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Q&A How do I say that someone is black?

There is nothing wrong with being black, and there is nothing wrong with saying that someone is black. If your character walks to a bench with an eldery black man sitting on it, write that your cha...

posted 5y ago by kajacx‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:16:16Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43321
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar kajacx‭ · 2019-12-08T11:16:16Z (over 4 years ago)
There is nothing wrong with being black, and there is nothing wrong with saying that someone is black. If your character walks to a bench with an eldery black man sitting on it, write that your character walks to a bench with an eldery black man sitting on it.

Skin color is like any other descriptor, and it help your readers identify the character if they don't know their name. For example, if they have an conversation, you can write "And then the black man stood up and left" and the reader will know which character that is, same as if you would describe him as "tall" and then write "And then the tall character stood up and left".

Another reason to mention he is black would be if it matters to the story, but that is up to you as a writer.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-11T12:49:34Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 10