I am currently working on Book 25 in my Haunting Danielle series. One segment of the story has to do with race relations in the 1920s in Oregon. The story idea came to me long before the tragic death of George Floyd, and it wasn’t written in response to the current racial tension in our country.

That being said, I want to move the topic for a moment to book reviews. Last year I received what I consider an annoying review on Book 22 in the series, The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt.  At this writing, that particular book has 160 reviews at Amazon with a 4.9 out of a 5-star average.

It was not annoying because the reviewer left me two stars—it was annoying because she said: “Definitely written by an elderly white lady.”

My response to that? WTF? Damn whipper snapper.

Yes, I think I made a blog post about this review before. But you will have to excuse me, us elderly white ladies have memory issues.

The reviewer also wrote: “…is the author afraid to write an inclusive book featuring some people of color? Heck, the author doesn’t even feature a token person of color!”

First, I don’t do token. Personally, I find that offensive. Second, the reviewer has obviously not read the other books in the series. I have had a number of people of color in my books—pivotal characters.  They were not just added to the stories to garner politically correct brownie points.  I get why authors should be more inclusive, yet it has to be natural. My series takes place in Oregon, and the black population of Oregon is 3%.

That being said, it seems I did commit a racial faux pas.

In The Ghost and the Christmas Spirit—one of the books in the series I am most proud of, I did a horrible thing. I did not know it was a horrible thing, and I still don’t really understand.

I described one of my black characters as having skin the color of coffee with a touch of cream. But before you lambast me, understand I saw that no different than an author saying a white person has peaches and cream skin. Personally, I would not use peaches and cream, but not because I see it as racist, but because it is cliché. 

I won’t be removing that bit of description from the book. I think that would be disingenuous. BUT, I will never ever again discuss black skin tone. Ever.  

I am not making this promise because I finally “get” why it is racist. I sincerely do not understand.  I honestly don’t get the difference between that and peaches and cream.  But if my black readers honestly find that type of description offensive, then I will not use it again. My desire is to entertain my readers with my Haunting Danielle series, not offend them. 

And you know what? It is not necessary for me to understand why something is racist for it to be racist. If something makes another person feel bad, why in the world would you want to keep doing it?

Umm….and I would appreciate future reviewers leave off that elderly crap. Seriously.  

Photo: Yes that is me. A photo I took last month. And I confess, I am 65. But elderly??????

*** Edit, I was not clear. It was not so much describing skin color, but using food as a comparison–like peaches and cream.

17 comments on “It is not necessary to understand why something is racist, for it to be racist…

  1. Wen L

    It’s too bad people are so insensitive. Can’t even read or write a book without a few getting upset, Your books are wonderful and there was never a time that I was offended or even noticed an issue, Keep writing.

    1. Denisa Rodriguez

      I agree with you. This series is so entertaining.

  2. Denisa Rodriguez

    My goodness why does everything have to be dissected ? Now people are going to get offended because a person of color was not mentioned in a storyline , seriously ? I love this series , why read to look for problems, hell then I should be upset because there aren’t any Latinos in there, but I’m not. I read to get away from issues and for enjoyment. This racist issue is getting out of hand, You don’t like the book don’t read it,SIMPLE.

    1. Bobbi Holmes Post author

      I suppose technically Latinos are in the series, if you consider some of the guests staying at the B&B, going by some of the surnames. 🙂

  3. Lynne Pepper

    I commented recently to friends that I love your books because your descriptions are so clear. I like the way you will say ‘character x walked into the living room and, as she gazed at the fireplace, he took a moment to study her…. and then you describe the character. It makes me feel like they are someone I might see in the street. If you ignore skin tone, eye colour, hair colour height etc it’s harder to get a feel for the character.

    It’s a tricky situation.

    1. Bobbi Holmes Post author

      As I wrote in the post…yet I wasn’t clear, so I added an edit…it is more about comparing skin color to food. I grew up with descriptions like “milky white” and “Peaches and cream” when referring to skin tone (yes they are now cliche) so when I used coffee with a touch of Crean to describe Mathew, it never once occurred to me that it would be considered racist and a huge no no. It was about comparing to food. I stumbled on this on an author site, and then I brought it up in some writing groups, and it seemed everyone but me knew it was taboo.

      As I mentioned, I honestly don’t get why it is offense. But, I also understand just because I don’t get it, it does not mean it is not considered racist. I will figure something out, because I agree, skin tone is just describing someone’s looks. Heck, when I have a good tan, I could also describe me as coffee with a touch of cream. But in the future, I will figure something else out. All I want to do is entertain my readers, and give them some escape. We all need escape right now, no matter what our skin color looks like.

      1. Mystii

        I don’t understand why that was or is offensive either! I have read many books and there are a lot of ways to describe skin tone. I fail to see how it’s taboo. I am sorry you had to go through this. You do provide a wonderful bit of entertainment for me and many others and provide us all an escape to an exotic place. Please keep us entertained with the Beach Drive Gang!

        1. Bobbi Holmes Post author

          Thank you, glad you are enjoying the series. I feel it is all a learning process, and I imagine there are things I’ve written in the past which may have unintentionally offended some readers. My desire is to entertain, not offend. 🙂

  4. Nicki Capobianco

    I love your series! Thank you. I feel like the characters are my friends and don’t want to say good bye when over. You are doing a great job and I also enjoyed reading your recent comments. You really have talent and say things so well. Oh, I don’t think I’m an old white lady either. Keep writing ✍️

  5. CD

    I absolutely adore your series. And I find the skin tone description to be beautiful and very clear. Nothing racist about it.
    I am a little on the older side with Heinz 57 ancestry. 😉

    1. Bobbi Holmes Post author

      Thank you, and glad you are enjoying the series.

      1. DENISA RODRIGUEZ

        Yes, I remember that post so well about it being ‘written by an elderly white lady ‘. I sincerely found it beyond tacky that the person took time enough out of her day criticizing a book about not having enough ‘black issues in it’s. Seriously? WTH? Dos that particular reader not know there are books out there written by Afro American authors/authoress’ I’m pretty sure no one is insisting to put a latino character in it. I read a trilogy of an African American author who her characters were black. I not once wondered why they weren’t Latino. In fact I enjoyed the book. When reading a book, you enjoy it and visualize, yourself in it if you so want. Rant over.

        1. Bobbi Holmes Post author

          Well gee, did she have to call me elderly???? LOL

          Thanks for reading, and I appreciated your rant!

          1. Denisa Rodriguez

            Thanks, I couldn’t help it.

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