Whiteness in Videogames

I don't think it's surprising at all, nor do I really see what the problem is.

Video game worlds aren't Earth, they don't have to conform to our PC values.

If they made a historical RPG set in ancient China, and people didn't look Asian, then it would be weird.

I only skimmed the article btw, busy man.

I think part of playing a video game or a RPG is the fact that it allows us to dive into something we are not a normal basis. It brings me back to the WII and the Miis that my friends would create, almost none of them were of the racial background they were at all, we had more people creating asian and black characters then white characters.

I think race is a very troubling issue for a lot of people because they have a 'that might not offend me but I could see how it might offend' sort of thoughts at times (which is not a bad thing), but rather then just keeping that opinion to themselves they try to change the other person. I am a very strong believer in that you can't force change on people but rather they must change themselves, so this often doesn't help the situation IMO. I am a strong believer that everyone should have their morals and then respect other's morals as well. I have met some extremely nice people who happen to have some views that I see as wrong or racist, especially when it comes to the treatment of homosexuals. Yet, that doesn't change them suddenly into terrible people, because of these views ( though perhaps they could do terrible things to homosexuals).

I am 100% for guaranteeing that everyone has equal opportunity, but that does not mean that you will be guaranteed equal results (because if you try to force equal results you always end up taking away freedom IMO). For example I think it is terrible and repulsive, but here is a situation that is very much food for thought. A white person denies a black person a job just because they are black. Now this in my opinion is a blocking PERHAPS of that person having equal opportunity (If there were plenty of other jobs available I am not so sure I find this as wrong because then there is not tyranny of the majority). However, we work by a system of laws so we make it illegal which makes it a clear defined system (which I think is good). So therefore we guarantee that a black person can get a job. Now there is the situation of less black people percentage wise have jobs. To me this is not a case of lack of equal opportunity, but rather a case of equal results. Now many of you will make the case that they didn't start off on the same foot as the average white person so that they do not have equal opportunity, but I think this is entirely the wrong case. Opportunity is not a guarantee of success and opportunity does not guarantee a level playing field. Levelling the playing field is a situation of levelling results imo, because then if two people both put in no effort they get the same result. While this may not seem fair, fair is not the realm of law. It also then places a single race on a higher pedestal then another race. Should a poor black person be given more opportunity then a poor white person simply because of their race? I don't think that they should, because then there is not equal opportunity for the poor white person. Personally, I think that he best way for a society to solve racial issues is when you tend to try to ignore race all together (Something very hard to do).

So going back to video games and the basis of their races:

As someone who has programmed their own game, and from my experience in other story telling aspects, I think I should have the right to develop whatever sort of racial mix they want in their game, and if you don't like it they have equal opportunity to write their own game. However, they also should be able to criticize it if they want, feel free I don't feel that way. Nor do I hold race in high regard.

The next thing that bugs me is Diversity or multi-cultural-ism. This general is the feeling that everyone should experience a wide variety of cultures and experiences because it makes you more well versed or something. I really dislike this thought, because first off it says that your views on a culture are not valid because of your own culture. Some people really object to Muslim culture because of how they view women's rights, so if you said, I don't like Muslims this would be a terrible thing. Some would object that they need to force a diversity on people, especially children for this reason so they do not grow up hating a culture. However, if you really wanted your children to have a strong view on woman's rights you should be allowed to teach them that you don't like the muslims for that reason. (Please no comments about how not all muslims are that way, I understand, I am just reaching for an example). Which brings me to the fact that SOME LAWS ARE CULTURAL. For example public nudity, probably not something we want all over the place but some cultures would be fine with it. Now I think that in a reasonable society you should have an open debate on these issues and if at least a majority (to what degree is up for debate always), that it should be viewed as illegal. However, if the native nudity culture from the island of bhaeka, thinks that they should be allowed to be nude just because they said its their culture, frankly they can go shove it because the cultural consensus wins out there. However, there are ALWAYS issues with cultural laws REMOVING equal opportunity. Take for example gay marriage in my opinion, this is a cultural law that removes equal opportunity and therefore should not be allowed. Why you ask? Because marriage is a legally binding structure that grants powers between two people and gives additional benefits, such as a tax cut for being married. Therefore, I think it should be allowed or we abolish the LEGAL binding of marriage. This is all up for debate and I don't have all the answers.

This constant fight between cultural laws and your rights (of equal opportunity) are really the basis of our government and its dangerous if either get out of step, so its always a hot topic in my opinion, but I think the worst thing we can do is silence debate. It is also best if you think about laws this way in the future in my opinion, because you can really get the point of an argument quicker in my opinion.

So I read the entire article and the majority of the comments at the end and I just kind of got offended by the whole thing. I have never really played a game a thought, wow that character is really white, or man that character is very asian. But it gets me thinking about the larger issue of what race really is. What makes someone of a given race? Is it their skin color? what about blended families, and the multitude of different shades of skin tones. how dark does one have to be to be black, or asian, how pale is one before they're white? If my parents are japanese and french, am I white or asian?

we run into the issue of race vs ethnicity. It seems like these critics are more concerned with physical appearance than any sort of cultural commentary. Obviously this would raise an issue still of "If the games are based in a fantasy world, why don't we populate it with more different looking people". But does it have to? Without knowing the entire structure of the world the game takes place it, maybe certain physical traits would not exist. Perhaps the environments these people come from have not developed the same way as on earth. Perhaps there is backstory not mentioning a genocide that took out a lot of the population.

To assume the game has some issues simply because not everyone of every race ethnicity or permutation of genes is shown is downright absurd. But the world screams for equality.

Schools are forced to accept students of minorities over majorities for certain quotas.
For and against whites I might add. several schools out in the western states have had to give scholarships to underachieving white students simply to make sure the high performing asians didn't receive all the scholarship money. (which I might add seems ridiculous to me that just because their ethnic group was excelling in large numbers they missed out of funding).

I feel like I must have said something offensive in there, so I am sorry in advance. Just I'm protective of my FF games and honestly don't care what they look like compared to what the story is like or the gameplay is like.

I feel like the only way to avoid this issue would be to have personified animals or some sort, with no gender and no level of modern culture that could be somehow copied.

Ok I'm not making sense anymore.

Also, I wish we could stick to the topic. If we want to have a serious discussion on race (I would actually be interested), we can do that, but otherwise it sounds irrelevant and offensive.

Sorry for making this a discussion about race, but I figured we were already there:



- Yeah, probably but the article lumped a whole lot of racial things into it.




Racial profiling is wrong, this would be under my argument that you don't have the same right for opportunity if you are being harassed by the police with out just cause.




Jim Crow laws would fall under my example of a case where cultural laws overstep their bounds and violate the rights for opportunity for POC. I am 100% against this sort of situation, however, you can not simply make a law against a person because they are a racist. Forcing people to change their views is a good way to cause bad problems in my opinion, because then you just cause conflict that can only cause more harm then good. I don't mind if you personally call them idiots, protest against them, give them the bird, or just call them plain old retards, but using the system of law against them I would be against. Idiots have the right to be idiots.




I don't hold this view, it was only used as an example. Please note my disclaimer inside it. The general issue is that no matter who you though you will always make great generalizing judgements on groups of people no matter what group it is you are talking about. Most people will automatically think people who wear cowboy hats are less likely to be highly educated then people not wearing cowboy hats (or pick your own example). You can't stop these sort of gut reactions because rightly or wrongly they are based on our experiences (or experiences we have heard).




Quite a lot of the black movements tie blacks very closely to being put immediately into a lower class because of their race. But that was my point entirely, I don't think we should treat people differently based on their race when it comes to class. However, which many might disagree with I don't think we should treat people differently based on class either.




I simply wanted to pull out some of my basis for ideas before discussing the article more, I really feel the author almost wants to find someone to blame for this situation, but he really can't come to any conclusion on it. And other parts of his comments I particularly didn't agree with:



That is a racist statement, he is making the same sweeping generalized assumptions and basically saying all the blame for racism lies within those of one color. Granted white people were in power so they have more power to inflict injustice but that does not limit all racism to one side. This reminds me of a quote that "Black people do not have the power to be racist". Here is an blog claiming just such a thing:

thefreshxpress.com/2010/02/can-black-people-be-racist-by-definition/

Now I don't that if black people were strongly racists they could as much influence as strongly racist whites in the US, but that doesn't make their actions acceptable. The actions from racism are just as wrong from a white person doing it as a black person. (Keep in mind I am not claiming the writer of the first article is claiming this.)

This ability of blacks to feel like they can't not be racist I feel is more common then it should be in my opinion, as a poor black person could say to me, "Pftt, what do you know you are just some rich dumb white boy." This would generally not be accepted a racist statement by many if you read it alone (not claiming you or others have this view). But if I said, "Pfft, what do you know you are just some poor dumb black boy," it suddenly becomes very racist. It is racist in my opinion to judge the actions of someone simply based on their color, because then you too are making a judgement simply based on general assumptions about their character.

This is very much the same reason that I am against hate crime legislation, and just me saying that makes me sound racist to some people. However, it is my opinion that motive should not change the sentence for a crime. Actions should be judged by law, never thought or motivation. If I wanted to kill my fiancée for money it should gain me the same sentence as if I killed her for cheating on me (which hasn't happened, its ok, maybe a bad example). The same applies to someone killing someone else over race rather then just killing them because they were a bad neighbour or something. The action for both is equally wrong in my opinion, so law should only judge that. I will agree with you that it is an additional wrong to be racist, but that all rolls back to my opinion that you shouldn't punish people simply for their thoughts or beliefs unless they cause an action that removes equal opportunity.

....I think the people that stare at video games and go "Thats racist!" have entirely way too much free time.



....Erm.