Race Opinion

Johnson says: "Individual personality is one of the most charming things to be met with, either in the flesh and blood existence, or upon the pages of fiction, and it matters little to what race an author's heroine belongs, if he makes her character distinct, unique and natural"(Johnson, 385). I like the way she begins her discussion on race because it also poses the idea of femininity in fiction, both of which are complicated and so commonly misrepresented. I also find it interesting that she poses the author as a masculine "he". I think the key term Johnson uses here is "individual personality" that often times authors, especially male authors, forget when crafting a character that is outside of their own norms. Johnson's inclusion of this argument at the beginning of her essay signified to me that this is her own view, and what she wishes authors would strive for in their own work.
Johnson goes on to describe the "Indian Woman" in fiction works, and describes the archetypal Indian Woman as falling desperately in love with the white man, and betraying her own culture to help him. If we are looking through the scope of race opinion here, this is particularly offensive for a number of reasons. The idea of duty and familial respect is stronger in other cultures than it is in America. Americans seem to romanticize love and acts of love, as shown in many time period films and books, where the "Indian Woman" gives up her values to match the white man's.
Johnson was writing at the turn of the century, and it says something about our current race culture and race opinion that her writing is still relevant today. Even modern films that mirror a native culture being assimilated by a white culture, such as the James Cameron film Avatar, still mirror these ideas. The main female character sacrifices her culture to love the white man.