Writing a Predjudiced Character

So one of the main characters in my work grew up into a wealthy, mostly homogenous (racially, religiously, etc.) setting. He ends up in a Fish out of Water situation where he ends up surrounded by many things he doesn't understand at first. By the end of the series, he's a much more educated and open minded person.

• But before that, he ends up in a couple situations where he's an Innocent Bigot and ends up, essentially, being kind of 'casually prejudiced.' I'm struggling with exactly how to pull this off with his character without him first appearing to be a huge Jerkass (he's supposed to be more of a 'judgemental rich' at worst)
  • The only things I could think of so far would him be using particualr language like 'exotic' refering to foreign people and being a little enthocentric when faced with differing religions and cultural ideas. Any help would be VERY appreciated

Idiocy is enough.

If you want him to be an "innocent" bigot (which I assume means he doesn't hold ill will or feel others different from him or foreign ways are automatically inferior/wrong)

Just have him react like a kid.

Kids don't think about being Politically Correct or other Bullshit.

To him its just truth.

X stinks, he hates the taste of Y, thinks Z is stupid, there is no way in hell he's eating peanut/broccoli/carrots/dead chicken fetus or whatever, and he's amazed that others don't agree with him.

He's supposed to be in about his late teens 19ish to early 20s. He isn't 'stupid' by any means. Just think of it like he's like some rich kid whose only ever been to a private school full of rich WAS Ps all his life, and isn't intentionally malicious.

Have him think all members of a group are similar (Offering Fried Chicken as a bribe to black people, etc.)

As tempting as it is, I think it's far too risky to go straight for the race card right off the bat as it isn't just off-putting but provokes a stronger negative response from the audience. Especially when you haven't quite and are still trying to establish this trait of his.

A better starting point would be to play on his privileged background and the expectations in life that arise from that. For instance, the assumption everyone has hired help to clean after them, that everyone has spare cash lying around, etc. In fact, with that second example, you can then build on it by having the character - upon realising this isn't the case - to without thinking be willing to pick up the tab and help those around him financially. Which can ruffle just as many feathers as having him be racially insensitive; while at the same time make him sympathetic and paint him in a positive light to your audience.

edited 10th Jun '13 2:09:36 AM by peasant

Remember that in the mind of the prejudiced person, they often hold the opinion that they are the Only Sane Man, the only "realist", and that anyone who doesn't share their prejudice is lying to themselves.

Its obvious that they aren't "realist" and that they are the ones deluding themselves, but they themselves wont see it that way.

Also, take this from personal experience, unless you have a Godlike silver tongue, you can almost never use words to convince a racist otherwise if you are the same race as the racist. If you try to convince them that their racism is wrong they claim your an "apologist" for the group they hate. Only the behavior or words of the race the racist dislikes affects his opinion.

I know a family friend who served in the marines during Desert Storm. When he first landed he was a bit of an Islamiphobe. Eventually he was assigned to guard the prisoners, and through his interactions with the prisoners he realized that they were human beings, just like him.

edited 12th Jun '13 9:08:37 AM by SalmonPunch