Philosophical question about a writing idea.

So I had an idea for a series I want to write. It takes place on the old western Times. Which is going to have characters based off historical figures.

It's about an ex cowboy (literally cow herder) who wants to be a great outlaw like the man who raised him Teddy Bear and his rough riders. (Based off teddy Roosevelt.)

So he recruits some people he meets along his journey. Most of Which based on the western demographic of the time.

A Native American woman.

An African American man.

A Chinese man.

A white hooker.

And a British steampunk cyborg.

I want to know if it is wrong to make the setting a bit racist. Because that's the way the old west was. And maybe even make the main character use some watered down slurs. I think it would be dumb to pretend racism wasn't a thing, especially with a diverse cast of characters. It should be addressed.

Makes sense to me. The Old West, for the most part, was very racist.

@heroup2112: I just wanted to make sure I didn't rustle anyone's jimmies when I started writing this thing.

Put a disclaimer at the top of the story but make sure you edit certain words because even though it was how they talked at the time, it might still breach the FF rules, ya gold darn cow-pokin' cactus kissin' bojangle!

Well, you may rustle a few jimmies, but along with what batkevin74 said, you might want to take your own advice and water down the slurs. I'd rely more on the attitudes of the people towards your minority characters more than the actual words, though the words can certainly lend a certain impact. There are a couple ways you might go. Though I'm good friends with a Native American and some "slurs" are taken as a greater offense by certain tribes and certain individuals than others. Here are a few suggestions. If I break any rules here, Mods, please know I'm trying NOT to and doing this in good faith to help this person's story.

I'm going to be using derogatory terms for white people in this section to give you an idea what I mean, I WOULD check with a Mod on this part.

For instance;;; You're a Hunky. Get off of my property you dirty Cropker. disclaimer. AGAIN, there are many MANY "watered" down words to be used, I would not only not recommend that you not use any of the HARD words, but I would seriously plead that you not. I don't get the idea that you will, but I'm covering my own butt here as well.

Second attempt at help, that I hope doesn't get me banned. I'm going to PM you some things that might be helpful, I'm just posting that I'm doing it HERE so i hopefully can't be accused of sending racial stuff through PMs "just because"

I hope this helps.

@heroup2112: well the main character is white. I don't want him to be a Mary sue (or Cartwright :p) so as pArt of his character, he might use some of the slurs to address his crew (much to their annoyance.) He does treat them like equal human beings and when it comes down to it, he will put his life on the line for them and trusts them completely with his life. It's less racism and more ignorance on his part

@mikesterman: I can see that working. I can see that being a product of his upbringing and environment. As far as the CV rules go I'd use it sparingly, and when in doubt, double check with the Mods.

@mikesterman:

I want to know if it is wrong to make the setting a bit racist. Because that's the way the old west was. And maybe even make the main character use some watered down slurs. I think it would be dumb to pretend racism wasn't a thing, especially with a diverse cast of characters. It should be addressed.

Yes, but the old west didn't have cyborgs either. It should be remembered that racism is an ideology, not just a series of words. To boil it down to a few words would be lazy writing to me. For the record I personally wouldn't be bothered by the use of racial slurs in this context, but like, take the N-word for example. You cannot say that. You can't even censor say that. That is a hard rule. But what really makes it worse than any other slur? So it's not a simple issue to make permissible. The FF rules thread just links to the site thread, and it says no racial slurs. So I would have to say no to established slurs. Yes, this is just a story, but it is in the rules and someone could get offended, and there's no addendum concerning fiction. You could post to another site with less strict censorship. Or I suppose you could invent your own phrases. Not like this is hard historical fiction anyway. Hope that helps some.

@wildvine: fair enough. I could try to invent some. Since it is based on a historical period, I am going to address it. Now I didn't have it boiled to a few words they were going to be alienated. The words would add more effect to it. To honor the site I love I will obey the rules.

@mikesterman: Funny to read this now, because I was mulling the same problem over today, while doing my daily parts run for my job. I have a character who is a super powered member of the KKK, so he would be someone who throws around certain slurs (particularly the no-no already mentioned by wildvine).

The conclusion I came to is pretty much what Wv said: racial slurs are banned, so I have to find another way, and I don't really want to write those words anyway. I decided there are things I can have the character say that are just as shocking (and possibly offensive) that aren't banned, but will still make readers despise the character as much as I do. Lol