I've been mulling over a pattern I've noticed in many books set in places like modern America, where there's a reasonable expectation of a diverse population. It's about how race and ethnicity are described, or sometimes, conspicuously not described.

Currently, I'm reading a cyberpunk novel set in Night City – a genuinely engaging book, but there's this one aspect that's hard to overlook. The author seems to have a specific way of describing characters based on their race.

When a character isn't white, the author leaves no stone unturned to highlight it. "The Black man did this," or "Her dark skin," or "His Asian features," – it's all very explicit. Even accents are used to mark someone as non-white, like pointing out a Mexican accent.

But here's where it gets interesting: when it comes to white characters, the author switches gears. They're not described as 'the white man' or 'the white woman.' Instead, it's "the blonde man" or "the tall woman." The racial identifier is missing, yet other characteristics are given. It subtly implies that whiteness is the default. If a character is white, it's almost taken for granted unless specified otherwise. This leads to an unconscious assumption: vague descriptions point to a white character, and specific racial mentions are reserved for non-white characters. They are training the reader to assume characters whos race isn't described are white. Because they won't ever have a black character where the author doesn't tell you they are black.

This is so frustrating to me as I try to immerse myself in a book. It takes me right out of the story. And is the mark of a amateur writer to me.