Racism

[crooked_ferret]

I am white which apparently automatically makes me a racist.
On the other hand most the really racist people I do know actually know never get called on it, because apparently you have to be white to be a racist.
...wait that's a racist thing to say isn't it?

The whole topic is just insane at this point, you can't even talk about it because anything you say is going to inherently be viewed as racist by someone.

You freaking racist.

/sarcasm. Well hopefully, the enlightened readers of the Escapist know better than that. In fact, many escapists are (or seem to be) funny and clever, as well as educated and respectful. I'd much rather have a conversation with an Escapist than, say, one of my fellow classmates.

As an afterthought, I think I'll save your post so I can quote it out of context later on. (>^.^)>

It's actually strange how it works but active forum members in general are more informed than most people would think. Weed out the trolls and what you are left with are a bunch of people that actively debate to some extent almost daily, and if they didn't start off informed. They actually go out on the web and educate themselves so they can properly defend their positions.

Feel free to make blunt use of my sarcasm to make us all look like idiots, just be sure to drop me a pm so I can laugh at it

 

[ConstantJoe]

I thought it was really funny the way there were huge complaints about killing black people in RE5, but you spend all of RE4 killing hispanic people =P.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

In my opinion people are so sensitive to racism

Furthermore, Caucasians cannot complain about racism (The fact that it's fine that Whites are being slaughtered in video games, and yet nobody cares) And that's what really gets me pissed. As far as I'm concerned, it's a one way street. And you have to be an African American to use it.

The racism card has been played way out of line, along with the sexism card as well.
People who spend their free time throwing around these terms are people who have such few problems, they need to create new ones.

These arguments get repeated every time this topic comes up and they still don't make any sense. It's insane that seemingly intelligent people can feel so threatened by a topic that they react in such a knee jerk way.

Having written several pieces about accusations of racism in games, I've noticed that very few gamers are willing to actually engage with the issue. Take Resident Evil 5 for example; the problem with that game was never that the zombies were black, it was the depictions of the villagers as brutal savages, whether infected or not, which dovetailed a little too well with racist imagery that was prevalent in the early part of the 20th century.

Now, maybe you don't care about that, maybe you just want to play a game, but the fact that people do care about this is vital to making our hobby more inclusive and diverse. Developers might just think twice before breaking out the same tired old stereotypes if they know that people are going to call them out on it, and more interesting characters benefits all of us.

The next time you see an article about discrimination in gaming, please take the time to read it and think about what the person has to say. Maybe you won't agree with them and maybe you will, but a wider perspective will never hurt you.

 

[Hazy]

In my opinion people are so sensitive to racism

Furthermore, Caucasians cannot complain about racism (The fact that it's fine that Whites are being slaughtered in video games, and yet nobody cares) And that's what really gets me pissed. As far as I'm concerned, it's a one way street. And you have to be an African American to use it.

The racism card has been played way out of line, along with the sexism card as well.
People who spend their free time throwing around these terms are people who have such few problems, they need to create new ones.

These arguments get repeated every time this topic comes up and they still don't make any sense. It's insane that seemingly intelligent people can feel so threatened by a topic that they react in such a knee jerk way.

Having written several pieces about accusations of racism in games, I've noticed that very few gamers are willing to actually engage with the issue. Take Resident Evil 5 for example; the problem with that game was never that the zombies were black, it was the depictions of the villagers as brutal savages, whether infected or not, which dovetailed a little too well with racist imagery that was prevalent in the early part of the 20th century.

Now, maybe you don't care about that, maybe you just want to play a game, but the fact that people do care about this is vital to making our hobby more inclusive and diverse. Developers might just think twice before breaking out the same tired old stereotypes if they know that people are going to call them out on it, and more interesting characters benefits all of us.

The next time you see an article about discrimination in gaming, please take the time to read it and think about what the person has to say. Maybe you won't agree with them and maybe you will, but I wider perspective will never hurt you.

I was primarily referring to the recent Left 4 Dead 2 controversy rather than RE5, but your point still remains the same. However, It does seem that people are all too eager to proclaim that something is racist, when in all actuality, the same thing is happening to a different race (In this case, The Spanish from RE4) yet nobody seems to mind. I'm not so much angry (As my post made me seem) as I am confused. Why is one race able to call out something such as racism, when the very table COULD be turned in favor of another, yet is suddenly devoid of an actual argument when it is? And I've seen it happen too, whether it be in school, or other locations. That was my bigger question, not just imagery in video games containing racist, or otherwise offensive material.

As for the Resident Evil 5 matter, I didn't know that was the bigger cause. From places I had read from, one in particular which stated:
"When Capcom released its first trailer for the game in 2007, it showed Chris unloading his pistol into hordes of African zombies. Critics contended that the imagery of a white man shooting black Africans evoked troubling memories of the age of Western colonialism" (Source of that quote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123672060500987853.html (Although on reflection, the article does go on to mention that they are depicted as poor, shirtless, etc.)
I had gotten the impression that people were up in arms about the color of the Zombie's themselves, and not necessarily how they had been depicted, as the main concern.

My question wasn't so much About how they are being depicted, rather, why is it fine for one race to be virtually killed, when it's a big deal when another (In this case, African Americans) are exposed to the same fate?

 

[Aanorith]

I'm curious to know if there's a phobia term for the fear of being called a racist yet.

That's actully a good question, id like to know aswell.

 

[scnj]

asking what the problem with racism is like asking why black people call themselves ******'s. it is just to tangled and stupid

The thing with that isn't the word itself, but the context in which it's used. For instance, a black person greeting another black person by saying "what's up my ******" isn't racist, because it's a term of endearment. On the other hand if I (a white person) said to a black person "fuck off you ******", it's racist because I'd be using it offensively.

Please note that I mean absolutely no offense to anyone here, I'm making an example.

 

[Lemur_Ninja]

The way I see it, any game can be called racist by random people who don't think. "Oh my god! That game has a (insert race here) person! Its' racist now!" I feel that it proves that people are getting dumber every second. If it has a certain race, it's racist now (Left4Dead2). If they get rid of that race, it's racist for saying the certain race can't do something in a certain situation (Such as survive a zombie assault in L4D2. Why do I feel that less than a fifth of people now can think?

 

[Silly_Billy]

asking what the problem with racism is like asking why black people call themselves ******'s. it is just to tangled and stupid

The thing with that isn't the word itself, but the context in which it's used. For instance, a black person greeting another black person by saying "what's up my ******" isn't racist, because it's a term of endearment. On the other hand if I (a white person) said to a black person "fuck off you ******", it's racist because I'd be using it offensively.

Please note that I mean absolutely no offense to anyone here, I'm making an example.

I feel it is alright to SAY "******" if you aren't CALLING someone a ******. EXAMPLE "Dude, don't call Rene a ******. Not cool."

 

[Aanorith]

Ill never fully understand the racial panic in America. It's seems whereever I look on the internet I keep hearing about new conflicts. Now, I'm not denying we have racial issues in Sweden, but we got nothing like this. Not even close.

Take comedians for example. Their job is/can be to deliver the truths about todays issues may it be religion, society, war , genocide, corruption and so on. Mainly to keep things open, reminding people there are still unresolved issues. But if we keep digging, digging and pointing fingers there will never be an end to it.

If a comedian were to stop making jokes. being considerate to EVERYONE, there would be nothing left to talk about. We'd end up with jokes about "Water huh, what's the deal with that?" and someone would get offended saying they lost family to drowning accident claiming water is no laughing matter.

What I'm saying is just something everyone already knows, tollerence has to come from all camps at once. We can't have one or the other constantly adapting after the other, comprimise and just let things go away.

Now, the villagers from RE5 may possibly be the dumbest thing I have ever heard as for subject to be starting racial debate. (Besides the phonecall about Castle crashers being racist for those of you who've seen it)

Here's a wild speculation, but I'm pretty sure Capcom wasnt really aiming at this particular reaction among consumers nor the media who jumps at every oppertunity to stir up a storm among the people who are looking for things to attack with pitchforks and all.

Capcom learned something and will prolly be more careful and keep the racial tension in thier equation. You could go on and on and on with all your fancy arguments and the most advanced words you'd need a hotkey for spellcheck at all time. But when it all comes down to it's just simply stupid.

 

[WorldCritic]

Sadly people pull the racism card even in the most irrelevant situations. Example: couple years ago some idiots at my school were annoying everyone and one of them decides to start bugging me, after ten minutes of being annoyed I yelled at him and his friends to shut up and this is why people hate them. It was just unfortunate that the guy who was bugging me just happened to be black and some people started calling me racist. It only took a couple days for that to die down but now it seems even more common in my school than it was before.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

I was primarily referring to the recent Left 4 Dead 2 controversy rather than RE5, but your point still remains the same. However, It does seem that people are all too eager to proclaim that something is racist, when in all actuality, the same thing is happening to a different race (In this case, The Spanish from RE4) yet nobody seems to mind. I'm not so much angry (As my post made me seem) as I am confused. Why is one race able to call out something such as racism, when the very table COULD be turned in favor of another, yet is suddenly devoid of an actual argument when it is? And I've seen it happen too, whether it be in school, or other locations. That was my bigger question, not just imagery in video games containing racist, or otherwise offensive material.

As this topic was posted in gaming discussion, I kept my response focusing on games, but stopping and thinking about accusations of discrimination, rather than responding emotionally, is never a bad idea.

Just to address the "It wasn't racist when it was Spaniards in RE4" question, you're right, it wasn't racist because there is no historical precedent for depicting Spaniards as subhuman. It's not colour or nationality that makes something racist, it's context. Left 4 Dead 2 is an interesting example. Do I agree with Willie Jefferson's assessment of the game? No I don't, but at the same time I don't think that the people calling him an idiot have actually taken the time to think about what he had to say.

Moving away from games, the whole "white people can't play the racism card" issue may seem lop-sided but it's important to remember that as a rule, white people have no experience with racial discrimination, and so have no need to "play the card". Does that mean that you shouldn't call people out for racist comments about white people? Not at all, but you will have to be careful about how you do it.

This video sums up how to handle that conversation much better than I ever could:

 

[Hazy]

I was primarily referring to the recent Left 4 Dead 2 controversy rather than RE5, but your point still remains the same. However, It does seem that people are all too eager to proclaim that something is racist, when in all actuality, the same thing is happening to a different race (In this case, The Spanish from RE4) yet nobody seems to mind. I'm not so much angry (As my post made me seem) as I am confused. Why is one race able to call out something such as racism, when the very table COULD be turned in favor of another, yet is suddenly devoid of an actual argument when it is? And I've seen it happen too, whether it be in school, or other locations. That was my bigger question, not just imagery in video games containing racist, or otherwise offensive material.

As this topic was posted in gaming discussion, I kept my response focusing on games, but stopping and thinking about accusations of discrimination, rather than responding emotionally, is never a bad idea.

Just to address the "It wasn't racist when it was Spaniards in RE4" question, you're right, it wasn't racist because there is no historical precedent for depicting Spaniards as subhuman. It's not colour or nationality that makes something racist, it's context. Left 4 Dead 2 is an interesting example. Do I agree with Willie Jefferson's assessment of the game? No I don't, but at the same time I don't think that the people calling him an idiot have actually taken the time to think about what he had to say.

Moving away from games, the whole "white people can't play the racism card" issue may seem that the entire issue is lop-sided but it's important to remember that as a rule, white people have no experience with racial discrimination, and so have no need to "play the card". Does that mean that you shouldn't call people out for racist comments about white people? Not at all, but you will have to be careful about how you do it.

This video sums up how to handle that conversation much better than I ever could:

Well said Nilcypher, very well said.
And thanks for the video, both informative and witty. Never a bad combination.

 

[Robert632]

asking what the problem with racism is like asking why black people call themselves ******'s. it is just to tangled and stupid

The thing with that isn't the word itself, but the context in which it's used. For instance, a black person greeting another black person by saying "what's up my ******" isn't racist, because it's a term of endearment. On the other hand if I (a white person) said to a black person "fuck off you ******", it's racist because I'd be using it offensively.

Please note that I mean absolutely no offense to anyone here, I'm making an example.

i know all that, i was just making a joke about how if black people say ****** to another black person, then it isn't ussually considered racist, but if you say it, it is ussually considered racist.

 

[Stormz]

Whats funny is that I've only ever seen white people called racists.

 

[Emilin_Rose]

Pretty much that. I really don't care if people think i'm racist.