Blackness in literature

Gemmy (middle) and co. from Themo's Book, Black Star

I was working on a drawing of Gemmy from Emersus Project the other day and as I was colouring it in my partner turned to me and said, 'Wait, Gemmy is black? I always read him as white.'

My first thought was, 'Uh, the book is illustrated. Look at him, brown skinned and broad nosed.' But then I thought, by the same token he has clear blue eyes and bright blue hair and can shoot electricity from his fingers. So in the world of Emersus Project nothing is a a given. .

But, to put it simply, yes Gemmy is black. His  father is black and his mother is white. Technically that makes him bi-racial. And in the book it's not an issue of which race he is. He may choose to identify with whatever race he wants or, as many mixed-race people I know do, just chose to identify as himself or by his nationality. But, the bottom line is he will always be browner than his fairer skinned compatriots which will carry with it some weight.

Is it a problem that Gemmy doesn't 'read' as black?

No, it's not. The object of my writing is for everyone to see something of themselves in my stories. Black or white shouldn't be important. What does matter are the issues in the stories that I want to face.

Gemmy never asks himself the question, 'Am I Black?'. This is because the biggest concern in his life is 'Who do I want to be given the power that I have?'. In Arbea, the world the book is set in, there are two other sentient species and the story is about Gemmy's inner conflict with his own nature **SPOILER ALERT seeing as he is a genetic amalgamation of all three species**.

For me the 'specism' in the Emersus Project is an allegory for the racism, classism and all the other 'isms' that I've personally experienced in my life (as many have). The story is not about me but about something bigger that we all feel - trying to figure out who we are in a world where everyone is different. Seriously, your atoms and cells will only ever be your atoms and cells.

We as a species are naturally biased against other cultures and things that are different. Tribalism, sectarianism, racism, etc are all ways for us to establish a group 'like us' to try and feel like we fit in. But the truth it, it doesn't matter. What makes us 'human' is our ability to see past all the crap to show kindness and love regardless of our differences.

But, for those of you looking for the 'race issue' in Emersus Project, the series is not devoid of it.

Gemmy's parentage

Gemmy's father

Gemmy's mother

The thing that I like about Gemmy is that the issue of his race does come up in the books. He is not naive to it but largely he doesn't let it affect him. He is who he is and there are bigger fish to fry. Gemmy's father, Gravander, is described as "an imposing figure. He was starkly bald accept for the academic braid* that sat atop his head. The bright white streaks in his hair stood out as a shock against his dark skin." And his mother is white with bright blue eyes with even brighter red curly hair.

Throughout the book there are hints dropped at the bigger picture of issues of race in Arbea. And, like it is for many, the tension comes from inside his own family. 

In the first book we read that: "Gemmy went to his closet and rummaged about until he found an Arbonaesche winter cap that his gran had sent him years ago. She’d never appreciated that they lived in one of the warmest places in Arbea. But he’d always suspected that she wanted him to cover his tell-tale Garzian raven hair."


In the second book we read:

"[Their cover story was] Sem and Daryn were the children of diplomats going to meet their parents on Rheza and Gemmy was their servant. They’d have to be as believable as possible because any suspicion or serious checking would result in disaster.

Sem couldn’t understand why they couldn’t all be the children of diplomats, especially as Gemmy was the only one with an actual [nobility] title. But, Gemmy had memorised all the names and faces of the diplomats who had access to travel to Rheza. They were all descendants of royal Arbean families. Gemmy had to explain that none of them had Garzian ‘farmer colouring,’ as his gran had always politely put it."

Does racism still exist?

My next series 'Age of Albion'

Yes. It's usually people who don't experience racism that say it no longer exists, but it does. In Britain there have been high profile incidents of football racism. So to imagine that it exists off the football pitch is not a stretch. And racism in America is nothing that anyone would deny.

The subject of race and how society sees it definitely needs to continue being explored in literature. Racism is very real all across the world and it's not just a black/white issue. That's why I'm deliberately featuring a black female heroine in my next series as an opportunity to explore race in addition to other themes.

For me, as a fair-skinned black man I've had it from white and black people who say that I'm 'too black', 'not that black' or 'not black enough' or 'act white' for a start (don't get me started on the American jabs levelled at me). And my only answer to critics of my blackness is that 'I'm black enough to be hanged'.

Jim Crow rock in Dunoon, Scotland

I say this because under the Jim Crow segregation laws in the US (which only ended 60 years ago) regardless of how fair or dark you were, if you had 'just one drop' of black ancestry you were black and subject to the laws that dehumanised and diminished an entire race. And for those who don't think crazy stuff like that still happens in the UK, well, there's a 'Jim Crow' rock in Dunoon, Scotland with a minstrel face. They say it represents 'Our friend a "jack daw" crow'. Locals repaint it every year. Why does in not say jack daw then? And why does it's beak look like red lips? Who knows. The first (and last) time I visited the seaside town - a town that used to home an American Naval base in the 60s (just sayin) - I had a particularly bad experience when I tried to explain to local 'friends' about why it was upsetting.

Don't believe me? Let's break it down:

What does this

have to do with this?

Answer:

Don't be an idiot. Just change the name of the flipping rock!!

In the end, I've experienced just as much discrimination from people based on my race as any other black person. And there are people from other races in this country and others who've had it just as bad if not worse. But trying to validate your experiences by diminishing mine is something that I don't accept. We've all got our struggles so don't be a jerk. The same goes in literature. It's not about just one struggle for everyone. And for some, it doesn't really matter. But what does matter is being respectful of other's experiences and being happy.