Racism is not okay. I’ll repeat that for the people in the back who may not have heard. Racism.is.not.okay. It seems as obvious as chewing with your mouth closed, but even as I type this at my local coffee shop, some slob is showing off the work of his molars on an orange scone.
There’s a trend in online gaming when user communication enters the mix. It’s not new, by any means, but has gone on long enough: the flamboyant use of derogatory names being thrown about as carelessly as a backpack when a kid gets home from school.
It’s such a common nightly occurrence on games like Modern Warfare or Halo that it’s quickly actually passing as acceptable behavior. A game ends, and the insults start to fly. At first it’s about cheating or how someone spent the whole match camping in one spot. Soon, though, it tends to quickly escalate to offensive names.
During a bout of Team Deathmatch, I recently ran into one of the more hateful interactions I have ever heard. After a round had ended, a player from one team stated, “We took you n—-rs down!” The response was a bit of disbelief, “what the f—k did you say?” The first player then avoided using it again, but didn’t back down. It eventually lead to an ass-kicking threat and the victim team leaving the lobby. As the players backed out, the offender laughed and said, “bunch of pansy ass n—-rs.”
First, I cannot even imagine being on the recipient end of that interaction. Not only was it painful to hear someone have to be subjected to such hateful comments on such an ignorant whim, but it was more painful knowing that there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. As a bystander, I also had no options at hand to retaliate other than stating my intolerance for their intolerance and leaving. Did it change a single thing? No.
“I got into an argument with a girl inside a tent. That’s a bad place for an argument, ‘cause then I tried to walk out and slam the flap.” – Mitch Hedberg
It’s not only racist terms being thrown about, but perhaps even more frequently are the terms “f-g”, “f-g—t” and “gay”. It’s a shame that the latter of these has entered our society’s vernacular as a replacement for “stupid”, but even so, there is a difference between calling a thing or event “gay” and a person a “f-g.” There are such nasty connotations attached to these words, and while raising a fuss about them tends to give them weight, I don’t think that’s the problem.
When someone drops one of these terms, I find it hard to believe that they are actually implying that they think the other player is homosexual and that they have a really big problem with it. It seems to me that they are using it as a convenient insult and could easily choose one of a million different terms. The use of these specific terms is frequent because it’s spreading like a disease across the gaming world. One player uses it, it’s picked up by another, and so on so forth.
Gaming companies should pick up a little more responsibility in this tragic phenomenon. Xbox does have a better system in place than Playstation, with more accessible flagging options, the ability to set your account to different statuses like “family” or “recreation” so you don’t have to be subjected to the offenses, but it’s not curing the problem. While a more in depth and easier accessible player flagging option similar to Facebook or YouTube would be a brilliant addition to online play, the problem lies in the players themselves.
Unfortunately there’s no real solution for this other than awareness. Most players are playing for recreation. After a long day at the office or school, a quick game of Ground War or Team Slayer can be the best cure for stress. But then come the ignorant insults to ruin the fun. Imagine sitting somewhere quietly reading your favorite book and someone coming up and yelling “Eat it, f-g!” An extreme example, but I’m trying to prove a point.
A bit of trash talking can be fun if it’s in good humor. And I’m not claiming to be a saint when it comes to language online. After getting sniped from across the map, I’m quite likely to let a “what the f—k?!” or “that little c—ks—ker” slip. But I’m aware enough to curb my cursing. If I get too frustrated, I’ll often times turn off my headset. I never, ever, resort to directing my frustration at another player.
There’s a certain freedom that comes along with being able to communicate with a stranger without being face to face. There are no immediate consequences. A dark fantasy begins to emerge where anything can be said without having any harm come. It’s sick the type of irresponsibility this situation breeds.
To the gamers out there who use or have used such hateful names toward other gamers… come on, guys. Seriously? It’s ridiculous this article even warrants existence. No one should have to reiterate such common decency. But then, I also used to have to tell my dog not to lick her genitalia.
Sports teams stand together before games for the National Anthem for more reasons than patriotism and tradition. It’s the same reason they shake hands after the game is over: an acknowledgment of mutual respect and sportsmanship. And above all, to address that as competitive as it might get, they are, after all, only playing a game.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Powerful article dude.
You’re right on the fact that they do it for a reaction. I, too, wish for immediate justice. It’s a good lesson in exercising patience. Very good, especially for the next time it happens, which could be from someone sitting right across from me.
Even since I’ve written this article, I’ve experienced countless slurs being uttered online. There is no solution except awareness. It begins and ends with the gamers themselves, and to change them you’d need to change all of society… it’s a bit of a downer, but I think if enough people make a fuss, we can make the offenders the minority and maybe stifle their actions a bit.
Plus companies really need to make their flagging policy more convenient. Have you ever tried reporting someone on PS3? It’s ridiculous how many steps you have to go through. By the time I reached the report user screen, I had forgotten his (or her) gamer tag. Sure, it’ll risk losing a deal of customers, but to help fight racism? Seems like a no brainer to me.
Thanks for your positive feedback guys.
Microsoft was actually just issued a patent in 2008 that will allow them to automatically censor words like these. It’s a pretty forward thinking idea – they filed the patent in 2004 and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in a future iteration of xbox/xbox live.
I give them props for taking action. No doubt it will spark a whole free speech issue, but I’d like to see what they come up with to utilize it. I am a PS3 owner, so to hear of all the features on the Xbox Live account intrigued me. The status settings seem like a great idea, it’s a shame that it doesn’t really solve the problem.