#apocalypsesystem

[writingwithcolor]

what would you say is the best way to approach race in a post-apocalypse/dystopian setting (similar to the fallout series)? in my case, the characters wouldve grown up in a society not too different from ours (more reminiscent of scifi than post-apocalypse), however since civilization had to be rebuilt from nuclear war, how much bearing would it have on things like systemic racism and peoples general view on race? obviously, it isnt a central part of the story, but id love to hear your thoughts.

Systemic Racism in the Apocalypse

Systemic racism would probably be uncommon in an immediately post-apocalyptic setting, simply because there is no system to be biased. Further beyond that, in a time they’ve managed to rebuild society, or dystopias in general? That would be heavily based on what the founders of the system thought, and highly likely to have at least some bias, no matter what the letters of the law say. 

- Mod Rune

I’m not sure. It will depend on whether or not racial biases carry over to who is at the decision-making table to rebuild society. If the people who got together and said “let’s make a new civilization” were primarily white, with very limited representation of other cultures’ and races’ voices, then you might see history repeating itself. 

~ Mod Rina

Another thing to consider might be what different cultural values survive in a post-apocalyptic world. In a lot of Asian cultures, in my experience, there’s more focus on community than in America, which is very focused on the individual. How would these cultural values carry over in a post-apocalyptic setting? How would these people react to those holding different cultural beliefs? That might be worth looking into, if you do the research and work to avoid turning cultural beliefs into stereotypes.

-Sophia

I would hope that in the case of racism, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes” would apply. The people most likely to survive in an apocalypse are those who can cultivate and create while building a community, like weaves and gardeners. With that said, a good number of dystopias ignore the elephant in the room or claim as part of their false utopia that they have “solved” racism by either erasing color (something The Giver did cleverly and showing that “I don’t see color” is a big problem for many reasons) or merging the races to the point where everyone is mixed, which Scott Westerfeld explained in The Uglies trilogy. 

There is no best way, but if you are going to address the element, the first question is to ask who survived. What biases survived with them, or how did they change as a result of a near-death experience? Most importantly, what do you want to say about your story that people who play stupid games and win stupid prizes still won’t change in the face of death?

- Mod Jaya

[matthasablog]

Getting things in order to try this one out tomorrow! #monsteroftheweek #apocalypsesystem #tabletop #rpg