Denouncing Racism Doesn’t Mean I’m “Woke”

Many of my novels involve issues pertaining to race. Given the controversial nature of such issues, this can be challenging, particularly since I am a middle-aged white man. Some might claim that I am unqualified to write about racial issues because I am white. Such a claim is itself racist. The color of my skin does not determine the truth of what I write.

A person doesn’t have to experience something first-hand to understand that experience. I’ve never experienced having a sharp stick poked into my eye, but I am certain it wouldn’t be pleasant.

I know that racism exists. Indeed, when I was an adult, I was disheartened to learn my favorite grandparents were racist. They weren’t overt about it when I was young, but I later learned they disowned their daughter because she married a Black man.

Racism holds that a person’s character is not determined by his choices, but by his skin color. It is the crudest and most vile form of irrationality.

While I haven’t personally experienced racism, I have experienced irrationality. I understand the helplessness one can feel when dealing with the irrational. However, I also understand that irrationality is impotent. Irrationality only has power when rational individuals fail to name it for what it is—a war on reality. And that is what I seek to show in my novels when I address racial issues.

The “Shattering Paradigms” series is an example. In the series, the villains attempt to defend racism. They declare that Blacks are intellectually and morally inferior to whites. The heroes, both Black and white, reject the arguments of the racists. Through words and deeds, they demonstrate the truth. And they are content for the racists to wallow in their self-imposed ignorance.

To some, it might appear that I am promoting a “woke” narrative. I denounce injustice and racism, but that is where any similarities with the “woke” movement end. The solution to racism isn’t government mandates, but freedom. Anyone who believes I am “woke” hasn’t read the “Shattering Paradigms” series.