I really hate the phrase
social responsibility in writing. I fully believe that people have a responsibility in the real world to, if not make it a better place, at least help prevent the world from becoming a worse place.
However, especially as a writer and fan of speculative fiction in particular, I don't think that I, or any other writer, has a particular responsibility to acknowledge any issues. While it's a great forum to do so, that doesn't mean I have to identify with or conform with any that I don't want to.
Your initial example I had to look up, but from what little I read about it, I'm just not feeling you on the issue. In alternate history, as the book claims to be, things have gotta be profoundly different in some way -- and it doesn't have to be pleasant for anyone. So there's no "native Americans" in this alternate America? That would definitely profoundly impact the way that the United States would or would not develop.
In speculative fiction, I may throw in something as absolutely terrifying as a total purge of some social group in the U.S., but that doesn't mean I dislike them, just that I chose to explore the impact of something like that -- and you may never even be aware of that, because it may only be a minor subplot to my primary issue. An author may not choose to highlight everything they do in an activist fashion.
And further, I think that the call to make what you might term "responsible choices" in our work could do great harm to the over-all cause of art if it was heeded. Suddenly a lot of territory would be a "no touch" zone by people who take this bit a little too far.
I wanna call attention to what I believe is a key phrase in your post,
Quote:
when we write we create worlds - even if it's re-creating the one we all live in -
in our own worldview.
The bold is mine, of course, but I think this is a very,
very troubling phrase -- particularly because it's not true. The world I write in is not always the world I want to exist. Sometime's it's the exact opposite (some of the forefathers of speculative fiction worked in worlds they
never wanted to come about. Huxley, Bradbury and Orwell wrote to scare us off of the "perfect communism" ) Sometimes it's just
different.
It's really easy to read into choices an author makes, especially if similar choices are made repeatedly as in your "sexist aliens" example, but more often than not it's just a choice, and maybe a choice made just because the work would be poorer for not having it.