the character racially present? Are they commonly perceived as being one specific race, or are people generally confused about what race they are? 8/16
How dark is their skin? How does colorism and fetishization affect them? 9/16
Do they look more like one parent or the other? When they were a young child, did people not believe one or both of their parents was actually their parent because of the color of their skin? 10/16
Do they have siblings? Do those siblings racially present the same way as them? If not, how does this make their life experiences different? 11/16
How does language and speaking mannerisms impact their life? Do they code-switch? 12/16
What was the racial/ethnic make-up of the area they grew up in? Did that make them feel like they fit in, or did they feel different than everyone else? 13/16
How have their ideas about race and culture changed as they’ve aged? 14/16
How would they respond if/when somebody asked “What are you?” 15/16
Hope this is helpful! Please don’t write a narrative exclusively about a mixed-race person’s relationship to their identity if you aren’t mixed. If you want to write a mixed character because they are “sexy” or “easier to write” please question why you have that impulse. 16/16
