Another variation on the multiple 'Swearing in YA' thread.
When, if ever, is it acceptable to use racial slurs in YA?
This might get very different answers considering what country your audience is from. I know that in the UK we studied Of Mice and Men in Year 10 (14 - 15 years old) and there was a really awkward moment for me when we were reading out loud and someone had to say the N-word and everyone looked at me to check I wasn't crying in a corner or something about it, so I know it's not like a DO NOT DO situ in the UK.
Yet I'm also not sure where the boundaries are. I'm in the middle of a WIP that's got multiple POVs, and one of the young black boys in it uses the N-word a lot (atm) in reference to friends/people in general. It's not treated as a bad word through his POV, though when he's in scenes from others POV they're obviously uncomfortable with it.
Also, as a hypothetical: if it was a case where someone was just being racist would you personally opt to use a specific slur word or would you just go for a threatening stereotype? I think if I was trying to depict a character that was just a racist I wouldn't use a slur because in my opinion that is like THE worst thing you can say as a sort of verbal hate crime (beyond threats and such) and I feel like you'd have to either be really evil or deluded to actually describe someone as a slur to their face
I've never thought about the use of racial slurs before as I've never written anything that requires them. I just realised I have absolutely no idea how to go about it in YA because I can't recall ever reading a YA with real racial slurs in it (usually because there just aren't a lot of YAs with PoC protagonists).
When, if ever, is it acceptable to use racial slurs in YA?
This might get very different answers considering what country your audience is from. I know that in the UK we studied Of Mice and Men in Year 10 (14 - 15 years old) and there was a really awkward moment for me when we were reading out loud and someone had to say the N-word and everyone looked at me to check I wasn't crying in a corner or something about it, so I know it's not like a DO NOT DO situ in the UK.
Yet I'm also not sure where the boundaries are. I'm in the middle of a WIP that's got multiple POVs, and one of the young black boys in it uses the N-word a lot (atm) in reference to friends/people in general. It's not treated as a bad word through his POV, though when he's in scenes from others POV they're obviously uncomfortable with it.
Also, as a hypothetical: if it was a case where someone was just being racist would you personally opt to use a specific slur word or would you just go for a threatening stereotype? I think if I was trying to depict a character that was just a racist I wouldn't use a slur because in my opinion that is like THE worst thing you can say as a sort of verbal hate crime (beyond threats and such) and I feel like you'd have to either be really evil or deluded to actually describe someone as a slur to their face
I've never thought about the use of racial slurs before as I've never written anything that requires them. I just realised I have absolutely no idea how to go about it in YA because I can't recall ever reading a YA with real racial slurs in it (usually because there just aren't a lot of YAs with PoC protagonists).