The weird undercurrent that I get from a lot of threads about diversity and inclusiveness, is that by somehow including minority characters in your story/game/movie, etc, is somehow going to change that product into a "black/asian/mexican/indian,etc" production.
Like there is some kind of mystical cultural divide between, say, Black Americans, and White Americans that is so monumental that it'd be impossible for a non-black to relate. It's the "otherness" factor that drives me crazy. Black people are people. Asian people are people. White people are people. Mexican people are people, etc, etc. If you spend any significant amount of time in America, you'll discover that the differences between racial demographics on a cultural level aren't as different as, like, Fox News would have you believe.
It's not some animal kingdom type shit going on when it comes to ethnic diversity. "Here, you can see the elusive 'negro', in his natural habitat! Observe how he approaches his intended mate, and begins his mating dance with, 'Hey, shorty, let me holla at you for a minute!'"
I mean, fuck. It drives me crazy. I'm a nerd. I'm a geek. I love video games, comic books, and D&D. I'm also a black guy. All of my friends are also nerds and geeks, and love these things as well. They make up a wide range of ethnicities, from Black, to white, to Persian, to Chinese, to Korean, and everything else. We sit around and argue about spot checks and cell processors, and which superhero can beat which, etc, etc.
There seems to be this notion from non-black America as a whole that blacks walk, talk, and act in some special way that only a black person can understand. This can also extend to other minority groups as well, but that should go without saying. It's not hard to create a black character in fiction. Or a white character, or an asian character, etc, etc. You just write a character.
Shows like How to Get Away With Murder or Scandal have black women as their leads. Are the writers wracking their brains trying to "write black," for Analese and Olivia? No. They're just writing characters, who happen to be played by two black women. There's no magic juju that needs to happen to write a person of color. Sure, you can do research if you want, to maybe try and glean a little bit more nuance to your writing of that character, but not all black people come from an episode of the Wire. Not all white people come from an episode of 7th Heaven.
You don't need David Attenborough to come in and explain the complexities of the African American mind. You don't need a degree in Ebonics in order to write a "realistic" black character in your fictional story. It shouldn't be that hard to wrap your heads around the idea that minorities in America come from so many different areas and upbringings that portraying them in just one way is grossly inaccurate.
The Stardew Valley guy clearly had no problems with adding diversity to his cast, even in the limited way he did in this game. He didn't agonize over making his black guy "black enough." He just created a character, and decided he'd be black.
I'm also in an interracial marriage, which is nice to see in gaming and film and television more often. My wife is white. I'm black, as I mentioned before, but you'd think we had dicks growing out of our foreheads judging by the looks we get from people when we're walking down the street holding hands. And we live in Los Angeles, an insanely diverse city.
Anyway, the point is that writing for a "black" character is a BS excuse. There's no reason why a developer living in the US should shy away from writing about other ethnicities, especially if said ethnicity is also based in America. There's nothing wrong with having an all white cast if that's your desire, but I do have to wonder why, exactly, having an all white cast is your desire when your world is a fictional place, with fictional characters.
Hell, the Steam-Punk novella that I wrote a year ago stars a middle aged white man, and his Persian grand-daughter, and African grand-son. And a robot. I didn't set out to fill some kind of "diversity quota" when I created that book and its cast, I just thought it'd be interesting to have those characters as my leads. I could have made them all white, sure. But, why not mix things up a bit? Did I feel pressured or forced to have my comic series, The Gamma Gals, star three teenage girls because of political correctness? No. I just thought it'd be cool to have a comic book starring girl superheroes, because it's something I don't see that much of. I draw and write what I'd love to see/read myself. But I also take into account gender and racial issues when creating the world and characters of my fiction. I don't feel forced for expanding my range of thinking to be more inclusive.
