Why is racism so prevalent on XBL?

I'm Black by the way. About 47% (estimated) of the time when I'm playing Halo, CoD4, or anything online for that matter. Once they hear my friends, N* bombs and racial epithets are dropped all over the place.

Maybe I haven't run across the reverse racists online, but I never hear that crap started by anyone else other than a White person. I'm beginning to believe that there are tons of people out there who are racist/prejudice but won't say anything unless there's a veil for them to hide behind.

Now I know that someone will ask if I use the N* bomb and I can honestly say no. So no it's not a fair judgement to say that I use it so it's ok for you to use it, but that's another argument.

So what's the deal with the bigots, and is XBL a good representation of the amount of racists in the U.S.?

You get people like this in pretty much any large community no matter where it is, schools, cities or indeed XBL, unfortunately it seems to be a fact of life. I don't mind a bit of smack talk on Live providing it's witty and a bit of banter but when N bombs and the like get dropped it's probably just by an ignorant hillbilly somewhere. If you find it too much then leave em a complaint and mute them/leave, shouldn't be this way by any means but hopefully if enough people respond to people like this by leaving complaints etc. then the powers that be can take the appropriate action.

it's no surprise that racism is still prevalent in our country. where i live in maine, for example, a local store has started a lottery to see who can guess the assassination date of Obama first. fortunately most this obvious and hateful racism seems to have died down in many parts of the country. the people who make racists remarks on XBL seem to do it for one reason: they know they can't get caught. 

 it's pathetic and wrong. i personally get quite vocal whenever I hear this s*** being tossed around 

You get people like this in pretty much any large community no matter where it is, schools, cities or indeed XBL, unfortunately it seems to be a fact of life. I don't mind a bit of smack talk on Live providing it's witty and a bit of banter but when N bombs and the like get dropped it's probably just by an ignorant hillbilly somewhere. If you find it too much then leave em a complaint and mute them/leave, shouldn't be this way by any means but hopefully if enough people respond to people like this by leaving complaints etc. then the powers that be can take the appropriate action.

Stashbash

anonymitydxy592

it's no surprise that racism is still prevalent in our country. where i live in maine, for example, a local store has started a lottery to see who can guess the assassination date of Obama first. fortunately most this obvious and hateful racism seems to have died down in many parts of the country. the people who make racists remarks on XBL seem to do it for one reason: they know they can't get caught. 

 it's pathetic and wrong. i personally get quite vocal whenever I hear this s*** being tossed around 

AnotherMulligan

So now you know how it feels when I read a bumper sticker that says "A small town in Texas is missing an idiot"

Ignore it or get over it, remmember they are just callous jerks.

-Zuker

People get shocked at poor behavior on Xbox Live, as if that's the first unmoderated Internet community they've ever visited. Any place online where people can say whatever they want with no repercussions will have plenty of immature idiots. This is not new.

Furthermore, the level of immaturity depends dramatically on what game you're playing. I play a lot of Team Fortress, and it's rare to encounter any sort of bad behavior, be it singing, racism, or whatever.

Is Xbox Live indicative of racism across the planet? No, that's not scientific. What's more, I don't think Halo and Call of Duty are indicative of the Xbox Live community as a whole.

People get shocked at poor behavior on Xbox Live, as if that's the first unmoderated Internet community they've ever visited. Any place online where people can say whatever they want with no repercussions will have plenty of immature idiots. This is not new.

Furthermore, the level of immaturity depends dramatically on what game you're playing. I play a lot of Team Fortress, and it's rare to encounter any sort of bad behavior, be it singing, racism, or whatever.

Is Xbox Live indicative of racism across the planet? No, that's not scientific. What's more, I don't think Halo and Call of Duty are indicative of the Xbox Live community as a whole.

Palantas

Adding to that... It seems that the immature kids who are running around blurting out racial obscenities and singing random songs, seem to flock towards the more popular games. Halo 3 and CoD 4 are arguably the 2 most popular games on XBL right now. Gears 2 will probably join them soon, but atm nobody seems to use headsets on gears.

Just silly Kids wo think there funny

Racisim is one of the Poorest insults 

I don't think it's racism. I think it's griefing.  When they talk to you, the first thing going through their mind is: "What is the worst thing I can say that will get a rise out of this guy online?"  If you get mad or reply back angrily, then they have won.  It's just to tick you off & get for them to get their jollies in return by listening to you react to it.  Like a crank call.

When I can't stand somebody for what they say online, I just go & select Mute on that person & never give more than 2 seconds of thought to what they said or continue to say.  When they get ignored/you have no reaction, they get bored & quit saying it.

If you have ever read Plato's dialogue with Meno, then you would know why.  Meno says that if someone could get away with something, it would be illogical or even stupid to not steal or do anything unethical. 

Plato then counters by saying that it would be illogical to steal because it would only hurt yourself, even if you were not caught.  Then Plato goes on and on about what the soul is, how important the soul is, etc. 

 I personally think that Plato is right.  It is always immoral to do something unethical even if you will never be caught because it will hurt yourself and your soul.  

For this instance with racism on Xbox live, people do it because they can get away with it and no one can really do anything about it.  It is really sad that children are this naive, but that is just the way things are.  Just remember, that if they do say obscenities, they are not hurting you, they are really hurting themselves.

Sadly I think many white people are racist on the dl. Many people in this thread have said things like, "They're not racist- they just think it's funny" or "They're not racist - they're just trying to get a rise out of you". But I went to an all black high school and have had many close black friends and I can say I would neevr throw that word around just because I thought it was funny. If you think it's funny to scream that word at people, you are racist, end of story.

So to answer your question, OP, sadly I think a lot of white people are either flat out racists or just plain ignorant of other cultures , and it comes out on XBL because they are cowards and it is the only place they can say what they think. Rest assured that anyone says that stuff would get stomped into the ground if they said that in any urban city, mute them, and move along.

Hmmm, I'd like point out that racism is a unique quality in that it make sense that people all over the world judge people who are not like them, while trying to fight that instinctual urge to dislike those that are different and see them as competition or danger.

But are white people more racist than black people? It's probably about the same. and yeah, Asian's are racist, Indian's are too, and I don't know any hispanics who are not against whomever is not the same color as they happen to be.

Because remember, racism is not about hating different colors, but it's about recognizing that people are different colors too!!

i was scrolling past this topic, and i just have to say - ive seen this too. and what the hell is the deal? is it the younger age group that is attracted to XBL?

ive had people ask "are there any black people here?" while we're partying up pre-Halo 3 game...

I just brought Gears of War II and went online with it for the first time this past saturday to be greeted in the lobby by some idiot screaming white power for about 30 secs and then soon joined randomly by 4 or 5 other players. I had not spoken a word and didn't through out the rest of the game and guess what? It never stopped, even without a target for them. As a matter of fact it proceeded to get worse as they made up a little song about how blacks think they're day has come since obama became president and so on etc.etc.

The most I've played online have been games like COD4 and CODWAW and now GOW2 so that's pretty much what I have to go on and at least 45% of the time I can't go an entire time from turning on the game to turning it off without hearing N**** mentioned. I suppose I understand the advice of people who say get over it or ignore it but I'm sure they can play the game they paid $60 for on the system the paid $300 for in their house online which cost $8 a month and not get insulted so needless to say it's a little harder said than done.

Now I don't know if it's representative of how much racisim is out there or not but it's definitely a wake up call to me at least to acknowledge that it's still very much alive and well. I have stopped arguing with these people and simply moved to reporting them immediatley and hopefully at some point something will be done but even that seems useless.

Sadly I think many white people are racist on the dl. Many people in this thread have said things like, "They're not racist- they just think it's funny" or "They're not racist - they're just trying to get a rise out of you". But I went to an all black high school and have had many close black friends and I can say I would neevr throw that word around just because I thought it was funny. If you think it's funny to scream that word at people, you are racist, end of story.

So to answer your question, OP, sadly I think a lot of white people are either flat out racists or just plain ignorant of other cultures , and it comes out on XBL because they are cowards and it is the only place they can say what they think. Rest assured that anyone says that stuff would get stomped into the ground if they said that in any urban city, mute them, and move along.

dirtydishko2

You do realize that your first statement, "Sadly, I think many white people are racist on the dl." is, ironically, racist. Besides, if white racism is so prevelant, how did Barack Obama get elected President?

Sadly I think many white people are racist on the dl. Many people in this thread have said things like, "They're not racist- they just think it's funny" or "They're not racist - they're just trying to get a rise out of you". But I went to an all black high school and have had many close black friends and I can say I would neevr throw that word around just because I thought it was funny. If you think it's funny to scream that word at people, you are racist, end of story.

So to answer your question, OP, sadly I think a lot of white people are either flat out racists or just plain ignorant of other cultures , and it comes out on XBL because they are cowards and it is the only place they can say what they think. Rest assured that anyone says that stuff would get stomped into the ground if they said that in any urban city, mute them, and move along.

You do realize that your first statement, "Sadly, I think many white people are racist on the dl." is, ironically, racist. Besides, if white racism is so prevelant, how did Barack Obama get elected President?

I'm Black by the way. About 47% (estimated) of the time when I'm playing Halo, CoD4, or anything online for that matter. Once they hear my friends, N* bombs and racial epithets are dropped all over the place.

Maybe I haven't run across the reverse racists online, but I never hear that crap started by anyone else other than a White person. I'm beginning to believe that there are tons of people out there who are racist/prejudice but won't say anything unless there's a veil for them to hide behind.

Now I know that someone will ask if I use the N* bomb and I can honestly say no. So no it's not a fair judgement to say that I use it so it's ok for you to use it, but that's another argument.

So what's the deal with the bigots, and is XBL a good representation of the amount of racists in the U.S.?

lowkey254

Well not to make you hate me, as I'm not a racist, but I'm guilty of dropping tons of racial slurs and stuff mostly just because I'm getting angry.. When you are in a game with a bunch of people you know and all of a sudden a group of spanish players come in and start swearing at you in spanglish it's really hard to contain yourself from saying something racist.. I suppose it's not really warranted but the same goes for black people as well.. If I hear something smack talking or something said against me sometimes depending on the mood people are in it's difficult to hold that stuff back, especially today.. but don't just hate me for it. I've been called a ton of stuff of similar sorts by other races almost daily as well.. it's just that it never bothers me and I don't care when they say it :P

[QUOTE="lowkey254"]

I'm Black by the way. About 47% (estimated) of the time when I'm playing Halo, CoD4, or anything online for that matter. Once they hear my friends, N* bombs and racial epithets are dropped all over the place.

Maybe I haven't run across the reverse racists online, but I never hear that crap started by anyone else other than a White person. I'm beginning to believe that there are tons of people out there who are racist/prejudice but won't say anything unless there's a veil for them to hide behind.

Now I know that someone will ask if I use the N* bomb and I can honestly say no. So no it's not a fair judgement to say that I use it so it's ok for you to use it, but that's another argument.

So what's the deal with the bigots, and is XBL a good representation of the amount of racists in the U.S.?

Hatefish2

Well not to make you hate me, as I'm not a racist, but I'm guilty of dropping tons of racial slurs and stuff mostly just because I'm getting angry.. When you are in a game with a bunch of people you know and all of a sudden a group of spanish players come in and start swearing at you in spanglish it's really hard to contain yourself from saying something racist.. I suppose it's not really warranted but the same goes for black people as well.. If I hear something smack talking or something said against me sometimes depending on the mood people are in it's difficult to hold that stuff back, especially today.. but don't just hate me for it. I've been called a ton of stuff of similar sorts by other races almost daily as well.. it's just that it never bothers me and I don't care when they say it :P

There is a BIG difference from between smack talking and saying insulting someone in that way.

I'm wondering if you insult other people of your own race with some sort of slur when they make you angry or do you just reserve that sort of response for Latino's and Blacks?

To be clear I'm not trying to attack you, just trying to make you think...

[QUOTE="Hatefish2"][QUOTE="lowkey254"]

I'm Black by the way. About 47% (estimated) of the time when I'm playing Halo, CoD4, or anything online for that matter. Once they hear my friends, N* bombs and racial epithets are dropped all over the place.

Maybe I haven't run across the reverse racists online, but I never hear that crap started by anyone else other than a White person. I'm beginning to believe that there are tons of people out there who are racist/prejudice but won't say anything unless there's a veil for them to hide behind.

Now I know that someone will ask if I use the N* bomb and I can honestly say no. So no it's not a fair judgement to say that I use it so it's ok for you to use it, but that's another argument.

So what's the deal with the bigots, and is XBL a good representation of the amount of racists in the U.S.?

mosdef_basic

Well not to make you hate me, as I'm not a racist, but I'm guilty of dropping tons of racial slurs and stuff mostly just because I'm getting angry.. When you are in a game with a bunch of people you know and all of a sudden a group of spanish players come in and start swearing at you in spanglish it's really hard to contain yourself from saying something racist.. I suppose it's not really warranted but the same goes for black people as well.. If I hear something smack talking or something said against me sometimes depending on the mood people are in it's difficult to hold that stuff back, especially today.. but don't just hate me for it. I've been called a ton of stuff of similar sorts by other races almost daily as well.. it's just that it never bothers me and I don't care when they say it :P

There is a BIG difference from between smack talking and saying insulting someone in that way.

I'm wondering if you insult other people of your own race with some sort of slur when they make you angry or do you just reserve that sort of response for Latino's and Blacks?

To be clear I'm not trying to attack you, just trying to make you think...

Really I'll call anybody anything.. It also really depends on the mood I'm in when I'm playing and it doesn't happen all that often. It's just that as part of the online community alot of these racial groups seem to seperate themselves alot, I have black friends whom I play with but more often I see a party of all black people or a party of all spanish people. That can make things difficult when smack talking becomes involved.. I don't reserve that language specifially for those people but I do admit I've said some pretty bad things to certain groups.

[QUOTE="WardCleaver02"][QUOTE="dirtydishko2"]

Sadly I think many white people are racist on the dl. Many people in this thread have said things like, "They're not racist- they just think it's funny" or "They're not racist - they're just trying to get a rise out of you". But I went to an all black high school and have had many close black friends and I can say I would neevr throw that word around just because I thought it was funny. If you think it's funny to scream that word at people, you are racist, end of story.

So to answer your question, OP, sadly I think a lot of white people are either flat out racists or just plain ignorant of other cultures , and it comes out on XBL because they are cowards and it is the only place they can say what they think. Rest assured that anyone says that stuff would get stomped into the ground if they said that in any urban city, mute them, and move along.

dirtydishko2

You do realize that your first statement, "Sadly, I think many white people are racist on the dl." is, ironically, racist. Besides, if white racism is so prevelant, how did Barack Obama get elected President?

To lump a group of people into a category without proof ("collectivize") is racist. End of story. And, "Many" assumes a "majority". "Which is true"? I cannot believe how you don't see your statements as being racist in tone.

I'm Black by the way. About 47% (estimated) of the time when I'm playing Halo, CoD4, or anything online for that matter. Once they hear my friends, N* bombs and racial epithets are dropped all over the place.

Maybe I haven't run across the reverse racists online, but I never hear that crap started by anyone else other than a White person. I'm beginning to believe that there are tons of people out there who are racist/prejudice but won't say anything unless there's a veil for them to hide behind.

Now I know that someone will ask if I use the N* bomb and I can honestly say no. So no it's not a fair judgement to say that I use it so it's ok for you to use it, but that's another argument.

So what's the deal with the bigots, and is XBL a good representation of the amount of racists in the U.S.?

lowkey254

[QUOTE="dirtydishko2"][QUOTE="WardCleaver02"]

You do realize that your first statement, "Sadly, I think many white people are racist on the dl." is, ironically, racist. Besides, if white racism is so prevelant, how did Barack Obama get elected President?

WardCleaver02

To lump a group of people into a category without proof ("collectivize") is racist. End of story. And, "Many" assumes a "majority". "Which is true"? I cannot believe how you don't see your statements as being racist in tone.

Your logic is completely flawed. I am not "lumping" white people into the category of "racist". I am just saying many white people are racist. It would seem so seeing how so many people on this thread have stories of white people using the N word. I have also heard many generalizations about other races made by white people. I'm sorry that you are not able to understand that 'many' does not equal 'majority'. Let me explain. There are roughly 300 million people in the U.S. If, say for example, 1 million were racist. That would be a lot of people. One million people is 'many' people. However, it is by no means a 'majority'. The words are different, go read a dictionary.

Racism is prevalent everywhere and anywhere that people are anonymous and are in an unfiltered/unmoderated environment. As a black person i'm shocked that you didn't reach this conclusion years ago.Senor_Kami