the problem with this conversation is that there's an assumption of ND being purposefully racially ignorant, or that people questioning this, too racially sensitive. the real issue falls somewhere in the middle.
When Nirolak posted that 2/3rds of Laura Bailey's career consists of voicing 90 different Asian women, the issue isn't one of her competence or skill, but rather why the heck is she voicing 90 different Asian women??
The real question is why is the selection pool so damn tiny? I get there's comfort in dependability and skill and familiarity with the voice director, but the real issue is why isn't the talent pool a little more diverse? This has NOTHING to do with the talent of actors, or the predisposition of the director. In order for this kind of thing to change, the casting directors MUST go outside of the immediacy of their comfort zone in order to broaden their possibilities.
The argument that she was the absolute best person for the job is dismissive. I'm sure that she's the cream of the crop . . . of a very small pool of talent.
You don't see minorities in these spaces due to a lack of skill, but rather a lack of opportunity and social connections. That's the reality of it.
There are several people on this board arguing about the physiology of voices between ethnicities is the same - which is totally true. However, our vocal patterns are learned behaviors based on social interaction.
Somebody posted a video a few pages back where people would try to guess the ethnicity of a hidden voice. I used to play this game all of the time. 9 out of 10 times, you can pretty much tell the ethnicity of someone without seeing the and without 'slang' due to inflection and tone. That's learned behavior.
Phil Lamarr can be a black guy voicing an ageless white Kojima vampire because the social context isn't even important. Dropping a black female main character into an uncharted game isn't a small thing. There were
zero actresses closer to the ethnicity of the target character that it would be easer to pay a good white actress to fake an accent than hire anything even approaching authentic?