i was on my way to bed last night making my final rounds around the internet when i found a joystiq article highlighting how a fellow african blogger feels about the new resident evil video game. interestingly enough, the title of their post was “african women’s blog upset over resident evil 5″, but the more than 430 comments on that post alone piqued my interest. i proceeded to click through the articles, eventually finding my way to the original blog post on blacklooks and additional commentary on village voice. what i saw was painful.
trying to talk about the sensitivities of race to a gaming demographic is extremely difficult. the majority of readers are young white males who are either too immature to have a clean conversation about it or too logical to draw accurate comparisons. what is worse is that some of the hateful comments, on joystiq and on the other two blogs, echo the reality of ignorance and hate they claim black people should get over.
nigger is used loosely. bitch is used frequently. other four letter words are sprinkled about. although not related to gaming, i saw this type of hate when i setup the free shaquanda cotton blog and started to moderate the comments.
on one hand, i understand the angle joystiq and some of the mature gamers are making. resident evil has always been about a white guy killing zombies. the zombies have been white in a run-down urban setting. the zombies have been spainards in a small european village. why should black zombies in africa be different? additionally, the makers of the game are japanese, so that inherently makes the intent of the setting not racist as well, right?
on the other hand, the images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real and meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america. in addition, the underlying stigma of a white guy going through an african village that is infected by a disease spread through blood contact while shooting his way to victory has the undertones, as well, of insensitivity to images projected in the past.
the fact of the matter is that gamers, whether white, european, or black, don’t see ‘the big deal’. after all, rap music glorifies violence, the more popular game grand theft auto features a black antogonist that kills up innocent white people, and it’s not really hurting anyone, right? even more, isn’t it racist to claim racism when there really isn’t any?
well, let’s look at the video and ask a few questions here.
(video below)
is it ok to make a game about arabs crashing planes into buildings to wreak havoc on a society? is it ok to make a game about white men kidnapping white women to earn points and make as much money as possible?
is no one getting hurt by making a game about a asian kid who can only liberate his soul by shooting up a college campus and getting a body count above 30?
the point is that although games are controversial, artistic, and fun, there has to be a line drawn in the sand regarding morale fiber. the problem is that many consumers of these games lack the sensitivity to place the morale compass in the correct area because of the singular mindset they often think of their lives. while i may not feel like shooting africans in resident evil 5 is dragging me down as a person or supremely affecting the black community in general, i am sensitive to the images and how they eerily depict the past of the hateful thoughts commonly communicated towards black people. in fact, those same comments are reiterated in modern-day commentary of the three blog posts linked above.
is the black blogger overreacting? what say you?
updated: a quality take on the issue over at blackademics.org.
Asmo
Thanks for a more balanced assessment of the situation Fredric. I enjoy reading thoughtful posts that aren’t laden with pre or misconceptions and assumptions.
re: Kym’s blogg, I found that she came off as an ignorant person who was “tar and feathering” something she did not understand based on what little she saw and understood about the subject…
Disturbing that the attitude is not too dissimilar to the oppressors of generations past. Ironic, no?
As for what is acceptable as a game, there are some limits because of the interactivity of a game (as opposed to the storytelling style of a movie or book). Portraying a rape, a racist crime (American History X comes to mind) or even pedophilia (ala many episodes of SVU) can be done in tv/movies/books because it requires no willingness of the person playing to do it, if that makes sense.
In a game, you actually have to make your character do these things, which is why there needs to be some limits. Putting the gamer in the shoes of a rapist, for example, would be too far. Ironically, you can kill them as a hitman, but c’est la vie.
However, this is besides the point in re: to RE5. While the imagery may be disturbing and evocative, it is not intentionally racist. Trying to paint it as racist tells me a lot more about Kym than it does about the game.
August 7, 2007 at 12:31 am
Low Frost
@Hannah
Hmm, you asked a good question. I’ll do my best to give you an answer.
Not especially, but it depends on background and upbringing. There is an ocean of general distrust and suspicion between tthe black and white peoples in America that is exacerbated by the media and ingrained teaching. Racism is not really practiced openly, with laws, more through tradition and and process. Racism in America is tough to point out to others who do not live in it because it is not as easily seen as Jim Crow laws of the southern U.S. or aparthied in South Africa. It is the thought, the feeling, the nigh subconcious belief that affects you without even your realizing it. That if a tall, black male is walking down the same street at night as you are, you will watch him closely, prepared for some encounter that your mind has created. You may give him a wide berth, or do your best to not look him in the eye. I know. It happens to me alot. Hell, I’ve done it myself to my peers, then admonished myself afterwards for my foolishness. But it happened, the fear, a dread without source from deep within.
That is the racism that exist in America. It exists in schools as well. A case point is that the European Renaissance was jump started by Moorish Spain, as the knowledge brought by the African Muslims trickled in to the rest of Europe and crystalized in Italy. Moorish Spain was also the place where Cristopher Columbus gained the idea of a round world, as the teachings of Islam allude to the world being spherical in shape. This is not taught in schools, that one of the greatest evolutions in European civilization had it’s start with African Muslims. That the great empires that existed in Africa, South America, and Asia are mere footnotes compared to the great amount of time spent with European history that only accounts for a portion of America’s populace. And moreso, the neighborhood you live in shapes perception. I have lived in entirely black and Hispanic neighborhoods and the perception of whites is grossly different than the more…. culturaly balanced places I have lived. Especially with elders, whom the memories of the gross injustice inflicted upon them by racist, mysoginistic laws burn strong, the distrust and almost outright contempt of Caucasion people in general is great. There is nothing to stymie it, to show that all people are different and what is true for one is not for all. Just like your view of blacks and other so-called “minorities” must be based on what you see on the news, hear in music, read in the paper, and learn from family and friends. Your question alone gives credence to that fact. I see and experience the stereotypes of black men everyday, sometimes it’s open, sometimes I need to root out the subtleties. Not just with whites, but with
EVERYONE, black, red, and yellow. The cause to root out racism is not just about white people, it is about ourselves, about changing the image that is self destructive and negative. The entire “thug” mentality is a good example. Just as the mafioso is a misplaced stereotype of Italians, so are thugs a exemplification of the majority of things wrong with the black community. That by rooting out racism where ever we see it, we shall root it out from ourselves, our hearts and minds, to carry forward to the future with hope for all of us. That I will not be just another “nigger”, another black, but a human being first and last. That people still do not feel this way is reason enough to continue to look and root out the stain on our conciousness. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance is an analogy to this pursuit of racist ideology in todays world, because the ones who benefit from the end of ceaseless watching are those who hold the idea od racial superiority closest. Sometimes there are missteps. I believe this is one of them. That the charge of racism is not something to be carelessly thrown about, as it was here, just as a charge of rape should not be used without care and forethought. I hope I have at least clued you in to the situation as it stands with my long-winded answer.
@ Perry: I agree with you here.
@ Funky J: Because blacks in America have the most political and economic power of all African peoples in the world. That, yes, we do care about each other and work for the greater good of all. That simply because the voices of some are squashed or perhaps they don’t know what is going on in the wide world does not mean they will be abandoned or discarded as though they have no value. The cause of one is the cause of many, and it is more important now than ever before. You do not have to be American to give a damn about your countrymen.
August 7, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Low Frost
@ Funky J
To finish, we do not take up the mantle of someone else’s defence because if you cannot fight your own battle’s, than you are doomed to fall to another. Teach a man to fish and all. The only games that feature German people in priciple are World War 2 games, between the Allies and Axis. Muslims and Arabs in general have long been fighting the “terrorist ” stereotype for years. And I have seen few games on the worldwide plate that cast cowards as Frenchman. If you want to know why the entire African community of thew world has not jumped on this bandwagon, see my above posts. You have confirmed yourself to be a troll or just another arrogant jackass, so I have taken a moment to point that out.
@ Asmo: Thus you have cleaved to the root of my idea. The people who made this game are not racist, per se, but ignorant, simply following the mass idea of what these people are like. That i where the racist stereotype come in to play. Like a said before, Japan is exceptionally disconnected from the rest of the world, with the majority of their ideas about other people coming from the media and tales from travelers colored with their ownprejudices. A blog I frequent tell the trials of a black english teacher in Japan. It is almost unbelievably what he encounters and knowing that, makes the products you see coming from Japan more understandable. That and for a while, Kraft (or Colgate, forgot which) had a brand of toothpaste out called “Darky Toothpaste”. The mascot was a man in blackface dancing to Campton Races. Google it. My point is this massively offensive idea was entirely palatable and even popular in Japan. Just for an idea.
@Xantar
I understand where you are coming from. I wouldn’t want to pains of my past brought to the light for mere entertainment. However, 24 is pretty blatant with it’s stark realism. That scene was there because it actually happens, just like in Band of Brothers, they encounter a concentration camp replete with the emanciated, near death occupants. The differnce is that Resident Evil is not a window in to the ugliness of todays world, or a recounting of past events. It and its entire premise is absolute fiction that has real life elements thrown in on a whim. I still remember my friends playing RE 4 and saying “Yay, I’m killing spics!” (not around me, but you know, you hear things. Damn ears) despte the fact that the makers of the game went on record and said the game takes place in Europe. Spaniards =/= Hispanics.
August 7, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Chris
I won’t make any excuses for the immature responses seen on the original blog. At the same time, no one should be making excuses for Kim Platt’s own racism.
She clearly did no research before she spat out her unfounded opinion. She automatically assumed that white america was developing this game, yet it’s being made by a japanese company. She also failed to take into the account the other 4 installments of the game, which mainly consisted of white zombies, part 4 taking place in Spain with spanish zombies.
The N word is not at term people should be using loosely. But, loosely throwing out the word racist is just as bad.
I can see how this game may be interpreted as racist, and I’m not denying that media can be quite racist. But I think in this case it’s a matter of if that’s what you are looking for, you will find it. To your average Resident Evil fan, this is simply a new installment in a new setting, which happens to be in Africa. It is as innocent as that.
August 10, 2007 at 10:30 am
Pierce
Good points. RE:1-4 used white zombies and nobody got pissed off. The difference with these Black Zombies is simple-we live in a racist society, where there is still an unspoken, un-dealt with history called the Black Holocaust, that makes people uncomfortable with the idea of Black genocide.
Think of it this way: if there were a way to make the Zombies look Jewish, perhaps through clothing, facial features, language and setting- .. and let’s call “Chris” – “Christof”, make him blonde haired, blue-eyed, 6′2 with a machine gun-the American Jewish Congress would throw a fit. And rightfully so.
August 10, 2007 at 11:42 am
Chris
Pierce, but does that mean a game such as this is to be automatically deemed racist? The way Kim Platt was describing it was as if it was part of some huge plot by white corporate America to condition the young white generation to hate black people, as if only white teenagers play video games. Pure ignorance on her part.
Kim can whine and sulk all she wants about how people can’t take criticism, yet she is totally oblivious to the harm her uninformed opinion can cause. You can criticize anything anyway you want, however, if you’re going make such a bold statement, especially when it comes to dropping race card, you better well have good reason to. She didn’t. She made all sorts of false assumptions and inaccurate claims. That’s irresponsible and immoral.
And yes, we live in a racist society, but I truly hope you don’t believe that racism is only outbound from white people. Racism exists just as much in the black community just like it does in others.
I think those who are truly neutral towars race are the ones who didn’t see any race issue when they watched this trailer. They saw it for what it was, a zombie game that takes place in Africa. The ones who look at it and think “oh there’s white America attacking black people again” are the ones who have race issues.
August 10, 2007 at 11:21 pm
-::- 6toe.com » Blog Archive » Resident Evil 5 is Racist - Boycott
[...] Fredrick from YBP says The images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real and meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america. in addition, the underlying stigma of a white guy going through an african village that is infected by a disease spread through blood contact while shooting his way to victory has the undertones, as well, of insensitivity to images projected in the past. [...]
August 27, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Tom Smith
The Resident Evil series has never had any racism in it before, and I doubt that the makers had intended for the new game to be any different. They just wanted a new location to freshen up the series and (being Japanese) didn’t really consider what they were doing.
As a fan of Resident Evil, I ask you to please not base your views of the entire fanbase based on the negative comments left by people in the blogs. I can assure you Resident Evil is not a racist game, and neither are most of the people who play it.
September 20, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Idetrorce
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
December 15, 2007 at 1:25 pm
RESIDENT EVIL 5
i think its VERY! sad the way people are finding this game racist.i no its a white guy shooting black people but capcom are NOT! and i repeat NOT! trying to mke the game racist.i mean if it was a black guy shooting white people no one would care because its ONLY! a bloody game!!!
so could everyone STOP! exadurating!!!
December 15, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I grow so tired of this
It’s so difficult for me to find the words to describe the levels of frustration and confusion that i experience upon reading some of these posts. The racism in Resident Evil 5 i believe is one of the most foolish controversies I’ve come across in a good while. There is no issue of race in this game. The color of the people, I’m sorry, zombies in the game serves only to make the setting more believable. The game has always talked of moving the setting to Europe and therefor it is a logical progression to possibly move to an African based country. to call a game racist just because it happens to depict black people being killed is madness. there have been no issues of race ever raised before about any of the previous games, despite Hispanics being killed in RE 4. To put the word racism in this game seems to imply that you think anything against black people is automatically racist and that there is no other possible explanation. i understand that yes, African people are being killed by a white man in this game. however if you cannot see past the fact that it is merely a game and that before now its always been the killing of whites in the franchise, then you yourself are blind to see nothing but racism in the world. and by racism, from the way it seems to be put by you, is only a big deal when it occurs to Africans. It’s a game. nothing more. there are no hidden agenda’s unless you create them.
Also, i am incredibly outraged myself at this utter ignorance that you yourself are using to imply that the gaming community is nothing more than a bunch of racist white children who are just praying to kill the world. this statement idea in itself is so insane to me that i was quite taken aback when i saw it. Please, Black looks, or whoever else wants to take on me as a gaming representative, respond. I have no intention of attacking you. I simply wish to try and better understand your point and to maybe try and help you better understand mine.
December 30, 2007 at 3:11 am
music
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
January 7, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Resident Evil 5: Discussing racism | Download Free Games, Free Download Games, Download Shareware Games
[...] to the medium’s more popular forums will no doubt have witnessed it before. Another blog, the Young Black Professional’s Guide saw the reaction as no great surprise. “Trying to talk about the sensitivities of race to a [...]
January 17, 2008 at 8:21 am
Kathryn
Well, I go looking for a fun list of ‘things i learned from resident evil’, because I’m bored, and I find another debate about the supposed racism in the upcoming Resident Evil 5 game.
I’m not going to read all of the comments, I’m just going to point out something about your blog that bothered me, and then head back to Google:
The picture under your fist paragraph is possibly the most misleading thing I have seen recently. Undoubtedly, anyone who wants to see racism will take that image out of context and see a whole mess of it. Why? Glad I get to explain. I’m going to go through this as if I have not seen the trailer, and just make some observations.
The focus of the image is a man of dark skin tones, who looks to be afraid of something. Behind him, one can see a shadow that could be his shadow, or could be the shadow of someone else.
Let’s take the ‘Resident Evil 5 is racist’ route first. The game’s main protagonist is an American male, of light-toned skin. By the image, one could go so far as to assume that this dark-skinned made being shown was looking up at the white man in fear, and the shadow belonged to the white man, who was about to kill him (probably in some spectacularly bloody way, since gamers seem to enjoy that).
Oh, but wait, there’s no CONTEXT in that one! Let’s look at the trailer leading up to this image.
Okay, we see a village with dark-skinned persons… hmm, they seem to be rather normal, just living life as they do… and there’s a white man walking through the village, alright…
Blah blah blah, oh, hey, tense moment! This white man (Chris Redfield) opens a door, and the camera zooms in on two dark-skinned men seeming to be attacking a third. Yep, that’s really racist, isn’t it?
Oh, but here’s what I was looking for! As Chris watches, something seems to happen to this dark-skinned man that had been attacked by two of his fellow villagers. He gives the camera a look of fear, and his eyes start bleeding.
So then this bleeding-from-the-eyes fellow attacks Chris Redfield.
Scene cut, a group of villagers attacking Chris, and him defending himself. Several times over.
Is the game graphic and violent? Yes. Does the game feature a light-skinned male shooting dark-skinned people (male and female)? Yes. Is the game racist? Most likely, no.
I also read the original blog that got this started (by that Kym Platt person), and found her ignorance to be astounding, but other people have already addressed that. My advice would be that if it doesn’t appeal to your tastes to defend yourself from zombies–who happen to be dark skinned–don’t buy the game. And, if you fear that even having images of it out there will somehow harm you, lock yourself in a padded room with no outside communication except a nice nurse who brings you meals, but never speaks to you.
Or, more realistically, learn to live with it.
Then again, what do I know? I’m just a twenty-something American female, light-skinned (except this great tan I’m working on), who enjoys playing video games sometimes.
February 19, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Blacks in Games, On Games | Young Black Professional Guide
[...] the opinion of a Newsweek gaming journalist on the Resident Evil 5 trailer, something we touched on awhile back. His reaction was similar to the one I had: Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game. It’s [...]
April 16, 2008 at 6:50 pm
taffysaur
“is no one getting hurt by making a game about a asian kid who can only liberate his soul by shooting up a college campus and getting a body count above 30?”
By your logic, the only people who should be offended by this game are zombies.
I also find it offensive that you stereotype the entire “video game demographic”. I really do, I’m not just making a point.
April 28, 2008 at 1:22 am
Joe
I being a Zombie find all Resident Evil games racist
Oh and “Braaaaaaaains”
July 10, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Bonny
IN FORBIDDEN SIREN YOU HAVE TO KILL ASIANS AND RESIDENT EVIL IS RACISM? Sorry but you guys are very very stupid morons!!!!!!!
By the way, there is a black Zombie in an other RE game, but no one cared about, why in RE 5? Thats idiotic!
July 21, 2008 at 4:39 pm
SynchPedro86
For goodness sake, it is only a game. Up until now, Resident Evil games have always been violent. There was a black guy in Resident Evil 2 who you had to kill. No one cried racist then. This is just immensely stupid.
July 24, 2008 at 9:41 am
meeting rooms
I think its very! sad the way people are finding this game racist.i no its a white guy shooting black people but capcom are not! and i repeat not! trying to mke the game racist.i mean if it was a black guy shooting white people no one would care because its only! a bloody game!!!
so could everyone stop! exadurating!!
October 21, 2008 at 2:48 am
meeting rooms « All home related issues from gardening,moving homes,our environment:: just about anything to help.
[...] posted as a comment by meeting rooms on YBPGuide using [...]
November 14, 2008 at 3:35 pm
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nice article! nice site. you're in my rss feed now
keep it up
January 30, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Funky Baby Clothes
Good post. Have bookmarked your blog and will surely come back.
January 31, 2009 at 7:37 am
RE5 Isn’t Racist. It’s Just Ignorant. | Young Black Professional Guide
[...] those new to the issue, here is what I wrote earlier about the game: The point is that although games are controversial, artistic, and fun, there has to [...]
February 12, 2009 at 10:41 am
Devin Shirley
your blog is great 624 gratz!
February 12, 2009 at 11:48 am
Lmao!
stop making everything about race! it's a GAME! get over it omg. did you see hispanic people getting pissed off bc the enemies in re4 were hispanic? the fact that black people are even complaining about this just supports the stereotype and comfirms that there are many of them who really do make everything about race! stop whining and GET A LIFE – IT'S A GAME!!! thanks! ( :
February 22, 2009 at 4:57 pm
“Expert” Consulted on RE5 Racism Issue: Not an Expert on Race After All at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture
[...] Yet, the initial critics of the racist imagery in Resident Evil 5 were completely dismissed and often attacked with racist slurs by many gamers because the criticisms came from [...]
March 16, 2009 at 9:42 am