Scribblenauts Caught Being Accidentally Racist

[Hazy]

Excuse my naivete, but how is a watermelon tied to afroamerican people?

It's an old stereotype that African Americans love chicken and watermelon.

Not just chicken. Specifically chicken of the Fried variety. Often it comes in buckets in drumstick form.

The More You Know.

Someone sees something that could loosely be connected to a loose affiliation of a well-known-to-be-shit stereotype and that's construed as Racism? Am I the only one who sees a problem with this train of logic?

Furthermore, it's rather silly how quickly people are willing to jump on the "RACIST!" bandwagon at the first sign that something even loosely connected to racism is detected.
What, I don't flip out whenever I see a shop of club sandwiches because it just so happens that me, and pretty much all of my Caucasian friends like them.

Who exactly flipped out?

What I think is rather silly is how quickly people are willing to jump on the "PEOPLE ARE FLIPPING OUT ABOUT RACISM!" bandwagon at the first sign that someone has pointed out an issue with a racial element.

To be fair, my comment wasn't aimed entirely at this particular incident. More so at the incidents that have popped up rather recently (Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead 2.)


My point being: Racism is obviously quite a touchy subject still, and it really shouldn't have to be. Now I don't condone racism, or consider myself to be prejudiced against a particular race at all, but I think people should stop crying foul as much as they do. Yes, racism is wrong. TONS of things in this day and age are wrong, but we don't choose to needlessly bicker over those. (And racism doesen't necessarily mean JUST videogames either. I see it constantly in school, public, and over the silliest things at that.)

 

[Emphraim]

Excuse my naivete, but how is a watermelon tied to afroamerican people?

It is said that blacks LOVE watermelons. And I am sure that many do, but so does a lot of white people.
OT- This is just stupid, I have never heard of that word before, and probably nor have most people. Something is only racist if the intent behind it is racist

Google "Little Black Sambo." I assure you, this is a well-known term in the States.

I live in New York City and I've never heard of it. Where have you heard it used?

 

[lwm3398]

Le Snipped.

Which is that? I thought the old one was shaped exactly like a DSi with the GBA slot. Whatever. Anyways, I hope they do to make my DSi worth it.

I really what Scribblenauts though.

 

[Hazy]

Excuse my naivete, but how is a watermelon tied to afroamerican people?

It's an old stereotype that African Americans love chicken and watermelon.

Not just chicken. Specifically chicken of the Fried variety. Often it comes in buckets in drumstick form.

The More You Know.

Someone sees something that could loosely be connected to a loose affiliation of a well-known-to-be-shit stereotype and that's construed as Racism? Am I the only one who sees a problem with this train of logic?

Furthermore, it's rather silly how quickly people are willing to jump on the "RACIST!" bandwagon at the first sign that something even loosely connected to racism is detected.
What, I don't flip out whenever I see a shop of club sandwiches because it just so happens that me, and pretty much all of my Caucasian friends like them.

Who exactly flipped out?

What I think is rather silly is how quickly people are willing to jump on the "PEOPLE ARE FLIPPING OUT ABOUT RACISM!" bandwagon at the first sign that someone has pointed out an issue with a racial element.

To be fair, my comment wasn't aimed entirely at this particular incident. More so about the incidents that have popped up rather recently (Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead 2.)

Actually, those are exactly the kinds of things I'm talking about. In both those cases it was the people complaining about the people complaining about racism that made the big deal. In both cases, those controversies started with a person writing about video games bringing up an issue with a racial element or at least doing something way, way less than flipping out, and others taking what was said out of context, dumbing it down, and pretending there was some massive flip out over racism they had to respond to.

Both of those controversies were creations not of the people complaining about racism, but of the people complaining about people complaining about racism. Just like this one.

I can certainly see where you're coming from
Very well said.

 

[Sephiwind]

I would love to know when will people get it through their heads that words only have power because you give them power. Every time you scream that a word is racist then you are just giving that word power. Words only hurt people because they allow them to do so.

That's the problem. Words like this? YOU may not give them any power, but the person making the decision to hire you/arrest you/judge you/sell a house to you/etc.? What if they give these words power, the power to change their mind, to decide that you're a legitimate target for discrimination?

You know what? You can be discriminated for just about anything. The color of your skin, your body size, sexual preferance ... you name it some one, some where will hate a group of people becasue of some stupid reason or another. Am I saying it's right? Hell no. But this whole move towards political correctness and trying to remove every word that was ever used as a slur against one group of people or anotehr will do nothing more then make swiss che.... (Wait let me go look up in my dictionary of ethnic slurs and make sure that Swiss isn't one... nope not that I can tell. Then again its only dated up to 1921.) swiss cheese of the language.

While I'm on this soap box the fact is this wasn't being racist or being "racially insensitive".

It's only racist if there is actual intent to be descriminitive. Honestly I really doubt that it was.

And as for "racially insensitive" that's just a bull shit P.C. term. I'm sorry but just because I don't know that such-and-such a term/word is a racial slur that makes me "racially insensitive" screw that, you should be glad I don't know this word or have never heard it. That means that you are makeing progress it getting it removed from the common vernacular, but noooo.. you feel you need to remind us all that this word or that word is a discriminatory word, so we should feel bad about even knowing the word though we are useing it for a completly different reason.

On a slightly different thought am I the only one that has knoticed that, for the most part, that the people that want others to stop useing words such as racial slurs or curse words, are the same people that remind use that these words were actualy used as such. Like for instance.. the word sambo.

I keep hearing people say that sambo is a common racial slur for black people in the U.S.. I would love to know just how many people in the U.S. actualy have heard the word, little-own know that it was a racial slur. I know I didn't, my room mate didn't, and it seems that a lot of people that have responded to this thread didn't either.

 

[Logic 0]

How can they be accidentally racist?

 

[hypothetical fact]

Never heard of it before but it will have to mean alot more than watermelon before I put it on my naughty list.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Sambo... We're bringing it back.

 

[Sephiwind]

I would love to know when will people get it through their heads that words only have power because you give them power. Every time you scream that a word is racist then you are just giving that word power. Words only hurt people because they allow them to do so.

That's the problem. Words like this? YOU may not give them any power, but the person making the decision to hire you/arrest you/judge you/sell a house to you/etc.? What if they give these words power, the power to change their mind, to decide that you're a legitimate target for discrimination?

You know what? You can be discriminated for just about anything. The color of your skin, your body size, sexual preferance ... you name it some one, some where will hate a group of people becasue of some stupid reason or another. Am I saying it's right? Hell no. But this whole move towards political correctness and trying to remove every word that was ever used as a slur against one group of people or anotehr will do nothing more then make swiss che.... (Wait let me go look up in my dictionary of ethnic slurs and make sure that Swiss isn't one... nope not that I can tell. Then again its only dated up to 1921.) swiss cheese of the language.

1) Will it? I mean, it sounds convincing when you say it like that, but is there any truth behind that logic? Will it *really* do such terrible violence to the language to do that?

2) How is that relevant to this issue? This is not a case of "trying to remove every word that was ever used as a slur against one group of people or anotehr": this is a case of not associating words that were once used as slurs against a group of people with images that also are part of racism. It's the word 'sambo' associated with a picture that looks a lot like a watermelon. Context matters, right?

While I'm on this soap box the fact is this wasn't being racist or being "racially insensitive".

It's only racist if there is actual intent to be descriminitive. Honestly I really doubt that it was.

Okay. However, you seem to only be talking about the *people*: what about the image itself? Just because there's not racism in the mind of the person, that doesn't mean there actions can't be problematic from a racist point of view.

I know I've used this image in this thread before, but South Park hits this one right on the head so I hope the mods are okay with this:

Did you see this episode of South Park? As I remember it, Cartman comes to school dressed as Hitler. The principal makes him a ghost costume instead, only due to unfortunate scissor skills, it winds up looking like this--like a KKK outfit. When the Chef sees it, he says something like "what the HELL are you doin'"

Sure the principal wasn't being racist, but that doesn't mean the *costume* is unobjectionable, does it?

And as for "racially insensitive" that's just a bull shit P.C. term. I'm sorry but just because I don't know that such-and-such a term/word is a racial slur that makes me "racially insensitive" screw that, you should be glad I don't know this word or have never heard it. That means that you are makeing progress it getting it removed from the common vernacular,

Or it means racists are making progress getting people to forget the history of racism.

but noooo.. you feel you need to remind us all that this word or that word is a discriminatory word, so we should feel bad about even knowing the word though we are useing it for a completly different reason.

Who said you should feel bad?

On a slightly different thought am I the only one that has knoticed that, for the most part, that the people that want others to stop useing words such as racial slurs or curse words, are the same people that remind use that these words were actualy used as such. Like for instance.. the word sambo.

I keep hearing people say that sambo is a common racial slur for black people in the U.S.. I would love to know just how many people in the U.S. actualy have heard the word, lttle-own know that it was a racial slur.

I would too. I'd also like to know how many of the people saying they've never heard of the term are black. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to say "oh--it's only common for the people who are the target of that racist term to have heard it."

You make some good points some of which I disagree with others I don't. I think that personally I am jaded by the P.C. culture of my area of the U.S. because it is full of hypocracy.

As an example.

I had lost my job a year ago due to the company down sizing. I hadn't worked there long enough to qualify for unemployment so I opted to try and go on welfare just so some money would be comming in to pay bills while i was job hunting. So I went to the welfare office and asked for an application and this is what the person told me. "Here is your application sir. Now I am gong to be honest with you. You can apply but the chances of you geting welfare are very slim." To which I replied, "Why is that?". She responded with the following. "Because you are white." It didn't matter that I actually needed the money or anything. Because I was white that would pretty much exclude me from welfare in my town. By the way the person I talked to at the office was also white.

Now this is just an example as to why I am jaded on the topic. I know there are people that would read this example and go "See now you know how we feel." To which I would reply, "I'm not the one you actually have to convince on the subject." It's the assholes that think that they are better then some one else just becasue they have less melonine in their skin (or how ever its spelled) or think they are better because they were born with blonde hair and blue eyes that are the ones that really need the realization that racisim is seriously idiotic.

 

[General Ken8]

But this is a game where you can have abraham lincoln be attacked by various mythical creatures
well, at least I do

 

[Vuljatar]

This isn't racism. There is no such thing as accidental racism. This is nothing. People need to stop throwing that word around where it doesn't even come close to applying.

 

[Steelwizard]

Having read many of the preceding comments I'm surprised to find that no-one recognised the word Sambo. Perhaps it's my age, or, so I don't have to feel so old I'd prefer to think that it is because of my location. I recall watching a cartoon as a youngster in New Zealand that featured a character named Sambo. The cartoon was called Little Black Sambo. It was rerun often during my childhood.

I also had a book with the same title (published under the brand Little Golden Books). I recall that many years later, possibly somewhere during the early 1990s, that the cartoon was canceled due to the programs alleged racial tone. I believe that the book was also modified and re-published by Little Golden Books. At that time I didn't understand why.

To me, the cartoon and the book represented the bravery (and sheer luck) of a young boy who lived in a land inhabited by dangerous animals; how he outsmarted them and how he survived the story as the hero. I remember that his character was black but did I associate his colour with hate or racial discord? No, I did not. The colour of Little Black Sambo meant nothing to me then and it means nothing to me now.

The race issue is a tough one for many, suffice to say that if more people felt as I do, a whole lot of people would find themselves with a whole lot of extra time on their hands. Sitting around feeling angry about the Scott, African, Samoan etc. that has started working within your company or has moved in next door must chew up some time. No offense intended to those involved but pursuing this article seems to have been a waste of it. Yes, I'm aware of the irony of the time it took for me to type this too.

 

[Sephiwind]

You make some good points some of which I disagree with others I don't. I think that personally I am jaded by the P.C. culture of my area of the U.S. because it is full of hypocracy.

As an example.

I had lost my job a year ago due to the company down sizing. I hadn't worked there long enough to qualify for unemployment so I opted to try and go on welfare just so some money would be comming in to pay bills while i was job hunting. So I went to the welfare office

Which welfare office? State or Federal?

State I believe.

 

[Ninja_X]

When I found out that using the word "sambo" produced a watermelon, I made the connection and found it FUNNY.

Am I a bad person?