Racism in Resident Evil 5: HONEST point of view from an African native

I think the fact is people who play games, know the context of what's going on. It's a damn game. People on the outside view it as a racism simulator and make it a problem when in reality... it isn't one to begin with, as anyone who pays attention to video games would know. There are a whole lot of things in this world if taken out of context that can cause a lot of problems, this is just one case, and a petty one at that.

Firstly I must say that your post is excellent. However, I have many friends who are still coming to terms with the horrors of aids in their families. Additionally many still face real racial discrimination and historical acts against their relatives are heavy on their minds. I don't think it is morally right to criticise the makers of RE5 but I know that some of the imagery in the trailer may be hard to take for some who have witnessed all too common problems in Africa. While I agree that it is these real problems that should be addressed, I think that people are perhaps not lending enough sympathy to those who have suffered or are still suffering.

Actually I have a question to the original poster assuming it gets read again.

Do people in Africa actually care? Or is this just something that bored members of "diversity" groups in the US want to scapegoat as the source of all racism in the world for this coming year?

It seems like that the US, after years of oppression and true racism, anything taken out of context can be construed as a hate crime or racism, while a lot of the rest of the world is a little bit... less "worked up" over a video game.

its still a racist undertoned game, and we all know it.

yes very well put

today it seems most people dont know the mean of racism any more

racism is when you have somebody for the Colour of their skin

in this case hes just killing them because they are zombies not because they are black

people get mixed up with the fact that if you are 2 different colours and you are doing somthing negative it seems to be racist when it is not you might hate that person for their personality etc

yeh as a black person myself it would be nice to play a black guy as the main character and not a sterotypical black guy u no the token lol

but as long as it fit the story and he was not put their to make the game feel diverse lol

anywayz good post

its still a racist undertoned game, and we all know it.

sjona

how?

I like the whole 'I'm from Angola, so I know what I'm talking about' charade.

[sarcasm]Really drove the point home...[/sarcasm]

I like that. :)

I always thought it was just a matter of logic and reason. The setting is Africa...soooo, wouldn't there be a lot of African-American/Black people? Sure, you could make the argument that the hero ISN'T black, but he's also not a native of the region. As usual, the liberals are reading too much into this, and I seriously doubt Capcom or RE 5 is racist in any way. And besides, the heroes in all the previous REs spent hour after hour mowing down a zillion white victims...I don't recall seeing a black zombie in any RE...does anyone else?

[QUOTE="sjona"]

its still a racist undertoned game, and we all know it.

solidgamer

how?

BECUZ DER R DFIFETNR COLRD PPL IN D GAME

and we all know having people from different cultures = racism

:roll:

I like that. :)

I always thought it was just a matter of logic and reason. The setting is Africa...soooo, wouldn't there be a lot of African-American/Black people? Sure, you could make the argument that the hero ISN'T black, but he's also not a native of the region. As usual, the liberals are reading too much into this, and I seriously doubt Capcom or RE 5 is racist in any way. And besides, the heroes in all the previous REs spent hour after hour mowing down a zillion white victims...I don't recall seeing a black zombie in any RE...does anyone else?

fathoms_basic

Um... what the heck was that guy's name from the first RE... Barry or something? I can't remember if you kill him as a zombie or if he just get's snuffed out by some one of the other zombies or what not. And Brad from Dead Rising... but compared to all the other non dark skin toned zombies out there, I can't recall any from either RE or Dead Rising besides those two.

And if I remember right, you don't even have to see Brad again unless you want the achievement for taking his picture (BUT NOT KILLING HIM necessarily).

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I like that. :)

I always thought it was just a matter of logic and reason. The setting is Africa...soooo, wouldn't there be a lot of African-American/Black people? Sure, you could make the argument that the hero ISN'T black, but he's also not a native of the region. As usual, the liberals are reading too much into this, and I seriously doubt Capcom or RE 5 is racist in any way. And besides, the heroes in all the previous REs spent hour after hour mowing down a zillion white victims...I don't recall seeing a black zombie in any RE...does anyone else?

SemiMaster

Um... what the heck was that guy's name from the first RE... Barry or something? I can't remember if you kill him as a zombie or if he just get's snuffed out by some one of the other zombies or what not. And Brad from Dead Rising... but compared to all the other non dark skin toned zombies out there, I can't recall any from either RE or Dead Rising besides those two.

And if I remember right, you don't even have to see Brad again unless you want the achievement for taking his picture (BUT NOT KILLING HIM necessarily).

Barry never turns into a zombie but it is possible to kill him during the semi late portion of the game in both the REmake and the original. Its assumed however that he does survive as RE2 and Code Veronica points several references on his where abouts and what he's been up too.

[QUOTE="SemiMaster"][QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I like that. :)

I always thought it was just a matter of logic and reason. The setting is Africa...soooo, wouldn't there be a lot of African-American/Black people? Sure, you could make the argument that the hero ISN'T black, but he's also not a native of the region. As usual, the liberals are reading too much into this, and I seriously doubt Capcom or RE 5 is racist in any way. And besides, the heroes in all the previous REs spent hour after hour mowing down a zillion white victims...I don't recall seeing a black zombie in any RE...does anyone else?

Zero_Fate_

Um... what the heck was that guy's name from the first RE... Barry or something? I can't remember if you kill him as a zombie or if he just get's snuffed out by some one of the other zombies or what not. And Brad from Dead Rising... but compared to all the other non dark skin toned zombies out there, I can't recall any from either RE or Dead Rising besides those two.

And if I remember right, you don't even have to see Brad again unless you want the achievement for taking his picture (BUT NOT KILLING HIM necessarily).

Barry never turns into a zombie but it is possible to kill him during the semi late portion of the game in both the REmake and the original. Its assumed however that he does survive as RE2 and Code Veronica points several references on his where abouts and what he's been up too.

Ah, well I only played the original once and didn't remember it well. So strike Barry off the list. So yea, in Resident Evil I never saw one black zombie. And only once in Dead Rising... so, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Barry is not black nor did he turn into a zombie so I dont know what he has to do with it.

The only black characters in RE that I can remember are Kenneth, the guy that who lost his head to the first zombie in RE1. In RE2 Officer Marvin who died and became a zombie. In RE3 I think there were some black zombies in the street, not so sure. Rodrigo in CV, he got eaten. Outbreak has the best black RE character Mark and Jim who is not so great.

Phew I knew all my worthless RE knowledge would come in handy at some point. :P

dvader654

Whatever, I thought his name was Barry. Like I said I played the first one once, and there was only one black guy, and he was a supporting character. Beyond that, I've never seen a black zombie let alone character in a Resident Evil game I played.

So I guess it has to be Kenneth or whatever (He looked a lot like Brad from Dead Rising, that much I remember).

Firstly I must say that your post is excellent. However, I have many friends who are still coming to terms with the horrors of aids in their families. Additionally many still face real racial discrimination and historical acts against their relatives are heavy on their minds. I don't think it is morally right to criticise the makers of RE5 but I know that some of the imagery in the trailer may be hard to take for some who have witnessed all too common problems in Africa. While I agree that it is these real problems that should be addressed, I think that people are perhaps not lending enough sympathy to those who have suffered or are still suffering.

tcarruth

I understand where you're comming from but Africans are not the only ones who have aids, nor the only poor population in the world. You don't hear Germans complaining about the WWII games, the way so many games portray Nazis, well... I konw one thing, I can't make the world pay for my insecurities. If I were gay I wouldn't be miserable everytime I'd hear a gay joke. Then again, it might be another bad analogy because I will never know how it feels. Feel, that's the key word. Those who complain about RE5 see racism, quite often when there's none. I have felt racism before, it didn't make me cry like a baby though, I moved on, and I actually wouldn't mind talking to a racist person, I would just laugh it up for being so ridiculous.

And by the way, Africa fits RE so well, because there are so many superstitious stories wizardr, voodoo, all kinds of evil spiritualism, etc... Africans are people, they are subject to being portrayed in movies, and others types of entertainment, just like every other group of.

For those who say, why a village and not a beautiful "normal" African city like Cape Town or something? I say, because it's ok. It doesn't matter. It's about the quality of the game. I do hope more people gain more interest about Africa after seeing less than 1% of what some parts of Africa are like. I also hope Capcom never responds to such accusations. They are not worth it. Like Kanye West says, Oooooh, people are so sensitive!:roll:

Amen my brotha.billburna31

Yeah. The color of ones' skin doesn't matter, epsecially if said person is a zombie ^_^

This whole racism thing is way out of hand.

[QUOTE="billburna31"]Amen my brotha.capthavic

Yeah. The color of ones' skin doesn't matter, epsecially if said person is a zombie ^_^

This whole racism thing is way out of hand.

yup. And the fact that people think that this is racist seperates us further. I thought that the whole idea was to be equal?!

i agree with your post, but did they confirm the setting is in Africa? i know its an obvious possible location, but i thought i heard somewhere it might be in haiti or something like that.strat505

it's perfectly possible due to the trees, and others things.

Actually I have a question to the original poster assuming it gets read again.

Do people in Africa actually care? Or is this just something that bored members of "diversity" groups in the US want to scapegoat as the source of all racism in the world for this coming year?

It seems like that the US, after years of oppression and true racism, anything taken out of context can be construed as a hate crime or racism, while a lot of the rest of the world is a little bit... less "worked up" over a video game.

SemiMaster

I agree with you man. I showed this some blacks, Africans for that matter, some of them don't even play games, and nobody even brought up the racial issue. Heck, even I just started thinking about it after this "web sacandle."

In a more introspective perspective. No, the type of people I know, Angolans, people from South Africa, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Congo, Namibia, Ghana, and many other countries couldn't care less. People are more worried about breaking bread, and most importantly, (this might sound a little harsh) most Africans are very patriotic. They know their ancestors and they have a home country that sees them as "natives." They are not insecure about other races (the elite) trying to violate their rights because of their complexion, most of them know this simple fact: people explore others because they can. That is the source of the problem; race is just an uneducated excuse, and it's about time for everyone to realize how outdated it is.

its still a racist undertoned game, and we all know it.

sjona

We do?
That's weird, because I don't... and I'm part of "we."

Please, enlighten me. :roll:

MAN....ANYBODY CAN HOP ON A COMPUTER AND SAY THEIR AFRICAN.....For all i know you could be white and just saying that to end the controversy..Space_Cowboy7

didnt RE4 get into trouble for the appearance of the gannados?

I've beat up plenty of white dudes in games. Never heard a peep. How come they dont get mad.........

yeah, its too bad we have to look at these black people all the time.... but at least we get to kill them. Those damn black people with their purple kool aid and watermelon. I wish i could do it in real life without getting arrested. Also I dont want their dirty blood on me. I hate them so much. also mexicans.