Is this racist?

[Quiet Stranger]

I'm sure we've all seen online servers that say "Speak English or you will be kicked" or "English only" This to me seems racist because it takes away freedom of speech (or SOME right I'm sure, not that online people care about your rights) so do you think this is racist? Even a little?

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Hmmm... maybe not racist, seeing as it has little to nothing to do with race, but just picking on people who don't know a common language.
Not so different from French-speaking only servers, or Spanish, Russian, or any other.
People just like to have people who they can speak to, or at least think that they might understand their insults.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Hmmm... maybe not racist, seeing as it has little to nothing to do with race, but just picking on people who don't know a common language.
Not so different from French-speaking only servers, or Spanish, Russian, or any other.
People just like to have people who they can speak to, or at least think that they might understand their insults.

Prrreeeeety sure Racism isn't just about race, it's about the color of your skin (race) religion and the country you come from and I could have sworn it was language too

 

[khaimera]

No, not at all.

Language is a tool and to want all players to be able to communicate with each other is okay. I don't think it has anything to do with racism.

Racism comes from a place of hate. Wanting to talk to people you play with doesn't have a negative motive.

 

[pulse2]

I'm sure we've all seen online servers that say "Speak English or you will be kicked" or "English only" This to me seems racist because it takes away freedom of speech (or SOME right I'm sure, not that online people care about your rights) so do you think this is racist? Even a little?

Not at all, there are english people that I still don't understand because they speak mumble jumble ot text speak.

 

[Jedamethis]

No, not at all.

Language is a tool and to want all players to be able to communicate with each other. I don't think it has anything to do with racism.

What he said.

 

[Dr.A]

I agree absolutely with khaimera. Not only does language have absolutely nothing to do with race, but it's probably in the best interest of most of the community that communication is present.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Does this promote the idea that one race in particular is superior to any and/or all others? Not really, no.

You could argue that it is discriminatory, but it is discriminatory for good reason. If some french kid logs on and finds all of these english speakers spouting gobbledegook to him, he is going to be very confused.
As long as there are other servers set aside for other languages, I do not see how kicking non-english speakers would be negatively discriminatory.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

No, not at all.

Language is a tool and to want all players to be able to communicate with each other. I don't think it has anything to do with racism.

What he said.

what they said. i am not racist, but i cringe when i have to call India-based tech support services, simply because between their thick accents and my partial hearing loss, i cannot understand a word they are saying. do i have a problem with people from India? not at all. but if i am trying to communicate, and can't do so, it's a problem. (the preceding is an illustration; i realize we're talking entire different languages, not accents, but i'm pointing out that the issue is communication, not race/nationality/ethnicity)

 

[TaboriHK]

It's technically discrimination, but more against nationality than anything. It's certainly not racist. Racism is based on visible ethnic differences like skin color. Just because you're white for example doesn't mean you speak english. Religious intolerance also has nothing to do with racism. Anyone can be a Christian, Muslim or Jew. As for how legitimate the discrimination is, since I hardly ever use a headset unless I'm with friends anyway, I find it to be basically irrelevant.

 

[Jonluw]

No, it's a tool of convenience. If we group together people who can get along, stuff will go a lot easier. I mean, English isn't my first language, but I write in English in order to keep this place from degrading into complete chaos.

I could write in Norwegian, but that would be a dick-move.

 

[moretimethansense]

Does this promote the idea that one race in particular is superior to any and/or all others? Not really, no.

You could argue that it is discriminatory, but it is discriminatory for good reason. If some french kid logs on and finds all of these english speakers spouting gobbledegook to him, he is going to be very confused.
As long as there are other servers set aside for other languages, I do not see how kicking non-english speakers would be negatively discriminatory.

Well they could use some kind of automatic translator, then again...
It can come in any case absurd.("It can come out as complete nonsense anyway" ran through google translator ENG to FR and back)
Would you believe I've seen native English speakers that are harder to understand than that?

 

[Lilani]

Hmmm... maybe not racist, seeing as it has little to nothing to do with race, but just picking on people who don't know a common language.
Not so different from French-speaking only servers, or Spanish, Russian, or any other.
People just like to have people who they can speak to, or at least think that they might understand their insults.

Prrreeeeety sure Racism isn't just about race, it's about the color of your skin (race) religion and the country you come from and I could have sworn it was language too

No, those are three different things. Where you come from and the language you speak has nothing to do with your race. Let's say I'm black. The fact that I'm black doesn't change if I live in the US and speak English or if I live in Haiti speak Creole. Someone who is racist doesn't have a problem with where you're from, they have a problem with your skin and ancestry.

To say that not welcoming non-English speakers isn't racist. It is discrimination, however speaking English has no bearing on your race. No implications are made as to the skin color of the person speaking the language. You seem to be saying all discrimination is racism, which is like saying all shapes with four sides are squares. Sure, some shapes with four sides are squares, but not all.

 

[rekabdarb]

SO speak english, be racist.

Speak Spanish, be douchebag.

I believe this is the argument of OP, and i believe the answer, like one abridged series jokes about (DBZA) "Lets speak the universal common, English."

porque no ustedes hablan en espanol mas putas.

 

[PeePantz]

I'm sure we've all seen online servers that say "Speak English or you will be kicked" or "English only" This to me seems racist because it takes away freedom of speech (or SOME right I'm sure, not that online people care about your rights) so do you think this is racist? Even a little?

I'd love to live in France and get a nice job. I don't speak French though. Will I yell discrimination if I don't get hired?

 

[dmase]

I'm looking for a word that would describe kkk members and its not coming to me so i'll stick with nationalistic to a fault. Yes someone else's language creates a barrier and more difficulty communicating but its not right to say something like that.

Our country was founded on immigrants who came here and the majority spoke english but quite a few didn't. Its not easy learning english, and if you aren't fluent in another language i don't think you have the right to say that to someone else.

 

[bojac6]

Hmmm... maybe not racist, seeing as it has little to nothing to do with race, but just picking on people who don't know a common language.
Not so different from French-speaking only servers, or Spanish, Russian, or any other.
People just like to have people who they can speak to, or at least think that they might understand their insults.

Prrreeeeety sure Racism isn't just about race, it's about the color of your skin (race) religion and the country you come from and I could have sworn it was language too

You're thinking of prejudice. Racism is a form if prejudice, the applies to judging people by their race. Arguably, it also applies to prejudice against people from a country (are the Irish and English different races? I don't think so, but they can be racist against each other). But religion, language, and other forms of prejudice are not racist. It's being bigoted.

English has more words than any other language by double second place. We don't need to make definitions less specific, we already have a word for that. Racism refers to race. Why should it mean anything else?

 

[Deleted]

I'm sure we've all seen online servers that say "Speak English or you will be kicked" or "English only" This to me seems racist because it takes away freedom of speech (or SOME right I'm sure, not that online people care about your rights) so do you think this is racist? Even a little?

Their servers their rules. Its not like they're saying "all brown people don't come in!!" because that no impact on gameplay. Language, however, does. It doesn't mean only white people can join, it means if you have a mic you can only speak English because nobody wants to hear nonsense that will only distract them.

 

[Pielikey]

For the most part it's just so that people speaking multiple languages don't start shouting at you in foriegnese and start raging (in foriegnese) and then have to be kicked because to people speaking English it just sounds like random micspam.

Although it's confusing because "Speak English or you will be kicked" is in English in most servers, so anybody who speaks Russian or Spanish or French wouldn't get the memo.


Plus, that would make the Escapist racist!