No, seriously, I’d love to know, Theron. I can’t think of an author more concerned with the issue of identity. His characters inhabit the margins in more ways than one, so I have no doubt he’d have a lot to add on the subject of POC — and “white” — characters.

lorq: Grab a book by each, and check out Liu’s short fiction. It’s awesome.

You’re welcome, Paul! And John’s right: these folks had a lot to say, all of it awesome.

Thanks for the book recommendation, Will.

And kwaku: Agree wholeheartedly. The Next Generation dealt with those issues very tastefully, for the most part.

That’s an essential point when talking about race, because it’s true of most, and perhaps all, cultures before slavery in the Americas was restricted to folks with African ancestry. Many people today think race is an ancient concept, but as Eric Williams noted, ” “Slavery was not born of racism: rather, racism was the consequence of slavery.”

So the first thing to establish when talking about race is whether we’re actually talking about culture or class or something else entirely.

I’m currently reading Before Color Prejudice by Frank M. Snowden Jr., which I recommend to anyone interested in the difference between racial and tribal models of human differences.

Looking forward to the continuation.

By more in part 2, are there more from these fine contributors, or more, other contributors?