Are you a racist for wanting to play Resident Evil 5?

Sometimes I get really offended at the world, when it seems no one understands the black plight. White people everywhere saying to black people that they are taking the victim mentality, and black people just covering up and not commenting back. Granted black people with computers are far out numbered in comparison to whites, although we certainly outnumber them in terms of world population.

Anyway, I just read this blog post, by Adam Slater, where he argues, first by saying he tries to fix a problem by ignoring it.

"In my mind, the easiest way to fix the issue is to well, ignore people’s race, creed, and sex."

Okay, I never known of a problem to disappear by ignoring it, that's how HIV/AIDS became such an epidemic, people ignored it in the eighties thinking it will just effect the gays.

Then he continues by having derogatory comments towards a blog post by Kym Platt, calling her blog "stupid" and "fucking retarded". It kept going on and on, villifying her for her own justifiable feelings.

Racism is about a lack of respect and a lack of culpability, which Slater has shown all three. Platt had every reason to feel the way she does, because she feels it. For Slater to call her stupid because she feels hurt by something is the definition of racist, because she is black she is unable to express her feelings when they concern whites?

The reason why Platt feels hurt is because this is clearly insensitive. Not too long ago my great granddad was hunted down by white men and a couple of generations past that, white men were killing my ancestors in Africa. Some people might think, that was soooo long ago, get over it by now. But they would feel entirely different, if someone made a game about a German soldier going to Israel and killing off "not zombies" Israelites, they would find that insensitive, because they sympathize with Israel. They sympathize in way that they are incapable to do for the Blacks, Palestinians, the Mexicans, et cetera.

Racism is most alive when people aren't able to look at each other's as equal, or unable to understand someone's plight as their own. I have South African friends in their early 20s who are still dealing with the effects of Apartheid, to think that this soon to be released game will not only re-enact this, but glorify the side of the oppressors, really just makes me wonder, if people are just so oblivious to other people's plight. That all they want to do is just play an expensive over priced game, on an expensive overpriced system, about killing people who have already suffered so much.

I think the real problem seems to be though is Capcom, obviously they show that their company lacks any Africans of authority. Although I do believe they should release the game, they already spent so much money developing it, I think the thing they should do is within the game put a pamphlet about South African apartheid, where consumers can donate money to stop corruption in Africa, as well as part (if not all) proceeds to the game should be put into African schools.

Read More: Michael Clancy had another interesting article in the Village Voice about this.