Create Diversity Tip Six: Not everyone has family history hanging on the wall.

I am German. It’s my German ancestry that gives me my red hair. I get it from thin Northern Germans and Vikings. Other than my hair color, which most people think is Irish, there is nothing German about me. I don’t have coo-coo clocks on the wall. I don’t eat Bratwurst or drink bear. I do like sauerkraut.

Your character does not have to be the poster child for a culturally rich PC person. Your hero might have grown up Jewish, but now cooks pork chops for dinner. Your black character can grow up in a loving home in the suburbs and never have to deal with gangs and can’t fire a gun. Not every gay person can decorate a room. Not every lesbian can change a tire.

You don’t have to give your character an ethnic name or dress them ethnically either. Your east Indian woman might have a sari for special family functions but her closet is filled with blue jeans and tee shirts.

People are rich and diverse. The color of their skin, whom they sleep with, and how they pray is only one small aspect of who they are. Mix it up. Stretch boundaries and challenge stereotypes.

How do you challenge stereotypes in your life or with your characters?

Music Monday-

Here’s a fun Arabic song- I actually think the group is from England but I can’t find it by itself so enjoy the belly dance and the chicky chicky song.