Race and Gaming
 

Hello folks. Long time reader, first time poster. Enjoy

[Warning: Sailor Talk]

It's interesting how completely irrelevant events make one lead themselves down the avenue of memories from their past.

Just a few hours ago, me and apal'o'mine were playing an online game; the game is irrelevant, but allow me to assure you, we were playing it well.

During game play, my pal get's called a "cheating nigger" because he was playing a few notches better above what people label "Good Games." Good games in this case apparently symbolized anyone who played worse than the person who called my friend the slur.

While my friend and I laughed it off at first, feeling superior in both intellect and political correctness, I got to thinking about the issue of racism. What compounded the thought process was that it wasn't just that one person calling my friend the slur; after he got the ball rolling, three of four other people freely joined in on the saying like we were in a klan ralley.

But then a more articulate person - apparently seeing that he got that " nigger" ball rolling as far as it was going to go - shifted slurs on us mid-insult and started calling us Mexicans. First, I'd like to say that I didn't know calling someone by the proper title signified by their origin was a racial slur, but apparently it was.

What's even more interesting was that they didn't even add an adjective to the word. "Mexican" was as big an insult as "Cocksucker" or " Asshole" to these people.

So, all right, by now by pal was under the moniker of "The Cheating Nigger-Mexican."

While it was basically two or three people flinging insults, the rest remained silent, some others signified their praise with an "lol" here and there.

The whole scene shifted from name calling to stereotypes as they asked us witty questions such as how much fried chicken and watermelon we've eaten today and other cliches. I didn't know eating watermelon and friend chicken was a genetically predisposed condition, but whatever.

Tired of it, we leave the server only to get private messaged by one of the antagonists a little while later with the message that he was just joking and that it's "cool" because he was black himself.

Wow, that explains it all.

Now when I look at racism, I see it having only two uses. One is to entertain - to show how stupid stereotypes are in examples just so people can see how idiotic they are. The other is antagonism, where people think it's insulting to call someone on how they were born.

Then of course we have the people out there with the, "it's okay for me to call this guy a *idiotic bullshit* because my best friend is a *minority*" excuse.

That excuse is so ridiculously stupid that it reminds me of drinking alcohol for the taste of it. You don't drink beer because it tastes like a chocolate malt, you drink beer to numb the pain of your life's problems. No one wants to be insulted, and having a pal that happens to be just what you are insulting, that doesn't give you a pass. I'm sure if you friend were here, he would beat the crap out of you for being an idiot. And if he wouldn't, and actually laughs with your witty comments of how black people are "wack," or how Jews are "cheap" it's not because he wants to, it's because he doesn't want to call you on being an ignorant prick and end the friendship. That's just my opinion on it anyway.

But I digress, I'm getting ahead of myself. What the entire incident reminded me of was back during my freshmen year of high school. Now the school I used to go to had a very small black population, think one per every hundred white kids. There was a fanatical Evangelical Christian girl who was a sophomore at the time and (I'm guessing due to warped personal belief and not religious teachings) made it her mission in life to ridicule the African Americans as much as possible. She claimed they were a spawn of the devil or something equally along those lines. She would preach to people about it, how black people are "bad" and how her job in life was to procreate and give birth to white children.

One day after class, she was raped by two black kids from the high school who were apparently tired of hearing all her ranting. She survived the ordeal with a few cuts and a bruised self image as expected. People assumed that would be all; the two perpetrators were caught and are probably to this day in a detention center of some kind. That wasn't the case. Only two weeks after the incident she committed suicide at her mothers consent because it was the only to repent from such an immense dishonor. Not of getting raped, but by getting raped by a black man.

Who was in the wrong here? The girl, or the two black kids who raped her? That's not for me to say, and by doing so I would be lead down an endless spiral of morality. But I'd like to point out the fact that I'm sure many people will read the above story and see it in many ways based on their racial tolerance.

I'm sure a white Christian woman would take the story differently than a black male would, and as well they should. Would it have made a difference if she was raped by white men instead of black? Would you see the story any differently then? The whole issue is a vortex.

The point I'm trying to make however, is how racism is so casual in society that people don't even recognize it. Calling someone an "Indian giver" or calling something a "gip" or saying they got "jewed out" of something. It's a part of everyday speech in America and the world I'm sure.

One could quantify racism as a fanatical religion. Both are promoted by those who feel inadequate in life; hence embracing an ideology that raises their self-image, their being above that of others.

Being a child in the 70s and 80s, the problem of race was much more widely tolerated, therefore, accepted. Today, while the issue of race may be well politicized and hammered into correctness on the surface, the same hatred is still harbored within many from the past. This, one could argue is more dangerous than outright prejudicious because of the sheer fact no one is sure where one stands.

Do you ever see a white man in the middle of a predominantly black nieghborhood shouting racial slurs? Or even, to a lesser extent, a white man talking with another about racial hatred? The former and the latter are not very likely, but talk amongst friends pertaining the issue of race is rampant. Ideas of hatred survive if it has an audience to encourage it.

While it is unlikely to end racism tomorrow, I do believe that it is possible to end in the long run. The nature versus nurture debate would agree that children are not born to hate, they are taught. But as long as race remains the easiest way to attack someone or group for being different, it will remain, either through example or experience.

The more intelligent a community is, the less you will see such behavior, on the outside at least. It's a strong possibility with the help of adults that the issue racisum could end this very day and not be spread to the next generation.

The best way to counter racism is to make those who promote it feel isolated with their convictions by ignoring, and distancing yourself from their presence.

Humans are a social species, they feel a need to dedicate a lot of their time to finding, and maintaining other humans to socialize with.
In a way you can feel pity for those who would separate themselves from a group of people based on their skin color.

Racism was handed down to us, always remember that. You were exposed to it, like a plague, you weren't born with it.

To anyone looking for the bigger picture in this story, I'll leave it to you to find one, or even determine if one exists. I'm just merely sharing an experience; the equivalent of singing a song around a campfire.

Well, i think this is more of a discussion issue, but its a good one none the less.

""it's okay for me to call this guy a *idiotic bullshit* because my best friend is a *minority*""
I'd actualy say that they probably don't have friends of another race, or many freinds at all; and thats not meant as an outright bash.


"The point I'm trying to make however, is how racism is so casual in society that people don't even recognize it."
Absolutely, for as tolerant as we think we are, our socieity is actualy still very bigoted and fearful. Which is sad because this is starting to run over into the political realm (see: mass banning of gay marrage).

"Being a child in the 70s and 80s, the problem of race was much more widely tolerated, therefore, accepted. Today, while the issue of race may be well politicized and hammered into correctness on the surface, the same hatred is still harbored within many from the past."
More to the point, i think some of the younger generation (of which i am apart) feels that because our generation hasn't had any overt 'racial problems' they are free to use racial slurs because relations with the 'minorities' are better.

something that makes me laugh the most though, is when i hear other white people saying that now we're the minority, and that now we're being stereotyped and discriminated against. i think this is the least we could expect after hundreds of years of exporting intolerance.

I am insulted by your assumption that her ridicule of black people was because of her religious teachings.

She wasnt a very good Christian if she went around hating on her neighbors.

///

That's not what he said. What he in fact said was:

read what he said next time. Please don't read one line and assume that you know what the rest of what he said was based on that one line. what i got out of this was that she had some sort of mental illness and that the way it expressed itself was a paranoic hatred. nobodys fault, just all around bad luck.

What he said.

I have some things I'd like to say on this myself, but I don't have the time right now, so I'm just moving it to Discussion for now. After work I'll get to it if I feel up to it.

Its not just "minority" people who get insulted, I have seen people playing FPS games all the time and even white people call other white people the N word and etcetera. They also have the fake "im high" accent (lets face it, when your high you dont sound like you popped cotton balls in your mouth and go "he wut up homez" unless you just think its cool to act that way, I am on a narcotic equivilant to morphine in a pill for my shoulder and neck and I may giggle a little it DOESNT make me act like that, and its way more potent than pot) but that is another story.

I think a large part of the people who use words like that are people who think its cool to act like rappers, because rappers sit around calling eachother names like that, what great role models, if its cool to call eachother N-word then how much is it cool to beat your wives and sleep with as many sl*ts as possible?

I dont enjoy online games very much because of the way people act in them. Monster Hunter is not that bad because they censor words and its very easy to just turn chat settings off for certain people to talk to others and not them, plus if its too bad you password a game so they can not join and then your set, but games that use headsets are horrible for people who act like that (fyi: anyone who complains about RE Outbreak and MH using only keyboard, Capcom does not like headset use because they can not control what people say and do not want certain things being said over the game, in fact calling someone an N word WOULD get you banned on MH, most people hate it but I enjoy it)

No matter who it is your talking to, pop culture influences them and they act like what they see. You would think after you start to grow pubic hair you would GET a mind of your own and not have to act like what you see but obviously its not true...

In my opinion, a large chunk of this can be based on media's representation of minorities and the interpretation of that.

By example: The Media has begun portraying all people of color as thugs, gangsters, and general all around hoodlums. The result of this is that the little grade fous on my bus actually yell, "What up nigga' thug?" to one of the african-americans kids who takes said bus as well. They also yell, "Who you gonna' cap next?" not because they're ignorant (Though that does apply) but because media has taught them that they're in the right and speak the truth.

Furthermore, this also leads to some people who don't like what media is doing to our younger society, and then proceed to take their anger out of ethnic minorities.

If you asked them if they were racist, they would say "No." But the clincher here is that they are, but their interpretation of their actions is one of safeguarding younger generations, and not one of hate towards a group of people.

Traditionally, humanity has been afraid of anything different, and in turn releases that fear as hatred. But are these people afraid of the group they insult? Odds are no. Instead, they're afraid of the stereotype/image that Hollywood has given them.

Also, R&B/Hip-Hop/Rap constantly using racial slurs. In turn, people think that this is "cool" and start using it freely under the assumption that everyone's doing it so they can't be individually punished. By example, people now say stuff like "That's so gay" in reference to an opinion that they dislike something. This is the media's application of slang showing through.

Even worse, people say this but when they actually do meet someone who is homosexual, they usually have two reactions (At least before second year university) They either respond with irrational hatred and agression, or they avoid said person.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't hate people because they hate. We should hate the people who started the hate. If anything, we should pity those that use racial slurs because they've got a veritable veil over their eyes and can't see the fault in what they do.

Ah, the true liberal. Methinks it's time to take the conflicting and unpopular viewpoint.

Discrimination is necessary for humanity to survive and thrive. It is our way of classifying and anylizing things/situations. We do not have the capacity to look at things as if we've never seen them before. Instead, we are forced to assume that situations/things that seem recurring are true for all of that category unless something shows us differently. Every time we look at a T.V., we can't deduce that it is a T.V. unless we recall our past observations and make an assumption that the basic form of an object/idea/event is universal until proven otherwise. Humans naturally classify things in order so that our mind can function properly in the real world...

don't all disagree with me at once...

"Discrimination is necessary for humanity to survive and thrive. It is our way of classifying and anylizing things/situations."
this is true, humanity is hard-wired to identify and classify objects into mental catagories, its a subconcious action that we all do. however, that doest not mean that harmful racial/sexual discrimination is A-OK; instead it shows us why we do this stupid shit.

are you saying, icythaco, that we should endorse the idea of basing one's own assumptions of a group of people off a limited number of experiences? because thats what it sounds like from your post.

I'd just like to point out something that might seem irrelevant. The point is comming, bear with me.

A lot of people don't agree with the electoral college, stating that no matter who wins the popular vote, and no matter who the people want to be president, the matter is decided on just a few rogue states.

Doesn't that scenario sound like stereotyping? We single out the electoral votes because they are more important/prominent than the overall, regardless that the popular vote is the majority?

I don't agree with stereotyping, but in areas such as Israel, where they will frisk any Arab that boards a flight and such, I can see it being necessary.

However, the U.S.A has the declaration of independence, so if you morally agree with the issue of stereotyping, then legally, you aren't allowed to follow up on said belief.

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