 Worse, it means having to examine his place in that world, and what he's done, or passively allowed to happen, because it's easier to maintain that status quo than get branded an extremist, or worse, a pussy.  (Word choice intentional.  It's a common insult, used to call someone weak, using a slang term for an uniquely female body part.  This is what I mean.  Just so we're clear.)

Okay.  With me so far?

Writing a culture you do not share, be it Japanese culture, Chinese culture, Inuit culture, American Black culture, any of the myriad of African cultures, NDN culture, anything, is like male showrunners writing female characters.  No one is saying don’t do it.  People are saying do it right, do it respectfully, and admit it and fix it when you flub those two.  Even when it's metaphorical.  I am by far not the only fan sick of the only CoC on a given SF series being the semi-primitive alien who speaks in stilted English, who is the brute muscle on the team, and whose character development ends up tracking closely one of a very small handful of well-traveled stereotyped paths.  Also, setting your series in a location where one would typically expect to see a reasonably heavy concentration of non-White faces, and yet casting all the stars and guest spots the same pale shade, is not magically made better by putting in vampires and demons and then saying people aren't interpreting your metaphor properly.  This also applies to blue, green, and purple aliens.

This means doing your homework.  This means researching, and not just with books describing a sterile past.  This means getting out of your comfort zone and talking to people.  Then talking to more people.  It means not making your one Black (or trans, or Irish, or what have you) friend responsible for your education, nor for becoming your single source for the One True *insert life here* Experience.  Being human means having a plethora of experiences, and no one person can or should have to speak for everyone in their group.  But do try to listen, and do pay attention when told "UR DOIN IT WRONG," even if you disagree, and do learn from your mistakes.

It's important.  Yes, even when it's "just fanfic" and not, say, the plot arc of a successful television or book series.  The latter is contributing to the culture at large, and can make people think new things, or can reinforce stereotypes and old opinions for a whole new generation to absorb.  The former doesn't travel nearly as far, but it's much more personal.  That story you write over the weekend, the one about that show you like, it'll go live sometime next week, assuming your beta gets back to you soon.  It will be read by all sorts of people. 