| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Racism in SR (was Re: Humanis Contacts) |
| Date: | Mon, 23 Mar 1998 21:06:21 -0500 |
<asbestos warning> As a reminder to the people who will participate in this
discussion, please, since we talking about race and racism (very sensitive
topics), let's try not to step on too many toes and keep those
flamethrowers you all got for Christmas in the closet. <asbestos warning off>
Not only is the Internet a great equalizer, it's also an incredible forum
for people to be heard. Freedom of speech is one of the defining credos of
the Internet, able to bind together liberal and conservative, old and
young, rich and poor, corporate collective and individual.
This does have it's drawbacks. Some US family think tank, I think it was,
published some study recently about hate and the Internet. They claimed
that in 1993 (or something) there was only one hate web site. They now
claim there are thousands of hate sites. Now, while I question the numbers
and their motives, they did get that basic fact down, that there has been
an explosion of hate sites on the Internet (which would coincide with the
general Internet growth).
So not only do we have to put up with stupid pages about Sally and her
puppy, we also have to wade through sex sites (some of which I strongly
suspect are 100% illegal in the majority of jurisdictions) and thousands of
web sites devoted to nothing but hatred. Anonymity often brings out these
sorts of people.
I really don't want to get into a debate about free speech or anything. So
please don't go there.
But what I do wonder about is racism in SR in 205X and how various people
play that. Let's take a look at the basic elements in SR canon:
According to the sourcebooks and some of the novels, racism is alive and
well. Entire nations are founded on principles of racism (the two Tirs,
Imperial Japan, apparently Azzania,) and other nations simply have
institutionalized, but unofficial racism (UCAS, CAS, England). A large
number of street gangs are built around race hatred, and organized crime
has strong racial overtones and blatant implications. The Humanis Policlub
and various other hate groups (Alamos 20K for example) are supposed to very
powerful, very nasty. Kyle Brackhaven, a blatant racist, came relatively
close to winning the UCAS election.
Fade also brings up the point that statistically, in game mechanics, trolls
really aren't as smart as humans or elfs. Dwarfs really are a bit slower.
Elfs really are a bit less "robust" than humans. And trolls and orcs are,
let's be honest, typically ugly (can you imagine Cindy Crawford or some
other supermodel with dermal deposits, fangs and a horn? Sorry, not my
idea of a beautiful woman.). In real life, scientists *have* discovered
minor, almost negligible, differences between different "races" (which, as
any anthropologist can tell you, is a racist misnomer; different races
can't interbreed by definition) such as a slight difference in the
percentage of fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscle fibers in blacks vs.
whites and Asians. Nothing major, and it's only an average, but there are
differences
And yet, despite all this, most gaming groups totally ignore the race
situation. I suspect that it is because for most people, the entire
question of racism simply makes them uncomfortable and they don't want to
deal with it. Which is why, now that I think about it some more, is why
most people don't use Humanis except as doofish thugs and MOM activists are
sweetness and light. That's easy to deal with.
If you really want a more realistic game world, I wouldn't bother with hit
locations charts and special martial arts and the like; I would deal with
hard to accept game/life concepts such as, but not limited to, racism.
Sure, it's not something easy to get a handle on. Sure, it's easier to
simply label all racists as "evil;" but isn't that sort of labeling what
the racists do?
I'm not advocating racism or even necessarily the usage or racist PCs,
since they can possibly be disruptive (regardless of if they are Humanis or
Lord Torgo; remember, racism isn't the sole domain of humans/whites alone).
But I would advocate exploring these concepts with your gaming group.
It is these sorts of game explorations that can cause the players
themselves to examine their thoughts and opinions. That has to be a good
thing, and that's one of the best things about RPGs, the chance to explore
not only another world, but yourself as well. I think sometimes we get so
caught up in the entertainment factor that we forget that RPGs can also be
a learning experience.
Well, that's enough from me for now.
<thinks about hiding under asbestos blanket, then decides he doesn't need it>
Erik J.
"Oh, the silent helicopters and the men in black fatigues? They're just my
car pool to work."
