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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44713
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm currently on the fourth draft of a novel I'm writing, which features two protagonists. One of them, is, in my mind, black. I say, "in my mind" because at no point in the story do I ever explicitly state her race, although there are some hints if you know where to look. There are several reasons why I haven't revealed her race:

- By going out of my way to state that she's black, it implicitly says that everyone else in the story whose race isn't explicitly stated is the same race (implicitly white). At no point in the story do I mention anyone's race\*.
- To me, her race doesn't matter to the story - no one shows any signs of racism towards her or treats her differently due to her race. There are no plot points which depend upon her being black (nor, for that matter, for any characters to be any particular race).
- Somewhat quixotically, I like the idea that by not revealing her race, readers can identify with her more easily.

Anyway, my question is: is it a bad thing that I haven't revealed her race? What are the main downsides to not revealing her race? Seeing as how a lot of urban fantasy (the genre the novel is) features white male protagonists, would it be better to reveal her race so as to add a bit of diversity to the genre?

For what it's worth, she's not the only character who in my mind is non-white, but seeing as how the others aren't focal characters, I don't see it as being as important a question for them.

[\*] I do mention a character's accent at one point, but it's vague enough that race can't be extrapolated from it. There are also some names which imply those people come from certain regions of the world.

Original score: 36