Article written by Claire Stroebel.
Please note that for the purposes of this article, the gaming I am referring to is that of video gaming. Although, I would like to point out that racism can be found in all media.
It's not a far stretch. A new platform of entertainment evolves, and so people find new ways to attack others because of the colour of their skin, often without being able to see their targets. What a world we live in. It's tiring. We're all tired of seeing it and hearing it. We're all tired of being targets of it. I posit that most people are good – or try to be, given their circumstances – but their voices are soft. Horrible people seem to be blessed with loud voices, and so it appears to be the same with gaming. Racism is not endemic in gaming – far from it – but it is a problem, and it's rarely being addressed.
But rarely doesn't mean not at all. It's just not consistent. Steam is possibly the most popular gaming platform now. I daresay a lot of us have heard how damaging their summer sales are to our wallets. Yet the company that made Steam, Valve, is remarkably silent on the topic of racism – specifically, Neo Nazis. It seems that, according to an article on Kotaku (an online gaming journal), whenever hate groups on Steam becomes an issue in the media, Valve quietly sweeps it under the rug by deleting the group. And then Valve makes no comment.
It's disturbing. That a company as large as Valve can allow these groups to go on without so much as a slap on the wrist, is disturbing. Moderating message boards is hard. Despite being text, there is a lot of data to sift through. But when the titles of said groups are out and proud, there is little to no excuse. Even if they can't always catch the culprits, there should at least be a voice coming from the company, decrying the ideas of such groups. There are more than enough young minds who use Steam. Quietly sweeping racist groups under the rug isn't enough.
This all leads me as to why there's so much racism in gaming. As evidenced by the above, it's because it's not being addressed. Sure, Valve is deleting the groups from Steam, but it's not enough to confront the perpetrators of such a disgusting human past-time – and it surely is a past-time, if you listened even once in history class. Racism is as prevalent in history as the existence of people, and it is still alive and well today. If we are going to change the course of history, then something needs to be done.
But a major question is, why do people still engage in racism? There are the obvious answers: the way they were raised, societal pressures in certain groups, and geography. But why gaming? What gives racists the platform they desire? Perhaps it's the anonymity? In this author's opinion, no; it's basically because they can get away with it. Sure, there's the chance of getting banned, but there is always another game in which to spread their ideas, whether through mods (additions and changes to a game through third parties and not the game developers), or through message boards. And because it's hard to police. Yes, the anonymity is part of it – we often can't see the people on the other side of the screen – but ultimately, it comes down to how much the perpetrator can get away with. It turns out, that is a lot.
Although, now I am assuming that the question on your mind is: but how are people racist in games? They are racist in much the same way that they are racist in other media: content that contains sensitive material, jokes, and depictions. Naturally there is the odd mistake, such as someone who genuinely doesn't realise that what they've said or done is racist, but as an avid gamer myself, I find that these instances are few and far between. For the most part, racist leanings are entirely intentional – usually for their own agenda – and video games provide a unique breeding ground for this type of person. They can dive themselves into a world of their own design quite well.
Video games offer people an escape, and while most people use that escape to relax, there are those who would use it to force their world view. Unfortunately, there are a lot of young minds willing to listen.
There is, of course, more to it than just the content that the gamers themselves create. There are also the game developers. Underlying racism rears its ugly head in games in subtler ways, such as: not involving people of colour in character choices, certain sides taken and promoted in war re-enactment type games (Germany has changed and banned several games for this reason), language used, and simply not including any people of colour in the wider game world of individual games. All of this is called out quickly, but it does warrant a mention because it denotes an underlying problem in the way Western culture thinks. Game developers should be more aware of what they’re showing to the world, as video games become more and more popular. It doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon either, and who knows what virtual reality will bring?
But what can we do to combat racism? I recently wrote an article about technology in schools, and I believe that schools are a good place to start. Like everything else taught in schools, they’re an extension of things we learn at home, and are things we need for real life. Aptitude with technology is a must nowadays and video games should be included. Too often they’re overlooked as a frivolous venture, but since so many young people spend so much of their free time there – and more than a few seek careers in the field – perhaps a crash course in appropriateness is warranted, if only for a short time. We teach kids how to behave in other social situations at school, why not online situations?
Though, it shouldn’t stop there. Game companies should be stepping forward about these matters and letting us all know that they take them seriously. To just sweep them under the rug is all well and good, but it doesn’t address anything. There needs to be a strong anti-racism policy, better screening of mods, banning of players across platforms, help for victims – and not at the last minute. Getting in ahead of the problem is key. While difficult, I don’t think it’s much to ask from the people who claim to be about our enjoyment of games. I know I don’t find racism enjoyable.
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