The Anniversary of ATBW
Posted by ATBW at August 1, 2007 7:14 PM and is filed under NYC,In the News,Politics,media,Africa,Racism 
Today is the anniversary of AskThisBlackWoman. On August 1, 2006, I began blogging in an attempt to engage people in conversations about race, especially as it pertains to Black people. I wanted to present issues that were important to the lives of Black people, and I wanted to do it sometimes with seriousness, and sometimes with humor, but always with intensity. I also wanted to inspire Black communities, especially in the US, to conjure up the culture of activism that is so inherent in the Black experience.
My plan for today was to post a piece that I had been working on called, "Conscious Response", that highlighted musical pieces by people of African descent throughout the world. Music that represented creative and conscious responses to the struggles we as Black people face in all our countries of origins and countries of residence.
My plan was side tracked by the controversy surrounding my post about the video game Resident Evil 5 and the problematic imagery of Black people the game depicted. I care deeply about the way in which Black people are portrayed in this world; it is the impetus of my political thought and action.
Here are the links to my posts about Resident Evil 5: Link and link.
Never have I been so harassed and insulted, and all because I questioned the imagery in this game. I jokingly wrote to Sokari at blacklooks today (I also blog at blacklooks) that during my year of blogging I have challenged the politics and motivations of everyone from Zionist Jews, Mexican gang members, NYC lesbian Puerto Rican City Council people, national elected figures, and even Black people, but never have I been more attacked than by a community of men who play video games. The response has been horrifying.
I'm not shocked by the racism/sexism of the gamers who responded to my post. Racism and sexism are alive and well. I am shocked that in the same breath some of these folks denied that Resident Evil 5 displayed racist/anti-Black imagery; they called me things like "nigger", "bitch", and "whore".
The gamers responding to my posts caused Blacklooks to crash by the sheer number of angry visitors. Comments on AskThisBlackWoman and Blacklooks had to be disabled. Hostile gamers even found me on MySpace.
Not all of the response has been bad. Sokari has been extremely supportive and some of the comments have been incredible. I will post a MySpace exchange I had a little later: it proved quite illuminating and when rational people communicate, common ground can be found. Thanks Nick.
My favorite comment was from Joan Kelly on Blacklooks, who was later accused by a gamer of hitting on me because her words were so sweet. This is what she said:
—" Kym,
I appreciated this post and the Resident Evil one. I don’t even feel like addressing the insanity that’s been spewed here and at the other thread, because I find you obviously sane and thus not in need of reassurance that the commenters are wrong. However, I fucking hate seeing (any)men and white people try to bully anyone, but especially women, and especially women of color. I really just wanted you to know that while the fuckheads might be loud right now, in their various forms (from shame-on-you condescension to racial slurring monstrosity), their poison could build to a million times its current volume, and it would still never approach the amount of respect and love directed your way."
So, things were very intense for me today in the blogosphere. It got so bad, Sokari had to post a piece on Blacklooks intended to generate some support from women of color bloggers and other allies. Here's the post and the link:
—"Today is the first year anniversary of Kym Platt's’ blog “AskThisBlack Woman” - congrats to Kym but most of all from me personally thanks for your contribution to Black Looks and for having the courage to speak out for what you believe in.
Yesterday Kym posted a piece about a game called Resident Evil and over the three years I have been writing this blog I have never experienced such level of anger and and hateful set of comments including through the contact form. Kym has been called bitch, nigger, black hooker, whore in an attempt to intimidate her here on BL, on her own blog and also on other sites (Technorati has over 50 links on this post).
Kym was not the only one to comment on Resident Evil(the original Village Voice piece and microscopiq) but if you check their comments you wont find any abuse like the ones below but then they are not Black female …………………….
the owner of this blog is a rascist bitch
You stupid bitch
This is a game about Zombies set in Afric, did you expect the Zombies to be chinese? stupid fucking black hooker playing the race card as usual…
Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger.
FUCK OFF AND DIE!
PRETOS DO CARALHO!
This is by far the best way to get exposure to your blog. I give you congratulations on being incredibly racist while preaching equality. Good job. Don’t be a little attention whore.
Doesnt take much of a brain to figure where the “resident evil” lies - Like Kym, the only game I play is the occasional solitaire on my pc and have no interest in playing video games of any kind however
given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid. Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?"
It's been an interesting anniversary and this situation has really proved to me the dire need, the urgency, for Black people to write and voice our opinions about the injustices and indignities we face.
The gamers would like to intimidate me and silence me, but that's not going to happen. This vitriol has done nothing but embolden me and my political convictions.
Thanks to everyone who either supported me or engaged in non-hostile dialogue... I really appreciate it. I also want to thank my friend Dwayne Wilson... you have helped me tremendously.
Peace.
—kp
PS… After I have a couple of beers and some sleep, I'll post that piece about the music.
My plan for today was to post a piece that I had been working on called, "Conscious Response", that highlighted musical pieces by people of African descent throughout the world. Music that represented creative and conscious responses to the struggles we as Black people face in all our countries of origins and countries of residence.
My plan was side tracked by the controversy surrounding my post about the video game Resident Evil 5 and the problematic imagery of Black people the game depicted. I care deeply about the way in which Black people are portrayed in this world; it is the impetus of my political thought and action.
Here are the links to my posts about Resident Evil 5: Link and link.
Never have I been so harassed and insulted, and all because I questioned the imagery in this game. I jokingly wrote to Sokari at blacklooks today (I also blog at blacklooks) that during my year of blogging I have challenged the politics and motivations of everyone from Zionist Jews, Mexican gang members, NYC lesbian Puerto Rican City Council people, national elected figures, and even Black people, but never have I been more attacked than by a community of men who play video games. The response has been horrifying.
I'm not shocked by the racism/sexism of the gamers who responded to my post. Racism and sexism are alive and well. I am shocked that in the same breath some of these folks denied that Resident Evil 5 displayed racist/anti-Black imagery; they called me things like "nigger", "bitch", and "whore".
The gamers responding to my posts caused Blacklooks to crash by the sheer number of angry visitors. Comments on AskThisBlackWoman and Blacklooks had to be disabled. Hostile gamers even found me on MySpace.
Not all of the response has been bad. Sokari has been extremely supportive and some of the comments have been incredible. I will post a MySpace exchange I had a little later: it proved quite illuminating and when rational people communicate, common ground can be found. Thanks Nick.
My favorite comment was from Joan Kelly on Blacklooks, who was later accused by a gamer of hitting on me because her words were so sweet. This is what she said:
—" Kym,
I appreciated this post and the Resident Evil one. I don’t even feel like addressing the insanity that’s been spewed here and at the other thread, because I find you obviously sane and thus not in need of reassurance that the commenters are wrong. However, I fucking hate seeing (any)men and white people try to bully anyone, but especially women, and especially women of color. I really just wanted you to know that while the fuckheads might be loud right now, in their various forms (from shame-on-you condescension to racial slurring monstrosity), their poison could build to a million times its current volume, and it would still never approach the amount of respect and love directed your way."
So, things were very intense for me today in the blogosphere. It got so bad, Sokari had to post a piece on Blacklooks intended to generate some support from women of color bloggers and other allies. Here's the post and the link:
—"Today is the first year anniversary of Kym Platt's’ blog “AskThisBlack Woman” - congrats to Kym but most of all from me personally thanks for your contribution to Black Looks and for having the courage to speak out for what you believe in.
Yesterday Kym posted a piece about a game called Resident Evil and over the three years I have been writing this blog I have never experienced such level of anger and and hateful set of comments including through the contact form. Kym has been called bitch, nigger, black hooker, whore in an attempt to intimidate her here on BL, on her own blog and also on other sites (Technorati has over 50 links on this post).
Kym was not the only one to comment on Resident Evil(the original Village Voice piece and microscopiq) but if you check their comments you wont find any abuse like the ones below but then they are not Black female …………………….
the owner of this blog is a rascist bitch
You stupid bitch
This is a game about Zombies set in Afric, did you expect the Zombies to be chinese? stupid fucking black hooker playing the race card as usual…
Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger.
FUCK OFF AND DIE!
PRETOS DO CARALHO!
This is by far the best way to get exposure to your blog. I give you congratulations on being incredibly racist while preaching equality. Good job. Don’t be a little attention whore.
Doesnt take much of a brain to figure where the “resident evil” lies - Like Kym, the only game I play is the occasional solitaire on my pc and have no interest in playing video games of any kind however
given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid. Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?"
It's been an interesting anniversary and this situation has really proved to me the dire need, the urgency, for Black people to write and voice our opinions about the injustices and indignities we face.
The gamers would like to intimidate me and silence me, but that's not going to happen. This vitriol has done nothing but embolden me and my political convictions.
Thanks to everyone who either supported me or engaged in non-hostile dialogue... I really appreciate it. I also want to thank my friend Dwayne Wilson... you have helped me tremendously.
Peace.
—kp
PS… After I have a couple of beers and some sleep, I'll post that piece about the music.
its ok for a movie like blade to star a black man killing white vampires, which spawned 2 sequels, but its not ok for a white man to hunt down black zombies? i don't get it
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I think there is a giant misunderstanding here between yourself, the game, and the gaming population. I make no excuses for the racists who bombarded your page as that is inexcusable and disgusting. But,you have ignored a large number of gamers of all colors who answered your questions and focused on the negative. I do want to point out that you are looking for signs of racism where there is none. The game was designed in Japan and has nothing to do with putting anyone down. The zombies in the game are pretty much on level with the ganado spanish zombies in RE 4. They are controlled by a parasite or some form of a virus. It's been the same underlying story in every game. Each game has featured a whole wealth of characters and adversaries from all races and creed. The zombies features that same diverse population. The only changes are they are not just zombies anymore. They maintain their higher functions but are still under a parasite's control. I don't understand how anyone can associate a well established Japanese franchise with an amazing plot for horror movie fans with white people oppressing black people. I applaud your cause and I respect your inner strength and will to further a noble cause. I implore you to do better research on a topic before stirring up a hornet's nest. You only do yourself a disservice by spreading half truths and lies about what the game represents and who it's marketed too.
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You yourself said you know little of video games, yet you deem yourself knowledgeable enough to comment on Resident Evil 5 - that was your first flaw. Your second flaw was your negligence to get more details about what it is your complaining about. As many have already pointed out, the game doesn't simply boil down to "white man killing black people" (no matter how much you wish it did to further your agenda). It's a game about killing ZOMBIES. As were all the previous games (which number around 5 or 6). Every previous game but one featured white zombies, and the last featured Spanish zombies. Want to know why? Because of the locale the game was situated in. So it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone when the zombies are black when the locale is in Africa or Haiti. Was it because you're so over-sensitive that caused your reaction, or simply because you didn't know enough about the game?
And if you honestly believe playing this game could cause people to want to kill black people (i.e. your Columbine remark) then you are nothing more than a sensationalist, reactionary reverse racist. And I'm not saying you're a reverse racist solely from this instance, you've shown it before in previous postings and in one of your responses regarding Resident Evil.
I have news for you - black communities don't need someone like you standing up for them, they need someone who can defend their people without bias, without ignorance, and without reactionary drivel that you seem to exceed at.
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She really needs to read some of the comments like this one.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Instead of focusing on the negative racist comments, please focus on the comments that defend RE5 and the Resident Evil series as a whole. Focus on the fact that the previous RE games have had WHITE zombies being killed.
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What do you want from me? Want me to smile, and do a dance on the table? Want me to shine your shoes? Because you sure as Hell won't let me deal the cards. You might as well call it WHITEJACK!
Nighsjfs...
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Ha! Took me a second to get this reference...
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While I do think that it is revolting that there are individuals who felt it necessary to fling insults, I believe that you wrote an ignorant piece.
First off, not all gamers are male. A good chunk are female, as well. Secondly, I do not understand why you chose to write about something you have next to no knowledge about. The only thing I am with you on is the insults that others hurled at you. While yes, you did write about something you knew nothing about, which was ignorant in your case, the fact that a handful of others were calling you names and racist comments were ignorant as well, and generally uncalled for. I really do hope that you don't judge the entire gaming community by those delinquents, because not all of us are like that. If you do happen to judge us all because of those people, then you are being a hypocrite in your own right.
The game is based on a viral outbreak. Judging from what we have seen in the trailers for the game, the outbreak now appears to be a global issue, not just concentrated to one town or village. Viruses do NOT discriminate based on sex/race/creed/height/etc.
Also, the Resident Evil series isn’t geared towards children. The opening of the game blatantly shows that the game ‘contains explicit scenes of violence and gore’ - another surefire way to realize that it isn’t marketed for children. Finally, the game is rated ‘M’ for ‘MATURE’ - meaning you have to be 17+ to purchase it.
Next time, do a bit of research before you criticize.
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5. Kym Platt
August 1st, 2007 at 5:49 am
R_N,
Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth.
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html#comment-62630
And this is NOT racist how?
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Kim was being sarcastic, you morons.
the thing is when you spend the majority of your life living in front of a computer living off your parents, your world view is shaped accordingly.
you create your opinions on various issues through the only process you learn in school (the only social interactions you’ve ever had). that process is western logic.
western logic doesn’t leave room for empathy. it doesn’t recognize the hierarchies of race and class, and it’s implications on the consequences of conflict between white people and people of color. all factors are equal; if a black person can call out a white person on their racism, then it MUST be true that a white person can call a black person racist for introducing the notion of racial connotations in a video game. which is why these wastes of space are even capable of calling a woman of color racist, nigger, whore, hooker, etc.
and don’t even think about being able to reason with these degenerate amoebas. because from their dark little space in the basement beside the boxes of daddy’s collectible ‘remember 9-11!’ plates, the only voice that will ever penetrate their skulls is the sound of mommy shouting ‘dinners ready!’ from the kitchen…
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So explain why Kim, the owner of the site, and yourself seem to skip and totally ignore all the legit corrections to Kym's original misinformed, down right ignorant assessment on a Japanese made game? You seem to focus on the nothing but the negative and fail to even address the original complaints. I think people like the above poster and the aforementioned are just as much a problem as the racist pricks spewing out hate. No one is guilt free on this matter. Not, Kym, not some hate seeking activist with nothing better to do, not the uneducated idiot teeny boppers who polute this board with their racist drivel. You are all to blame.
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First off no need to be calling anyone a moron. Just chill and discuss things in a decent manner.
Secondly there is a time for sarcasm and a time for seriousness. If she is expecting serious answers she should be more serious about the matter. If the sarcasm was meant to pass a message I think it was lost on most, if not all, of the readers, and we would love to know what that was.
Also: do not for one second presume to know how the majority of people here think. Also do not assume that because we play games we spend most of the day in front of the PC and living off our parents. It only gives the impression that you are quite ignorant.
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Would you get over that statement, Anon? Jesus, "from this day forth"? She was obviously kidding.
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Obviously it was not that obvious.
Throwing insensitive jokes at insulted people is NOT the way to defuse a situation.
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You are focusing on a minor past of this argument, you wrote an extremely ignorant piece, rather then admit to your ignorance you have decided to focus on a minority of comments written by idiots.
address the the real issues and questions brought up by your article instead of trying to hide behind the idiots as a way of trying to keep your over inflated ego and pride in tack.
Those people who posted racist responses on your article are in the wrong.
However you are also in the wrong, and were the minute you posted your ignorant piece.
I challenge you to be the bigger person and do something that these morons won’t, apologise for fact you wrote a piece on an issue you clearly didn’t understand.
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Can you please apologize for your blatant ignorance of video games and of Resident Evil 5. In the several things that you have wrote since your first posting about RE5 you have yet to address that you are wrong.
Do you feel that at any time you might have been wrong in your statements? You have created an uproar by your lack of understanding. Do you think someone from rural Montana has a well informed opinion on how to fix poverty in Harlem?
Do you capability of realizing that you by stating “Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth,” makes you just as awful as the racist that you are trying to fight.
Instead tackling and defending the issue that you created, you have skirted around the issue by pointing out all the bad things said about you. This makes your argument even weaker and you appear to be a fool.
You have missed the point of everyone’s anger entirely. Everyone is angry at you ( and the other articles similar to your opinion) for taking was is fun and entertaining for millions and turning it into something it’s not. RE5 and its predecessors have never brought racism into its games and I am appalled that you would even think of accusing them of doing so. As “good” as your intentions were in blogging your opinion, you have charted into unknown territory where you have brought an argument based on a knee-jerk reaction, racism, and half truths. I suggest for the integrity of your website, yourself, and for your future fight against racism, you apologize. Say that you are sorry to the thousands you have offended and back it up.
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I posted this on the blacklooks.com post by Sokari but after looking around I found this site and there seems to be a bit more room for it here.
I am terribly sorry for the highly offensive comments brought on by this issue, not only because I'm sure they disturbed you but because they undoubtedly detracted your attention from the numerous well thought out responses posted by other gamers.
Resident Evil 5 is not a game made to create hate mongering. As I'm sure a scholarly person such as yourself can deduce, this is the fifth installment in this series of games, all involve killing subhuman, beast-like zombies. None of the previous four(there were actually more if you count remakes and spinoffs) games in the series have used african zombies, all of them were white...or disfigured enough to the point that their color was not discernable, they were simply zombies. Obviously this game takes place in Africa(well I suppose it could be the Caribbean, we don't really know because the trailer is so short), hence the general populous would be African, hence the zombies would be African. Also, this game is developed by a Japanese gaming company, not an American one, so the creators are Asian, not white.
I am afraid that you, regardless of your assuredly positive intentions, jumped to an unfortunate conclusion in her post. I hope you can understand this game and gamers in general better and not succumb to the vocal minority of offensive jerks that have attacked your site. I really wish I could email this comment instead of posting it, as I'm sure it will just be lost in a flood of obscenity, but I didn't find an option for that.
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@Anon
It's not racist because blacks can not be racist. Welcome to the PC world.
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Black people cannot be racist? You should check the definition of racism then my friend. I think you will be quite surprised.
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Look, I know that you think the game is racist, but it's not.
You complain that all white people are racist, but yet you're racist yourself, so what do you expect? All white people to be happy you're treating them like shit because you think it's normal?
You're the racist, and the fact that the game is in Africa is the reason why the Viral infected people are black, sorry to inform this to you, but stop being such a hypocrite.
Also, you only chose the bad comment you got, what about the intellectual ones?
If you decide to delete this, be my guess but you're a hypocrite.
I hope one day you might realize how dumb you where to post such a stupid blog.
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Yes, Resident Evil 5. Ghastly business that. I however, am a gamer, so excuse me is this gamer's comment on your blog is less threatening then you expected.
You are making too big of an issue of a trivial manner. The skin colour of the people in the videogame should be no issue.
I have to question why you would mention racial equality, despite the fact that the Resident Evil games have been almost entirely about killing white people in the fictional Racoon City. I didn't see any one making a big deal over Resident Evil 4, which showed the main character, Leon Kennedy, shoot up a village of Spaniards. Why is the race of the people suddenly so scrutinized?
The African people in Resident Evil 5 are all "zombies". The main character is fighting them in self defense. The same way there are Spaniards as zombies in Resident Evil 4. The same way there are white zombies in Resident Evil 1-3. Why does the race matter now?
In short, I think your logic is flawed.
Have a nice day.
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No reply for the serious comments made? Do you only see the insults and ignore the rest?
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Have you ever seen the episode of Southpark where the townspeople are offended by their own flag which depicts white stick figures hanging a black stick figure? The problem is later solved by adding a variety of colors to the killers, so that people of all races (including blacks) are hanging that black man. The explanation for this was that the children (Stan and his buddies) didn't see white men hanging a black man; just people hanging another person. The flag was changed to reinforce that idea.
Your little blurb reminded me of that episode. Why can't Resident Evil 5 just be about a man killing zombies? Why do we have to emphasize that it's a white man killing black zombies? The setting is Africa, so it's justified from a story-telling perspective. Resident Evil 4 took place in Spain, as I recall, and has you killing Spaniards who exclusively speak Spanish. Was that so wrong? I don't remember hearing anyone complain about that.
I'm half black and half white (I am, however, seen as a black man in the public eye), and I can't stand it when people play the race card over irrelevant stuff like this. It's these types of complaints that hold video games back from being recognized as the artform that they are, and moreover stop the entire racism issue from making strides towards progress. Resident Evil 5 isn't going to bring about some sort of mass genocide of Africans, and any one of the handful of people that might be affected by such imagery shouldn't be playing the game in the first place.
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Of course some of the comments were hostile. I'm not defending them for saying it, but are you really surprised? Your article on Resident Evil is completely insane. I've been following Resident Evil almost since the beginning. And nowhere has there been a shred of racism, sexism or any of the sort. Resident Evil 4 took place in Spain. Therefore the enemies were Spanish. Since this game takes place in what appears to be an area like Africa, the game will have black enemies. In all of the Resident Evil games, the enemies have been inflicted by some sort of virus or parasite. You even see one of the villagers sort of undergo a transformation. Clearly the Africans depicted are not they're usual selves. There was absolutely no moral outcry against Resident Evil 4, and there shouldn't be with this game. Rather than destroying racism, you are creating it where there is none. It is obvious that you are looking for racism. Perhaps if you did not view the world with such a pessimistic view, you would see that Capcom has never and will never make a game with such a racist statement. I'm not familiar with your site, but I'm sure you are working for a better world. Well, you are fighting in the wrong place. I know many adults do not know specifics about games such as Resident Evil, as many simply haven't heard of it. But if you would do a little research I think you will find that Capcom has done no wrong. From the looks of things many people view your site. Its up to you to make sure that you guide them in the right direction. Thank you for your time.
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What's really disturbing is your reference to Columbine. For someone who is complaining about racism you certainly don't bother to face your own prejudices. People responded to your uninformed and ridiculous, to be quite honest, comment on RE5 in various ways. Some of them were rather vulgar and immature, but the majority of those comments are from children who don't fear repercussions to their responses because of the anonymity of the internet, and use chances like these to try and build themselves up.
You, however, are old enough that you should know better. "Can you say Columbine?" That sentence is just as prejudiced as any of the kids who attacked you. But the ridiculous thing is that you'll get away with it because you're an "oppressed" minority.
If this situation were changed and it was a white man commenting on the recent Middle Eastern games and he was attacked by Muslims, and he responded by saying, "Can you say 9-11?" People would be shocked and outraged. If someone made a comment on one of the "gangsta" games where you were a black man and you killed police, and he was attacked by blacks, there would be outrage if he responded with, "Can you say Amistad?"
Children will be children, but your comments are what really shuts down intellectual discussion, because reasonable people can't take you seriously after reading them.
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What do you expect of the responses? Do you expect gamers to boycott the gaming industry until the zombies are made white? What you did here with the article was extremely pretentious.
You are obviously trying to find racism in every situation in order to give yourself reason to bolster the hate from 200 years ago that you decide to keep around for the sake of your biased hatred towards whites.
See what I did there? I can turn anything around into racism as well.
Go ahead and call me a racist. From what I understand of your articles, I'm racist just for being white, I'm racist for apologizing for being white, I'm racist simply because I exist. Pull your fucking race card again, you ignorant dolt. Like I said before: pretentious.
Your method of finding racism is similar to McCarthy's method of finding communism. Point the finger without researching the topic at hand and act as though you have the authority to claim someone else a bigot.
Those are my criticisms, Sue me. Or is the first amendment racist also?
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It's awesome to see that you post the most negative comments you can find and talk about not being able to have an intelligent debate.
Did you even read all of the comments? There were so many that had intelligent responses that you just ignored entirely. Stop acting like you are superior to everyone because you are not. In fact, you're racist against those of Caucasian skin color.
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To let you in on a little bit of the gaming culture. I can assure you that you were not attacked by gamers. We gamers have a word for people who attack and harass. We call them greifers. The comments that attacked you were unintelligent, unwarrented and uncivilized and unforgiveable. However, I would like to point to the issue at hand.
Having a kneejerk reaction to this game about being racist is laughable at best. The "white man killing blacks" in the game is Chris Redfeld, who has been a main charicter in the game since the first one. He has put down all from Midwestern white zombies to Spanish zombies over the years. Since the game is set in Africa, it is logical that the zombies be of the ethnic makeup of the area in which the game takes place.
I would ask that you first do research into a topic before you react to it. Flashing the race card is just as bad as being racist. In fact, it is being racist. If you would look into the game you would know who made it. If you don't want to look into it, here is an overview.
The Japanese, the ethnic makeup of the designers of the game, tend not to view things of this nature about race. They don't know, and really don't care. Very few know of the issues with race that was had in other countries (in fact, not much is said about slavery or the civil rights movement in Japanese history books, if it is even mentioned). I know this because I was there, in Japan, to learn of their culture.
If anyone picks up this game in order to "kill black people" then that person is the truest form of lower life on this planet. There is no racial incentive for this game. There is nothing racial about it. It is just a setting and nothing more. There are no undertones of racism in the game. If racism shows up in the game, it will most likely be in the form of a villian or even directed against the hero for being diffrent than the populace. It will be a challenge to overcome.
I urge you to look to the site (www.gamepolitics.com) for further comments that are done in an intelligent way. I also urge you to go there and debate with us. You will not be attacked I assure you. The site is there for debate and we would welcome it.
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I hope the number of people who take you seriously is quite small; you are very ignorant in your way.
The game features what appear to be Africans in an African setting (go figure) infected by a viral outbreak. The main character, as usual, is sent in to investigate. The virus-infected zombies attack the main character, and he fights back. The game is rated M for mature, which means that no one under 17 should have access to it.
You seem to be under the impression that this is some sort of wide-scale extermination of harmless blacks by a white man, marketed to children. It is neither of these. Get over your disgusting racial and sexual bias.
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Glad this is getting moderated so someone from this website will read it. Which world are you living in? It's almost as if you're looking for something to blame on or call racist in order to become some colored people's hero?
No one moderately intelligent will praise you. What has been said in the article is just plain ignorance. Basically you fail since your sites purpose basically has no purpose in todays time. Do something else with your life. This is so "3 yesterdays" ago.
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Kim - first of all congrats on your site's anniversary. However, I did want to take your site's name literally and 'ask' you a few things. More accurately, I'm looking to challenge you on a few things. And in a completely respectful way -- after all, this is your forum...
I am a fellow person of color -- Male, 33, both parents of African decent. It does disturb me deeply as a gamer that Capcom has only released a trailer of a game that is only 40% done depicting what is only a portion of the game -- and you're coming after them.
It's often people who don't really understand the medium that attack it in soundbites. Do you own a PlayStation3 or an Xbox 360? (And I don't believe that you need to own these systems to have a perspective on the situation.) But I do think that you need to understand the medium of "electronic gaming" to be able to make a fair assessment of the title. Could it be racist and offensive? Perhaps. Could this trailer be the gaming equivalent of 5% of the game? Perhaps, as well. I just challenge you to wait until the game is released, find some way to play the game perhaps (I'll own it, so you can play it with me if you'd like), and then ask people who understand the medium whether this is the norm, and then we'll have the opportunity to fairly assess the title.
Forgive me if I sound a bit curt. I certainly don't intend to come off as disrespectful on a website that you put together. (Lord knows I hate it when they do it to me.) But I would challenge you to learn a little bit more about Kenji Inafune and what he's trying to do with this title. Resident Evil is a series that dates back to the early 90s. It was reinvigorated with the last Resident Evil (4) that completely changed the series. I've seen enough from the developer to know that it's fair enough to give them the benefit of waiting to see what the final product is before judging it.
Now, let me clarify -- I disagree just as adamantly with people who have come after you and called you racist names. I'm sure you know by now that all people have a tendency to be thugs behind a keyboard and then mute live and in person. But I think the aggressive nature of the response should be considered. People have an emotional attachment to gaming (I know I certainly do) and it often feels like people only decide to peek inside and notice what's happening when there's an opportunity to talk about some of the violent or non-child friendly aspects of games.
I also disagree with some gamers who have used the excuse that, "just a game". (But perhaps not for reasons that you think.) Games are a powerful medium for me -- I wrote a post on my site about how we're getting closer to games being able to affect our emotions (even to the point of tears) as the medium is evolving.
I realize that you are not alone in your thoughts. I pray that you and others would let us fairly assess this game once it's released.
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Listen, to start off, I want to clarify something, something that would normally go unsaid but seems necessary now given the harsh words of some of the more unsavory commenters. I am not a racist. I harbor no ill feelings towards any race, be they black or anything else. I know that as a white male who plays video games (yes, even Resident Evil), you probably don’t expect much that hasn’t been said before. But, I felt like I had to say something.
Obviously, I doubt you intended this tiny blurb to spiral as out of control as it did. Two paragraphs, really more of a cursory glance at a possibly alarming subject than any real in-depth examination. So really, those who have jumped to denounce you as a horrible excuse for humanity for failing to research a video game you were merely commenting on in passing, are getting all worked up for no real reason.
Truth being, yes, to the naked eye it is easy to assume that there is the possibility for lingering racism in a title involving a white law-enforcement officer who goes around murdering black people. However, there are many more things that you have to examine that lend themselves to this scenario. The white protagonist is a long-standing character in the series, who has fought a wide variety of enemies, including not only other whites but also things bordering on alien. An important thing to remember is this is largely a fantasy series, very little of it is based in reality.
Over the course of the series, there has actually been a very small portion of black antagonists, only one coming to mind (a cop who was actually acts as a friendly protagonist to the main character, before he is unfortunately infected). Perhaps in a perfect politically correct world, there would be an equal number of white and black zombies. But we’re really grasping at straws there. The point is, games have the same rights of expression as any other form of entertainment. You wouldn’t expect a movie chronicling Mexican life, to cast White and African-American characters, sacrificing the authenticity of the piece in order to remain racially balanced. The publishers, Capcom, have decided to set their game in Africa. And so, staying true to their fictional idea, the virus has entered this area and infected the inhabitants. So yes, the enemies are black, and the returning character is a white man. At first glance it raises eyebrows, but in the setting of the story, I see no problem with it. I also find it very hard to believe that the main character will not stumble across at least a few uninfected souls. It may be hard to accept, but a prime aspect of zombie culture has been the idea that the infected are no longer really human. In this context, saying that these people aren’t human is easy to interpret wrong, but that is traditionally the myth of the zombie. Therefore, on a level, the people that the main character will be fighting aren’t even really black people, they’re zombies.
(Continued in next comment)
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Part 2
A mindless mass of transformed individuals driven by their hungers for brains (hard to pen a serious essay with concepts like that). The uninfected individuals that the main character will come across are the true black people in this title. Actual human beings, not zombies. And as long as that aspect is handled tastefully there is no real problem.
In addition, yes, this title is not suitable for young people. The only real reprieve I can offer there is the game’s rating. An M rating is shorthand for saying the game is suitable for those 17+, and a variety of retailers enforce policies that prohibit the sale of M rated games for minors. I won’t deny however, that this game will likely end up in the hands of younger impressionable minds. But there, the publisher really can’t be held at fault. Capcom has a right to release their title, though it is not their job to police its sales. The only real blame you could find would be in the parents or guardians who allow their children access to the title. Though still, I do not believe in what you say, the idea that the game would teach the ideas of “fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.” On a very basic level that might seem apparent, through the action of shooting these virtual characters. But again, these portrayals are not meant to be realistic representations of blacks, but rather of zombies. I would hope someone would be able to discern the difference between a hostile groaning undead monster and an articulate feeling thinking human being.
Normally, I would not comment on such a non-issue. People’s opinions vary on subjects, and engaging in debates on the internet often leaves either side seeing the other as ignorant, since neither is allowed to integrate important conversational techniques, such as tone of voice. Un-hostile words can be interpreted as threats, simple comments can seem like hateful attacks. To be entirely fair, those who have responded to you with cuss-words, racist comments, and assumptions of your character have been entirely uncivil and should be ignored. However, my real problem came when these people were not ignored but rather spotlighted. On the Village Voice, there were over 130 comments on your original blurb, many of which held interesting and valid points. However handpicked from them were only the most ignorant and horrible examples. Though I had not commented prior, I felt stereotyped by your statement “given the response from gamers... I think we should all be very afraid.” I’m sure you did not mean to reference all gamers, but it was phrased in such a way that I felt you were assuming that all so-called “gamers” were horrid racists and violent maniacs (the suggestion of gamers being responsible for a second Columbine was especially hurtful). The truth is, you have little to fear from gamers.
(Continued in next comment)
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Part 3
I have on many occasions personally witnessed this group which is very often stereotyped as violent and socially inept, to contain a variety of kind caring individuals, and I count some great friends and acquaintances among their ranks.
I’m not here to try and get you to say you were wrong. To be truthful, I don’t want you to change your opinion if you still find it valid. You have every right to it. I don’t even think you should apologize for what you said against gamers if you don’t wish to. To be truthful, if I was in such a position where I was receiving such awful messages of hatred, I would likely lash out in the same way. All I really want is that if you still wish to respond, that you would respond to the valid and insightful comments left. Not to respond only to the most horrible examples there were. You are going to find horrible people in every group, so don’t take this as a representation of the gaming community. Not to make the same dumb comparison everyone else before me has, but isn’t doing that the same philosophy behind ideas like racism?
-Christopher Gesualdi
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Its the usual routine. Throw fire in the haystack then get offended because it burns. What did you expect? You went out and attacked gamers in general calling them racist. Then you posted racist comments yourself (all zombies should be white). If you want the rest of the world to consider black people as part of the world you need to act like you are part of the world. White people appeared in various videogames being killed (sometimes by black people) and no one complains. For once the tables are turned and you act as if black people are above anyone else! Racism goes both ways.
And now you are attacking gamers directly. 'These are a violent bunch, they are out to get us, remember Columbine!' People are not attacking you because you are colored. People are attacking you because you attacked them!
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Sense all your blogs about RE5 seem to have comments blocked I'll just go ahead and leave mine here.
First i would like to say that if you received comments like "Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger." I'm sorry and feel you have every right to be offended by such bullshit. But you should know that this is not the typical gamer.
I am a 18 year old white male. And i love RE4 and can't wait for RE5. I really don't see how its racist. I guess maybe if you played the RE games or did your research maybe you would understand. I find it interesting that all your RE5 blogs have comments disabled. I think it s because your tired of being proven wrong over and over again. Lets not forget about what you said on black looks . "Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth." I hope that was sarcastic. Because how is that not racist. I feel that before you call this game and gamers racist you need to take a long look at yourself. Because you are in fact being racist.
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Sense all your blogs about RE5 seem to have comments blocked I'll just go ahead and leave mine here.
First i would like to say that if you received comments like "Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger." I'm sorry and feel you have every right to be offended by such bullshit. But you should know that this is not the typical gamer.
I am a 18 year old white male. And i love RE4 and can't wait for RE5. I really don't see how its racist. I guess maybe if you played the RE games or did your research maybe you would understand. I find it interesting that all your RE5 blogs have comments disabled. I think it s because your tired of being proven wrong over and over again. Lets not forget about what you said on black looks . "Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth." I hope that was sarcastic. Because how is that not racist. I feel that before you call this game and gamers racist you need to take a long look at yourself. Because you are in fact being racist.
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I will start by saying that I am white. I feel no need to hide that fact. I am also male. I am also a gamer. I know many gamers who are male and female as well as gamers of all races and backgrounds all over the world.
In all honesty what I find shocking is that outcry of racism at this game. The game series(several games based on the same premise) Resident Evil has been in existence for over 10 years. It has created more than 5 titles(an impressive feat) and this is the first time there has been an outcry about it being racism. Before this game Resident Evil was about the exact same thing. You killed zombies. In fact Resident Evil 4 was about a zombie an outbreak of zombies in Spain. Was there something wrong with the game taking place in Spain with Spanish people?
Honestly I myself see no problem with the next game in the series taking place in Africa. Just think of the thousands of white zombies who have died in the games taking place in other parts of the world. Is it only racist now because it is happening in Africa to people who are live in Africa. If that is the case it is certainly a double standard. Do you believe that it is ok to kill white zombies but killing black ones is racist? What would you do if a white(man or woman) said that a game featuring white zombies was racist? Would you disagree simply because they are white? I hope not. It would seem completely unfair, to me, to say that being white is a precondition for being racist.
On another note please do not include all gamers into a neat category of terrible vulgar cruel people with the rare exception of one or two. It is nothing but deceptive, narrow minded and opportunistic. If you really want to talk to people in the gaming community who aren't kids with their heads on crooked avoid scouring the internet message boards because you will find as would with any other community that the online message boards are never kind or friendly to outsiders seemingly criticizing them.
Finally if you would like to speak more on a larger level I would be happy to create a dialog with you via either email or the website provided above.
Thank you for your time and interest in the world around you.
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