Sensitive issues in fiction

Does anyone here have advice on how to tackle sensitive issues, especially race-related ones? In one of the setting I'm working with, the Black Vikings trope comes into play. The protagonists are both Black, and quite a bit of the story involves the concept of the heroine not fitting the Valkyrie image.

Anyway, even though this story is set in the future, and isn't about race, I still want to explore colorism and other issues, like the issue of hair. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this?

I handled a similar issue by making the protagonist adopted, which opened up plot lines I had not considered before. I wanted the character to have a certain genetic heritage, but I didn't know much about the cultural heritage it would imply, so I placed her in one that I am more familiar with. In the long run, I think this worked out better than the alternative.

@Khantalas: That won't work for me. That plot point is me trying to deconstruct the Black Vikings trope.

edited 6th Mar '13 3:13:10 AM by MorwenEdhelwen