Square Enix Responds to "Racist" Deus Ex Character

[RaikuFA]

this guy does not know when to shut up. listen, first, quit jacking off to malcom x. second, al sharpton and jesse jackson are not messiahs. third, spike lees movies are horrible and fourth, playing the race card for everything will make its a cry wolf scenario for when someone ACTUALLY GETS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WHEN IT INVOLVES THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN!!!

this is coming from someone who was accused of being racist just because they have a hearing problem, and im native american so i can play the race card as well, yet i choose not to because i know everyones an asshole, unless they start calling me "featherhead" or stuff like that. hell, my favorite football team? redskins, although thats because i was born in maryland

 

[Piecewise]

The characters offensive because it was a purposeful jab at black people. There's no way that Eidos Montreal didn't know that that might piss off some people.

So they put the character in, knowing full well what will happen, and then they do what everybody does. DENY DENY DENY. It's typical neurotic bullshit that people have been trying to get away with since the 1860's. It's like a game to some people.

And this proves that race is THE number 1 issue plaguing the US and North America in general. The bigots will not win.

1.You KNOW what they thought eh? You just magically can tell what the entire department thought? Thats a nice superpower you have there.

2.Really? One, count it, one character in a video game made by Canadians proves that race is the biggest problem in th US? Well, as long as we're making unverified, hysterical claims why not throw in "tomb raider proves that Sexism is the biggest problem in America," or "GTA proves that violence is the biggest problem in America."

Can you just fucking accept that there are black people who speak like that? That that character is valid in that there are people like that? Sure, they're not representative of the race as a whole, but then again, what individual is?

 

[RaikuFA]

The characters offensive because it was a purposeful jab at black people. There's no way that Eidos Montreal didn't know that that might piss off some people.

So they put the character in, knowing full well what will happen, and then they do what everybody does. DENY DENY DENY. It's typical neurotic bullshit that people have been trying to get away with since the 1860's. It's like a game to some people.

And this proves that race is THE number 1 issue plaguing the US and North America in general. The bigots will not win.

1.You KNOW what they thought eh? You just magically can tell what the entire department thought? Thats a nice superpower you have there.

2.Really? One, count it, one character in a video game made by Canadians proves that race is the biggest problem in th US? Well, as long as we're making unverified, hysterical claims why not throw in "tomb raider proves that Sexism is the biggest problem in America," or "GTA proves that violence is the biggest problem in America."

Can you just fucking accept that there are black people who speak like that? That that character is valid in that there are people like that? Sure, they're not representative of the race as a whole, but then again, what individual is?

like i said in my pervious post, people like sharptoin and jackson think they are, this guy probably thinks theyre the king of all blacks as well

 

[Ian Caronia]

She calls him "Capt" because he was the leader of a SWAT team and a cop before.
She says nothing racist the entire time, not about black or white people.
She is poor, so she digs in the trash. I come from a family who took me with them for bottle collecting when I was young back before we had a home.

Evan Narcisse, you have offended me more than any stereotype from the 50s ever could. How DARE you tell me my background and my past friends (who spoke much like this NPC does) are "racial stereotypes"? Who do you think you are saying people who act like this NPC are living stereotypes?
By saying this character is a sign of racism, that's EXACTLY what you're doing. You're saying those who act like her are stereotypes. THAT is racism. I am NOT a stereotype, and neither are the guys I used to hang out with!

You've grossly offended me to the point where I am going to email this to you. Or to Time's Techland blog. Likely both if possible.

You confused bad voice acting with racism, and made remarks that imply anyone who is stricken with poverty to have to dig through trash or ask for hand-outs, as well as anyone who speaks with a certain slang, is a walking stereotype. I demand an apology.

Sincerely, Ian Caronia.

...And I will email that to this person ASAP. Looking for an address to do so now.

EDIT: Oh, I get it now. You can't contact the blog unless you subscribe. That's very shrewd of them. Post rediculous content that gets people mad enough to subscribe just to confront you. It's actually a diabolical business practice. Too bad there are other communication outlets I can work through to show this guy how much he offended me.

Ian I would love for you to do this. I plan on writing myself but I believe your personal experience pretty much stomps anything I could come up with.

As a former TIME subscriber I have a couple of contact methods you can use to reach the magazine itself, though they may not be exactly what you want since you can't reach the blog directly, but perhaps someone can shoot your letter to a place that will matter. I can only caution you again that these won't allow you to contact the blog directly.

E-mails:
[email protected]
For instance, or for traditional paper mail to:
TIME Magazine Letters, Time and Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020. Letters should include full name, telephone number and adress and may be edited for purposes of clarity and space.

I already did and made a new thread with some of the letter I gave to TIME via that email you gave. Hopefully we can help inspire others to send in mail so something so disgustingly offensive is never written for a paycheck again.

Did you know this guy actually said that this was a stereotype (because poverty and a lack of education doesn't exist) towards black people (apparently no other race is involved) and that is shows them to be "less than human"?

This guy is more offensive than anything any recent game has proposed! It's disgusting!

 

[rsvp42]

Oh please. Don't attack Eidos for one questionable accent. It's like he expects every video game character to have some non regional dialect. Plus he's ignoring the scores of black NPCs that don't have that accent. Like the stand-offish police officer you meet in the very first level. Please.

 

[grammarye]

Funny how Time or this idiot didn't notice that seeing racism in everything you look at it is the first act of racism. The quickest way to stop racism is to stop commenting on stereotypes and let them die... we're all pretty much unique, and yeah, some people do fit stereotypes (or we'd not have them), but so what? Does it really matter? Are you going to judge on a stereotype or judge on the person?

I just saw a Detroit homeless person that my character had already worked with as an informant. End of story.

 

[peruvianskys]

...why is it only racist when it's applied to the people who are supposed to have had it "rougher" in the view of history?

I am dead serious. I want an answer for this.

Irish people "had it rougher" in the 1890's and no one cares about Irish jokes now.

Think about it this way: legalized, socially acceptable discrimination and violence towards blacks was the norm for ~450 years. Only in the last 45 years has it even been legally challenged; it still exists culturally in every state of the union. So basically 91% of the African American historical experience has been one of abuse and exploitation, with the other 9% being only slightly better. Picture that as a jar of cookies or something - you've reached in 11 times and each one has been disgusting and rotten; even if you finally take a twelfth one out and it's only slightly stale, wouldn't you still be a little wary if you spotted a little patch of mold? It's an imperfect metaphor but I hope you see what I mean. People who have been continually abused throughout American history, (and continue to be abused today!) are far more wary of things like racial stereotypes and slurs and things like that because it seems to be harkening back to a time that culturally is still very fresh in the African-American consciousness. Every time you see a white cop beat the shit out of a black man, it brings up the cultural memory of the abuse and violence that has permeated their culture for more than four centuries. And whenever most black people hear a character like this, who sounds like they could be straight from the minstrel shows of the 1920's, it angers and scares them because they know full well how the bigotry and ignorance behind those stock characters factored so heavily into their social subordination for so many years.

Like I said, the Irish had it really bad but there are literally no anti-Irish hate crimes in America today. When a culture has a period of abuse that clearly ends, they just view it as an unfortunate chapter in their history. That's why Polish people don't have the National Society for the Advancement of Polish People, despite having at one time suffered terribly. But when that abuse went on for centuries, and hasn't stopped yet, there's a wariness - a fear that it might creep back up to its original strength. Racism is like a cancer; it can go into remission and appear again, and African-Americans who react so harshly to stereotypes like this do so because they see every bigoted stock character and every hate crime and every ignorant complaint as past evils budding up again.

Does that make sense? It's not about who had it worse, it's about who is most afraid of the worst coming back again.

Funny how Time or this idiot didn't notice that seeing racism in everything you look at it is the first act of racism. The quickest way to stop racism is to stop commenting on stereotypes and let them die...

The quickest way to stop racism is to see legitimate forms of it and then criticize them for being completely inappropriate. Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Racism is so pervasive in American society and people really blame the African Americans who point it out, and not the rich white people who propagate it?

People can say "race doesn't matter anymore, get over it" all they want, but remember that race does matter a hell of a lot to the black people who are harassed, abused, cheated, and murdered because of it. Maybe race isn't important to you, but it's pretty damn important to the whites who hate blacks and the blacks that suffer for it. It takes a special kind of white, conflict-free existence to not understand that race is still an important part of today's society. It's like saying that cancer isn't important anymore and that we should all just ignore it, just because you don't have it and will never know someone who will.

 

[grammarye]

People can say "race doesn't matter anymore, get over it" all they want, but remember that race does matter a hell of a lot to the black people who are harassed, abused, cheated, and murdered because of it. Maybe race isn't important to you, but it's pretty damn important to the whites who hate blacks and the blacks that suffer for it. It takes a special kind of white, conflict-free existence to not understand that race is still an important part of today's society. It's like saying that cancer isn't important anymore and that we should all just ignore it, just because you don't have it and will never know someone who will.

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more (and you're making a heck of a lot of personal assumptions there about someone you've never met or know the skin colour of, my fellow poster). I don't walk down a British street and look for stereotypes of Indians just because my ancestors emigrated to the UK a few centuries earlier; heck we even have comedy shows about our relatively recent Indian population where they're (Indian actors) actively poking fun at their own culture within the British multi-culture, and nobody cries racism there. That's people from a country where we, the great British Empire, occupied it, murdered their citizens on a fair few occasions, and taxed them into the ground. However, perhaps we were nicer about it all, because they still come here, and live with us, in a multi-cultural environment. We don't worry about saying British Indian - they're born here? they're British. End of story in most cases. Heck our government documents are printed in 22 different languages, we have that many minorities here. You want to talk about racial minorities? Try ours for size.

I've witnessed & experienced a fair bit of racism (I have worked in Bradford, for those that know the place), and sure, some people will always be bigoted & prejudiced - you think that's unique to racism?!? - but it cuts both ways, and if you give airtime to the problem, you make it something that's attributed nationally, instead of 'that jackass down the road who hasn't got out of the 19th century'. Racism does happen - but if you create & perpetuate a culture where it's always highlighted, always worried about, it will never be marginalised in favour of everybody just getting along and seeing fellow human beings; similarities not differences.

Here's a thought for you - you used the phrase 'special kind of white, conflict-free existence' about my post. I could report it for being racist (racism isn't unidirectional), because it's as racist a statement as what this idiot in the news is peddling, but I don't have to. I can choose to be better than that. So have plenty of others in the civilized world. Why does the US feel unable to join us in this (since you are alleging it's an American problem)? Is your country simply not long lived enough yet to have moved on? If it's a problem where we just have to wait for it to go away, then fair enough, but don't ask me to change my viewpoint when our methods have mostly worked and the US still can't go a week without someone alleging racism over something.

 

[Mercsenary]

Okay, so an easily offended lack man was just offended. It's not like I can't understand where hes's coming from but I live in california and I encounter people who speak like Letitia almost everyday. I was unware that I had traveled to another planet or utilized a time-machine. As a mexican american I'd say the game has a remarkable tact for displaying people as they really are, Cabron.

Of course the real damage here is that his rampant hyperbole is going to misrepresent the game to thousands of people who'll have no idea just how wrong he really is. Oh well.

I live in CA too and yes there are people who speak like that.

*complain about lack of diversity in game*

*Companies add more diversity*

*complain about racism.*

XD

THEY CANT WIN.

 

[acsoundwave]

I've heard black women talk like that--especially old black women. (Being a black woman helps. )

But come on--that voice actor is horrible. Letitia sounds like Damon Wayans' gay character in one of those In Living Color skits; I kept expecting her to say "I give it two snaps up!"

IOW, lady sounds like a dude screeching in horrible falsetto.

But racist? Nah.

 

[RaikuFA]

People can say "race doesn't matter anymore, get over it" all they want, but remember that race does matter a hell of a lot to the black people who are harassed, abused, cheated, and murdered because of it. Maybe race isn't important to you, but it's pretty damn important to the whites who hate blacks and the blacks that suffer for it. It takes a special kind of white, conflict-free existence to not understand that race is still an important part of today's society. It's like saying that cancer isn't important anymore and that we should all just ignore it, just because you don't have it and will never know someone who will.

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more (and you're making a heck of a lot of personal assumptions there about someone you've never met or know the skin colour of, my fellow poster). I don't walk down a British street and look for stereotypes of Indians just because my ancestors emigrated to the UK a few centuries earlier; heck we even have comedy shows about our relatively recent Indian population where they're (Indian actors) actively poking fun at their own culture within the British multi-culture, and nobody cries racism there. That's people from a country where we, the great British Empire, occupied it, murdered their citizens on a fair few occasions, and taxed them into the ground. However, perhaps we were nicer about it all, because they still come here, and live with us, in a multi-cultural environment. We don't worry about saying British Indian - they're born here? they're British. End of story in most cases. Heck our government documents are printed in 22 different languages, we have that many minorities here. You want to talk about racial minorities? Try ours for size.

I've witnessed & experienced a fair bit of racism (I have worked in Bradford, for those that know the place), and sure, some people will always be bigoted & prejudiced - you think that's unique to racism?!? - but it cuts both ways, and if you give airtime to the problem, you make it something that's attributed nationally, instead of 'that jackass down the road who hasn't got out of the 19th century'. Racism does happen - but if you create & perpetuate a culture where it's always highlighted, always worried about, it will never be marginalised in favour of everybody just getting along and seeing fellow human beings; similarities not differences.

Here's a thought for you - you used the phrase 'special kind of white, conflict-free existence' about my post. I could report it for being racist (racism isn't unidirectional), because it's as racist a statement as what this idiot in the news is peddling, but I don't have to. I can choose to be better than that. So have plenty of others in the civilized world. Why does the US feel unable to join us in this (since you are alleging it's an American problem)? Is your country simply not long lived enough yet to have moved on? If it's a problem where we just have to wait for it to go away, then fair enough, but don't ask me to change my viewpoint when our methods have mostly worked and the US still can't go a week without someone alleging racism over something.

the problem is that black people use the race card as a "get out of jail free" card. weve got black professers who say and i quote "the white devil is monitering us. the best solution is that we need to kill any and all white people that we see." tell me that dosent remind you of a certain german dictator from the 1940s. plus weve got black people murdering white people over wearing red or blue clothes because they'e "gang colors" and during the trial? "well, he called me the N word" instant pardon right there. dosent matter if there was evidence proving otherwise(i.e. security footage that shows he didnt say a word to the guy, the victims got a black fiance, stuff like that) the judge will instantly release him because blacks are threatening to riot and kill right outside of the courtroom.

 

[Harry Mason]

"We want black people in our games, but only if they are educated black people."

Seriously, has this guy ever been in the American Southeast? LOADS of people, black and white, speak that way. My white, Southern mother does.

 

[Johnson McGee]

Deus Ex: HR is based in a dystopian near future Detroit where a Rush Limbaugh impersonator is the best source for news. Why wouldn't there be racial stereotypes walking the streets?

That being said, the majority of people you meet are pretty much indistinguishable no matter how dark their textures are.

 

[PinochetIsMyBro]

Who cares?

You don't see white british people getting upset because their english accent is used for EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME VILLAIN. Or how about how 99.9% of "evil racist" video game villains are white? No one seems to care about that. No, apparently racism is only offensive when it's a non-white person that's being offended.

"The horrible broken English Letitia speaks is so far removed from any actual slang that it renders the character practically extra-terrestrial," Narcisse said. "

I'd love to introduce the author to the various black people that live in the apartment complexes by my house. Letitia could teach them a thing or two about speaking comprehensible english. I can only conclude that Narcisse never leaves his or her house, ever.

 

[Syphous]

How racist! How incredibly insensitive! As a white male living in New England I am most outraged! How dare they! The only possible way I could get over such a travesty is if they gave me a free copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution! The Xbox 360 version pls.

*holds out hands*

 

[DAPLR]

What is this world becoming? People find offensive things everywhere! And being offended doesn't even mean anything. It doesn't do anything. When you're offended nothing happens. Nothing at all. Get over it pussies. Grow the fuck up and get over it.

This guy...this guy gets it, right on bro!