Alternate History Problems—Help Please?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Many of you reading this already know about my current WIP—scientist during WWII creates three strains of a virus that grants superpowers, releases it to the world, and history changes. However, as I continue to research in preparation for writing, the story has begun to take shape—and I worry that I'm on the right track, that the story I'm currently working toward will wind up being unintentionally naive or offensive. So, I'll tell you guys what I have so far, and any input would be appreciated. 

-Three strains of the same superpowers-granting virus are released in early 1942. Although intended to be a tool for the US military and (perhaps) a select few allies, the scientist in charge of the project takes matters into her own hands and ensures it spreads to the general population of the US and Europe. 

-Initially, the proliferation of superpowers sparks a crime wave in many cities. Most of these are petty crimes or crimes motivated by money—pickpocketing, robbery, mugging, etc.—though as the story begins, many less scrupulous Supers are turning to organized crime. 

-In Spokane, the police department has begun recruiting women as Non-Combat Officers, or NCOs. Only women with mental powers—precognition, retrocognition, and omnilinguism—are recruited for these positions, as top brass doesn't want to put too many women in too much direct danger. When the situation in the city worsens, many of these women will take the opportunity to become full officers. 

-Here is where things get a little dicy, pending further research. I have it in my head that as the situation in Spokane grows more dire, the police department will begin hiring black Supers as well. The way I was planning for this to happen was to have them begin as auxiliary officers—though again, I'll need to research auxiliary police in Spokane more thoroughly. They display their skill with their powers, some call for hiring them for real, some object, and as Super mob bosses tighten their grip on the city, the department will allow them to be hired. 

Much of this was inspired by the research I've already done into Spokane during this time period. Sometime prior to 1940, they had a black police officer, a black firefighter, and a female detective—not super impressive, but it made me think, what if this were taken further? What if the little slivers of progressivism in Spokane at that time had become a little bigger? I thought that necessity might spur this along. 

There would certainly be resistance. Spokane was, and still is, a more conservative city, and there would be many residents who objected to blacks and women becoming police officers. Spokane's schools were never segregated (most likely due to the fact that the city's black population was quite small, making segregated schools more trouble than they were worth), but by the end of WWII there had never been a black schoolteacher, a black dentist, or a black lawyer in the city. When a black resident sued the city for being forced to the back of a streetcar at the turn of the century, the jury ruled in his favor and he was paid for damages, with the jury saying that people should be allowed to sit where they pleased in public places—yet a black man and his family were turned away from one of the city's premier restaurants and the court ruled in the restaurant's favor, with many members of the jury treating the case as a joke. Restrictive covenants and redlining kept black residents from buying homes in many neighborhoods, and yet local universities accepted and graduated black students. A chapter of the KKK opened in 1920, yet the city council issued them a strongly worded statement, essentially saying "We can't order you to leave, but if you use any of the violent methods your Southern counterparts use, there will be no mercy."

So, there would be letters to the editor. There would be political cartoons. There would be threats, public and private. There would be property damage. I'd wager that the Klan would say "Screw it" to the city council and become more militant, after approved methods failed to bring them the results they wanted. These changes wouldn't happen without mighty resistance, but I think they would have the net result of forcing many residents to take a stand on one side or the other. 

Now, I'm worried about many aspects of this, in no small part because you guys know that worrying is a hobby of mine, but the big one is this: Am I making it too easy? I don't want to give the impression that, oh yeah, all America needed was a few million people to gain superpowers, and everything would've been peachy! The Civil Rights Movement was such a major part of history in part because it was difficult. So I don't want to give the impression that change would come easily, because 1) it wouldn't and 2) I feel that's disrespectful to the people who fought so hard for those changes. 

What do you guys think? 

[Oversleep]

Necessity calls for actions that would not have been taken otherwise. So if they got people with superpowers, I think that in the end they'd hire them, especially if they turn out to be useful.

I can't talk about the rest, since I know almost nothing about American history, but keep that in mind.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Well, I would consider the following: have you ever considered checking out the anthology series edited by Martin and Snodgrass called Wild Cards?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

11 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

Well, I would consider the following: have you ever considered checking out the anthology series edited by Martin and Snodgrass called Wild Cards?

I read part of the first installment, and I know I should probably read more.

[Eagle of the Forest Path he/him]

Wow, that's a heavy subject to write about. On the one hand that means the end result can be more powerful, on the other hand there are a lot more pitfalls to deal with.

A possible solution to your "it's too easy" worries is to have your African American police officers remain second-class in some ways.
I suggest you do some research into the Buffalo Soldiers and similar military units, you might also find something interesting in the events at Port Chicago during WW2.

It's not because in your story the Spokane police department decides to hire blacks that they'd be accepted as full equals. Whether you can use this depends on where you want your story to go, of course.

There might also be something you can do with medical differences. It appears people of African descent are more susceptible to certain illnesses, such as sickle-cell disease (thank you, House MD). Since your source of superpowers is a virus, it might affect different ethnicities (slightly) differently. Maybe blacks are more likely to get powers that are especially suited to police work?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

5 hours ago, Eagle of the Forest Path said:

Wow, that's a heavy subject to write about. On the one hand that means the end result can be more powerful, on the other hand there are a lot more pitfalls to deal with.

A possible solution to your "it's too easy" worries is to have your African American police officers remain second-class in some ways.
I suggest you do some research into the Buffalo Soldiers and similar military units, you might also find something interesting in the events at Port Chicago during WW2.

It's not because in your story the Spokane police department decides to hire blacks that they'd be accepted as full equals. Whether you can use this depends on where you want your story to go, of course.

There might also be something you can do with medical differences. It appears people of African descent are more susceptible to certain illnesses, such as sickle-cell disease (thank you, House MD). Since your source of superpowers is a virus, it might affect different ethnicities (slightly) differently. Maybe blacks are more likely to get powers that are especially suited to police work?

Yeah, there are about a hundred different ways this can go wrong, and a handful of ways this can go right. :/ So I want to at least avoid the pitfalls. 

I already had it in my head that the black officers would face discrimination within the police department, but I hadn't yet determined what that would look like. So thanks for the links—they should help. I was considering having their hiring process be more involved—they have to jump through more hoops to prove competency with their powers before being hired; only Supers really stand a chance of getting a job with the SPD; and so on. 

I hadn't considered that as a possibility, but I'll look into it. The virus is more akin to a flu virus, though; not sure if that'll make a difference. I honestly prefer the idea of ethnicity having a negligible effect on what strain is contracted and, by extension, what powers are granted; but if the reverse would make more sense, I'll go with that. 

[Straw he/him]

What powers can people get.

[Zathoth]

More problems you could bring up is the prejudice that people of color are more likely to commit crime. The paranoia and racism wouldnt lessen when they start throwing around fire, more the opposite.

As if you didnt have enough careful treading to do.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

 

40 minutes ago, Morzathoth said:

More problems you could bring up is the prejudice that people of color are more likely to commit crime. The paranoia and racism wouldnt lessen when they start throwing around fire, more the opposite.

As if you didnt have enough careful treading to do.

I'd planned on addressing that. Powers like clairvoyance and retrocognition would both help ("That young man isn't about to cause any trouble; he's waiting for his date. That's why he looks so nervous. Not because he's about to rob that store") and hurt ("Sure, that one retrocog said your client didn't commit that crime, but do you have any evidence? Your word against ours"). And there are a host of other assumptions that would both chip at and feed existing biases. 

So, yes, I'll need to tread carefully, but since this would realistically be a factor, I plan to address it. Carefully. 

[Zathoth]

25 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

 

I'd planned on addressing that. Powers like clairvoyance and retrocognition would both help ("That young man isn't about to cause any trouble; he's waiting for his date. That's why he looks so nervous. Not because he's about to rob that store") and hurt ("Sure, that one retrocog said your client didn't commit that crime, but do you have any evidence? Your word against ours"). And there are a host of other assumptions that would both chip at and feed existing biases. 

So, yes, I'll need to tread carefully, but since this would realistically be a factor, I plan to address it. Carefully. 

This sounds so interesting XD

I think you'll do fine as long as you keep rubbing the good against the bad. You shouldnt get too boggled down in the politics either, you have a story to tell... I just made it worse, didnt I?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

30 minutes ago, Morzathoth said:

This sounds so interesting XD

I think you'll do fine as long as you keep rubbing the good against the bad. You shouldnt get too boggled down in the politics either, you have a story to tell... I just made it worse, didnt I?

Thanks!  

That's my goal—to balance the good and the bad, not turn the world into a dystopia, but not turn it into a sugar bowl, either. And no, you didn't make it worse.