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[Jocchan]

Yes (more or less).

You sure about that? :O

 

[jrricky]

Where?

Seconded. Where?

 

[VALIS]

I don't believe 5th Cell did anything wrong at all.

Mm, no. This was really sloppy on their part. Nothing malicious, nothing anyone should raise a huge stink over, but still sloppy. I don't care how many 19-year olds who spent most of their lives watching anime and reading video game mags post that they don't know the word sambo is racist, but it really isn't that obscure at all.

 

[freddy]

I might add that Flying Phoenix original pre stealth edit reply was:

The majority of the people on the opposing side..

in reply to this:

Originally Posted by jrricky:

I'm really confused, are people actually saying that sambo doesnt have a racist meaning too?

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Where?

I'm talking about the earlier argument of whether "sambo" was still a relavant and racist term and what not, not the "argument" of whether or not Scribblenauts used a racist word on purpose.

I might add that Flying Phoenix original pre stealth edit reply was:

The majority of the people on the opposing side..

There was a reason to why I edited my post in such a short amount of time. There was no "stealth editing" going on.

EDIT - To all of you "Where?" people. I'll pull the posts if you want, but I'd prefer not to since this is a near 1,000 post thread. But to prove that I'm not talking out of my ass, here are two recent examples:

I was also unaware of the racist connotations that sambo carried, and I don't agree with the posters who say that it should be common knowledge. I don't want to know every single racist term and word with racist double meanings because I have no use for them. Knowing them doesn't do anything besides perpetuate their existence. I think in this case there's a fine line between learning from history (being educated), and simply passing down bad things among generations.

And pretending that any usage of the term has to have an underlying context of racism is probably the best way to give the word power.

I'd give replies but Zeiliard has already done a wonderful job in doing so.

 

[Burger]

I think the more interesting thing to come out of this whole debacle is the amount of people calling for Kotaku to be banned.

I mean, how narrow minded do you have to be that your first reaction to a story you don't like is to censor the source ? Is this how people really think ? I mean, what better way to stifle discussion and free thinking that to start banning news outlets. Sure, Kotaku may be a hive of scum and villiany, and not even a source of decent news, but you can't just go through life censoring everything you disagree with.

The very notion reeks of the same sort of idiocy and ignorance that the article in question presents.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Mm, no. This was really sloppy on their part. Nothing malicious, nothing anyone should raise a huge stink over, but still sloppy. I don't care how many 19-year olds who spent most of their lives watching anime and reading video game mags post that they don't know the word sambo is racist, but it really isn't that obscure at all.

Perhaps my point is better served here: If it's inappropriate to use sambo in this context, it's inappropriate at ALL times, logically. People who insist that every usage of the word sambo is a horrible slight against the black race are the ones making the word as powerful as it is. If you keep making every usage of the word sambo bad, then you're the one making sambo the most prevalent usage of the word.

 

[Zeliard]

And pretending that any usage of the term has to have an underlying context of racism is probably the best way to give the word power.

Uh, there's no "pretending". In real life, it does have an underlying context of racism. The "sambo" caricature was heavily featured in racist iconography in the United States' past (as well as other countries), along with things like watermelons and general blackface minstrelsy. If you were always puzzled as to why watermelons are considered a racial stereotype against blacks, now you know. They were historically used to trivialize, stereotype, condescend, and damage the self-esteem of the entire black population.

Am I saying 5th Cell was malicious or acted with intent in what happened? No, since I don't think we have detailed enough info to make that sort of charge, and likely never will. But let's not begin to play revisionist historian and pretend that slurs against blacks are magically no longer slurs.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Uh, there's no "pretending". In real life, it does have an underlying context of racism. The "sambo" caricature was heavily featured in racist iconography in the United States' past (as well as other countries), along with things like watermelons and general blackface minstrelsy. If you were always puzzled as to why watermelons are considered a racial stereotype against blacks, now you know. They were historically used to trivialize, stereotype, condescend, and damage the self-esteem of the black population.

Am I saying 5th Cell was malicious or acted with intent in what happened? No, since I don't think we have detailed enough info to make that sort of charge, and likely never will. But let's not begin to play revisionist historian and pretend that slurs against blacks are magically no longer slurs.

We're not talking about racial slurs, we're talking about figs. Whether or not this racial slur is relevant anymore is for a different discussion, as there is no such racial slur in Scribblenauts, or even an accidental usage of the slur.

 

[freddy]

I'm talking about the earlier argument of whether "sambo" was still a relavant and racist term and what not, not the "argument" of whether or not Scribblenauts used a racist word on purpose.



There was a reason to why I edited my post in such a short amount of time. There was no "stealth editing" going on.

Editing your post in a short amount of time is called a stealth edit because it doesn't show as edited. Not meant as a bad thing on your part. Just trying to make sense of it.

 

[Xenon]

This post is so very puzzling. Historical context is always important. Pretending that terms like this never existed and weren't used as racial slurs doesn't make the fact that they were go away.

Ok so now any word that has ever been used in a derogatory fashion needs to be removed from the vocabulary? We need to do this because of the possibility that someone may infer a negative connotation even though it may be due to their own ignorance of the correct meaning of the word. Seriously?

I can't believe people feel that others should make an effort to examine every possible inference of a word, when they themselves can not be bothered to look into the context in which the word is used. =P

 

[Cru Jones]

Don't know it was already asked, but, what if a "fag" spawns a cigarette? Should we be offended too?

Fag is a bundle of sticks that were traditionally used to burn homosexuals to death. If it summoned a bundle of sticks, then yes, there would be some outrage.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Editing your post in a short amount of time is called a stealth edit because it doesn't show as edited. Not meant as a bad thing on your part. Just trying to make sense of it.

Sorry for misunderstanding, it's just that isn't what it's referred to at other sites. I didn't mean to change it right away, it was an accident.

 

[John]

I think the more interesting thing to come out of this whole debacle is the amount of people calling for Kotaku to be banned.

I mean, how narrow minded do you have to be that your first reaction to a story you don't like is to censor the source ? Is this how people really think ? I mean, what better way to stifle discussion and free thinking that to start banning news outlets. Sure, Kotaku may be a hive of scum and villiany, and not even a source of decent news, but you can't just go through life censoring everything you disagree with.

The very notion reeks of the same sort of idiocy and ignorance that the article in question presents.

I think they want Kotaku banned on charge of yellow journalism, not just disagreeing with them.

 

[RSLAEV]

The above is a very long post, but Í am quoting it because it deserves to be read by as many as possible. I couldn't have said it better myself.

No it's a shit post and you could have said it yourself but it probably wouldn't have sucked any less.

I can't believe I'm reading this crap from someone so obviously intelligent (and one of my favorite posters to boot).

You are demanding perfection from the people who work at 5th Cell. It would take a completely perfect creature with an eternity of development time to foresee every possible reaction and interpretation that any gamer in the world could draw from the items spawned in Scribblenauts. Human beings are not perfect.

This isn't about racism. This is about a completely insane and ass-backwards mindset a frightening number of supposedly intelligent people in America condone and encourage which goes: if someone (especially someone with a skin tone that is anything other than lily-white, which makes them a minority and also, apparently, a de facto "victim") feels offended by something, that person has been slighted and is entitled to an apology (at the very least).

Translation: I am a white person and I feel I have been a victim of reverse racism. I just arrived on this planet 20 some odd years ago-I wasn't out there whipping negores in fields or decimating american indian populations why do all these people with non-lily white skin tones get all in my face whenever I say something that *they* decide offends them. I'm offended because I feel like my speech is being controlled by the whimsies and emotions of a group of people I've done no harm to.

It doesn't matter if the thought process of the person taking offense is completely flawed and irrational. It doesn't matter if the the complaint is based on nothing at all. It doesn't matter if any offense was actually intended or foreseen, despite all efforts to foresee and squash problems.

Even when I explain to them plainly and logically why they *shouldn't* be offended, they still are, in fact it tends to make some of them even angrier for some reason!


You don't get to live in a bubble, and you don't get to live outside of history. A lot of fucked up shit happened those minority/de facto victim's ("Minority/defacto victim?" what the fucking fuck?) and that means baggage that you have to deal with like it or not. You can't walk into a multicultural society and tread on old wounds because 'Racism is over and we should all just get over it"


I'm not expecting some kind of recall or apology from the developer, even I can see it as an easy to miss oversight given the amount of work put into the game. But the Anti-PC crowd that poured into this thread is just grinding the shit out of my fucking gears. "I don't want to have to think about what I say to a black person, I just want to say it! but these negroes are so damn uppity they'll tell you that every 3rd word out of your mouth is racist! I'm pretty sure they're just making this shit up to get back at me for something other white people did 30 or 40 years ago, but hey that's not *my* fault.

You really think that your right to say some innocuous word is more important than whatever connotations that word might have for another group of people? Do you really think you don't have to be sensitive to tragedies because they happened before you were born? Are you really that immature? that naive?

 

[Burger]

I think they want Kotaku banned on charge of yellow journalism, not just disagreeing with them.

So what ? I don't like Fox news but I wouldn't want my cable provider to censor it for me. These are the same sort of people who think they have the right to not be offended. You don't.

 

[HooCares]

Kotaku?

Bunch of fuckin prawns.

 

[John]

You really think that your right to say some innocuous word is more important than whatever connotations that word might have for another group of people? Do you really think you don't have to be sensitive to tragedies because they happened before you were born? Are you really that immature? that naive?

Do you mean to say "right" there? Because yes, rights are more important than connotations.

"Whim" would be more appropriate.

 

[Zeliard]

We're not talking about racial slurs, we're talking about figs. Whether or not this racial slur is relevant anymore is for a different discussion, as there is no such racial slur in Scribblenauts, or even an accidental usage of the slur.

Sambo + watermelon = automatic slur, whether intentional or not. Cotton is an innocent word, but if it spawned a black man, that would be a slur. The only difference is that the latter is obviously very intentional, while it's more difficult to make that determination about sambo/watermelon with the way Scribblenauts does things.

Ok so now any word that has ever been used in a derogatory fashion needs to be removed from the vocabulary? We need to do this because of the possibility that someone may infer a negative connotation even though it may be due to their own ignorance of the correct meaning of the word. Seriously?

I can't believe people feel that others should make an effort to examine every possible inference of a word, when they themselves can not be bothered to look into the context in which the word is used. =P

When did I say that it needs to be "removed from the vocabulary"? I think people should be made more aware of it, in fact, so that we don't get countless "I've never heard that word" comments. I believe the people who raise an eyebrow at this are in fact looking at in context. It's the word sambo spawning a sprite of a watermelon. That's entirely in context. Due to the fact that Scribblenauts shares several sprites among several words, it is possible that it was simply a mistake that slipped through, but its context is still what is in the game itself.

Ultimately, other than making that word more visible and making people understand that it shouldn't be used in certain ways, I don't know what this thread or any of the articles can really accomplish. There really should be no argument that sambo combined with watermelon has racial connotations - the real question is whether it was done with malicious intent or was a technical error of some sort. Since that's impossible to know short of someone whistleblowing, there isn't much to talk about.

 

[Cow Mengde]

I click on this when I saw the words Scribblenauts on it thinking it was the other thread. Boy was I confused.

Anyway, it's kind of sad to see Stephen Totilo end up writing crap like this. This is just sad.

 

[Vinci]

<awesome post>

I should've just quoted you as others have done instead of getting involved in this mess. Really, kudos to you on this.

 

[freddy]

Uh, there's no "pretending". In real life, it does have an underlying context of racism. The "sambo" caricature was heavily featured in racist iconography in the United States' past (as well as other countries), along with things like watermelons and general blackface minstrelsy. If you were always puzzled as to why watermelons are considered a racial stereotype against blacks, now you know. They were historically used to trivialize, stereotype, condescend, and damage the self-esteem of the entire black population.

Am I saying 5th Cell was malicious or acted with intent in what happened? No, since I don't think we have detailed enough info to make that sort of charge, and likely never will. But let's not begin to play revisionist historian and pretend that slurs against blacks are magically no longer slurs.

I guess from my point of view and it seems a lot of others, we see people who use terms like sambo, nigger (and use this ridiculous association with eating watermelons and fried chicken as something to be ashamed of) to put others down as complete morons who shouldn't be given any credence or acknowledged at all.

This is not to say we have no respect for the people who fought against bigots or have no sympathy for those who lived through the times when things like this were acceptable and the norm. This is saying well things have changed now and lets not give these fuckwits any recognition at all. Lets use the words as they're intended to be used instead and not let them be hijacked by the racist scum. Making a fuss about the actual word only lends these people power. The word comes to mean what they intended it too. Sambo today to many gamers now again means "black man" where as before it meant a wrestling style, an obscure fruit or a sandwich.

Don't let these racist morons dictate what our words mean. The article highlighting it does more damage than good.

 

[Teddman]

I think the more interesting thing to come out of this whole debacle is the amount of people calling for Kotaku to be banned.

I mean, how narrow minded do you have to be that your first reaction to a story you don't like is to censor the source ?

Yeah. I mean, Kotaku is a bigger, more popular and more influential site in the gaming industry than NeoGAF itself. Banning it would be screwy.

I remember that GAF tried to filter out Kotaku once before and shortly afterwards, the blog was getting cited in articles by reputable mainstream sources like the New York Times, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, etc.

When those articles were posted at GAF and had the references to Kotaku *****'ed out, it looked so asinine that they had no choice but to lift the ban, saying Kotaku had "redeemed" itself. :lol

 

[Vagabundo]

Fag is a bundle of sticks that were traditionally used to burn homosexuals to death. If it summoned a bundle of sticks, then yes, there would be some outrage.

A faggot is a bundle of sticks - period. It was still used when i was a boy and had no other meaning than a bundle of sticks.

Not sure where your getting that burning death from. But faggot has been used in English since the 11th century to mean a bundle of sticks used for tinder.

 

[KHarvey16]

Sambo + watermelon = automatic slur, whether intentional or not.

It's not a watermelon though.

 

[Corto]

...
I'm not expecting some kind of recall or apology from the developer, even I can see it as an easy to miss oversight given the amount of work put into the game. But the Anti-PC crowd that poured into this thread is just grinding the shit out of my fucking gears. "I don't want to have to think about what I say to a black person, I just want to say it! but these negroes are so damn uppity they'll tell you that every 3rd word out of your mouth is racist! I'm pretty sure they're just making this shit up to get back at me for something other white people did 30 or 40 years ago, but hey that's not *my* fault.
...

Your stupidity is just surpassed by your malice... You're not just arguing against Night_Trekker's opinions you're attacking what you think to be the hidden and maligne motives of the ones opposing your points of view. You want to believe rather childishly that people that don't think like you are not only wrong but also that they are bad people so that you can stand in your pedestal on the high moral ground. But in a really spine twisting way you reach the same conclusion as the ones that seem to be arguing against you:

I'm not expecting some kind of recall or apology from the developer, even I can see it as an easy to miss oversight given the amount of work put into the game.

 

[poppabk]

You really think that your right to say some innocuous word is more important than whatever connotations that word might have for another group of people? Do you really think you don't have to be sensitive to tragedies because they happened before you were born? Are you really that immature? that naive?

No doubt. That is why the first amendment is the right to censor people based on your own feelings, regardless of intent. They never got around to adding a right to free speech or anything crazy like that and they definitely wouldn't make it the linchpin of the entire ethos of the country.

 

[madmook]

When did I say that it needs to be "removed from the vocabulary"? I think people should be made more aware of it, in fact, so that we don't get countless "I've never heard that word" comments.

The countless comments you are referring to, I interpret as progress. Maybe its just my optimist thinking, but that's what I see when a lot of posters say that they had no idea this was a controversial word.

What's better: A) people who aren't racist, but know of all the racist vocabulary so that they know what to avoid, or B) people who aren't racist, and thus have no need to ever know or use such words?

Here's my optimist side again, but I'm hoping to see society transition from category A to category B (though I'm not naive enough to say that this will happen any time too soon in the foreseeable future).

 

[travisbickle]

Sambo + watermelon = automatic slur, whether intentional or not. Cotton is an innocent word, but if it spawned a black man, that would be a slur. The only difference is that the latter is obviously very intentional, while it's more difficult to make that determination about sambo/watermelon with the way Scribblenauts does things.

So you're insinuating Scribblenauts developers are very craft racists?

 

[traveler]

Never heard of the term. Lived in Georgia my whole life.

And I suppose those getting offended at this are also offended that the word is in dictionaries too?

 

[Vinci]

The countless comments you are referring to, I interpret as progress. Maybe its just my optimist thinking, but that's what I see when a lot of posters say that they had no idea this was a controversial word.

What's better: A) people who aren't racist, but know of all the racist vocabulary so that they know what to avoid, or B) people who aren't racist, and thus have no need to ever know or use such words?

Here's my optimist side again, but I'm hoping to see society transition from category A to category B (though I'm not naive enough to say that this will happen any time too soon in the foreseeable future).

I took it as a sign of progress myself, honestly.

 

[shintoki]

I can never look at watermelons in the same way again =[

 

[:enemyglider:]

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Due to the fact that Scribblenauts shares several sprites among several words, it is possible that it was simply a mistake that slipped through, but its context is still what is in the game itself.

If instead of sharing a sprite they had separate sprites that were barely different, would things be kosher?

 

[RSLAEV]

Your stupidity is just surpassed by your malice... You're not just arguing against Night_Trekker's opinions you're attacking what you think to be the hidden and maligne motives of the ones opposing your points of view. You want to believe rather childishly that people that don't think like you are not only wrong but also that they are bad people so that you can stand in your pedestal on the high moral ground. But in a really spine twisting way you reach the same conclusion as the ones that seem to be arguing against you:

I like to think that people that don't think like me are not only wrong but also that they are bad people so that I can stand in my pedastal on the high moral ground, but in a spine twisting way yadda yadaa I'm actually agreeing with the conclusion I am arguing against.


I believe I plainly said that my argument was with the posters in this thread that think it's foolish that someone from another culture might be offended by something they think is no big deal, and go so far to say that people being offended is an affront to their right to free speech. Just because I don't think the issue writing sambo and getting a watermelon is a big enough deal to warrant an apology and recall doesn't mean that I automatically have to side with those who take so far as to use it as an example of "Why minorities should stfu about racism"

And I'm sorry, but the "you think you're better than everyone else" internet argument does nothing but expose your own insecurity. I'm not arguing that I'm better. I *am* saying that on this particular point I am right, or at least 'righter' than the people I am arguing against, but as for that making me better or worse than them, well that's you talking, not me.

 

[drakesfortune]

I hadn't heard this term until today. Sounds pretty silly to me, but then again if someone had said the word to me earlier today I would have replied, "you mean samba de amigo"?

 

[Corto]

I like to think that people that don't think like me are not only wrong but also that they are bad people so that I can stand in my pedastal on the high moral ground, but in a spine twisting way yadda yadaa I'm actually agreeing with the conclusion I am arguing against.


I believe I plainly said that my argument was with the posters in this thread that think it's foolish that someone from another culture might be offended by something they think is no big deal, and go so far to say that people being offended is an affront to their right to free speech. Just because I don't think the issue writing sambo and getting a watermelon is a big enough deal to warrant an apology and recall doesn't mean that I automatically have to side with those who take so far as to use it as an example of "Why minorities should stfu about racism"

And I'm sorry, but the "you think you're better than everyone else" internet argument does nothing but expose your own insecurity. I'm not arguing that I'm better. I *am* saying that on this particular point I am right, or at least 'righter' than the people I am arguing against, but as for that making me better or worse than them, well that's you talking, not me.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda... You're not just saying that you are right you're depicting people that don't agree with you in a embarrassing (to you) satyrical way as hidden racists that are still in the closet as some ogres that use terms as negroes and yearn of the good ol' times... And that shows your insecurity, because you need to demonize people with different opinions of yours in order to answer to their different points of view. Just like infants do.

 

[Zoc]

I believe I plainly said that my argument was with the posters in this thread that think it's foolish that someone from another culture might be offended by something they think is no big deal, and go so far to say that people being offended is an affront to their right to free speech. Just because I don't think the issue writing sambo and getting a watermelon is a big enough deal to warrant an apology and recall doesn't mean that I automatically have to side with those who take so far as to use it as an example of "Why minorities should stfu about racism"

People have a right not to be described using words that are racial epithets, but people also have a right to use those same words when they have another meaning. There's no contradiction in this. Those two rights are perfectly compatible.

The watermelon thing is what obscures this simple truth, but the developers have a very solid explanation for that, and it's foolish to ignore it.

 

[Kimosabae]

The OP was waaay more sensationalist than the Joystiq/Kotaku articles were. It's obvious blog sites want interesting articles to post to drive business, but not once did I get the impression either site was trying to color the developers racist in an effort to do the same thing. That would be sensationalism.

Just like the legacy of the articles themselves, this topic is much ado about nothing, the only real difference being a clear violation of pot and kettle relationships.

For crying out loud, look at the title of the topic itself.

 

[RSLAEV]

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda... You're not just saying that you are right you're depicting people that don't agree with you in a embarrassing (to you) satyrical way as hidden racists that are still in the closet as some ogres that use terms as negroes and yearn of the good ol' times... And that shows your insecurity, because you need to demonize people with different opinions of yours in order to answer to their different points of view. Just like infants do.

I don't have anything to say in response, I just want to quote this.

 

[Zeliard]

I guess from my point of view and it seems a lot of others, we see people who use terms like sambo, nigger (and use this ridiculous association with eating watermelons and fried chicken as something to be ashamed of) to put others down as complete morons who shouldn't be given any credence or acknowledged at all.

This is not to say we have no respect for the people who fought against bigots or have no sympathy for those who lived through the times when things like this were acceptable and the norm. This is saying well things have changed now and lets not give these fuckwits any recognition at all. Lets use the words as they're intended to be used instead and not let them be hijacked by the racist scum. Making a fuss about the actual word only lends these people power. The word comes to mean what they intended it too. Sambo today to many gamers now again means "black man" where as before it meant a wrestling style, an obscure fruit or a sandwich.

Don't let these racist morons dictate what our words mean. The article highlighting it does more damage than good.

It's not a watermelon though.

If instead of sharing a sprite they had separate sprites that were barely different, would things be kosher?

It's not the word itself - it's how it is used. Sambo isn't inherently a racist term and does indeed have different definitions. There's nothing wrong with the words monkey or ape, but you start attaching black stereotypes to that and it becomes wrong. If you typed in sambo and a fighter popped out, this story would never exist because there would be nothing at all to it.

It's the fact that it is a watermelon sprite, in combination with the word sambo, that is causing the controversy and the perception for some of a negative racial connotation. That's the perception - it could very well have been 5th Cell's intent for it to be exactly what they said, and they simply reused the watermelon sprite either due to lack of knowledge about the history of the word or just completely missing it in QA, but there's no way for us to know for sure. I don't even want to think about the QA an open-ended game like this must have gone through.

The countless comments you are referring to, I interpret as progress. Maybe its just my optimist thinking, but that's what I see when a lot of posters say that they had no idea this was a controversial word.

What's better: A) people who aren't racist, but know of all the racist vocabulary so that they know what to avoid, or B) people who aren't racist, and thus have no need to ever know or use such words?

Here's my optimist side again, but I'm hoping to see society transition from category A to category B (though I'm not naive enough to say that this will happen any time too soon in the foreseeable future).

It's very useful to know the historical context of certain words and images, not just as a form of general knowledge (always a good thing), but also to develop a greater degree of conscientiousness and to be mindful of how others of a different ethnicity or culture may feel about certain things. Makes it easier to see why some black people (and others), for example, took issue with RE5's imagery even if Capcom never intended anything malicious. Historical perspective is always a positive thing.

 

[Ca1amity]

Originally Posted by Ca1amity:
I did someone Googling and Wikipedia-ing about the word "sambo" last night.

That's nice.

I guess thanks for not reading? And I guess this is where I tell you what a good portion of my undergrad education was focused on and your sarcasm in 'quoting' me falls flat, right?

The OP was waaay more sensationalist than the Joystiq/Kotaku articles were. It's obvious blog sites want interesting articles to post to drive business, but not once did I get the impression either site was trying to color the developers racist in an effort to do the same thing. That would be sensationalism.

Just like the legacy of the articles themselves, this topic is much ado about nothing, the only real difference being a clear violation of pot and kettle relationships.

For crying out loud, look at the title of the topic itself.

The article has been edited by the writers since this thread started. I titled this thing with a good deal of sarcasm in mind. Its why the "racism" part is bracketed by "this is why we cant have nice things" and "breaking!" (which is a jab at Kotaku's article tagging)

 

[Kyzer]

I think anyone who deems ignorance as the sole reason for what they're saying (i.e. I CANT BELIEVE YOUVE NEVER HEARD THE WORD), and worse discredits them because they wouldn't know any more than anime and video games deserves my passionate retort:
Fuck you elitist demeaning prick. YOU don't know what you're talking about and YOUR opinion doesn't matter. I'm not gonna listen to some jerk who spent his whole life in a region of America that uses derogatory words that are so old a maniacal gold rush attendee ran a comedy act about them.

See? I can play too.

Seriously though. Its all regions. Other than the old ass book I never heard it. But what would i know? Allz i duz r play uber gamez and reed manga. Its not like I know anything about my own culture.

Poll: How many times have you honestly heard someone USE this word?

 

[xs_mini_neo]

True to an extent.

Say if I was black, and someone said "You should die nigger", then i would be offended.

But if they said, "You blacks and your chicken".. I have to be honest. I would laugh.
Stuff like that are silly and harmless I think. In this day people shouldn't need to get upset at what is essentially non violent jokes or whatever. As long as they ain't threatening or bordering discrimination, then I don't see the fuss.

Instead of trying to "take back" the n word, people should be trying to take the food back. You don't see any Mexicans refusing to eat tacos because it's a stereotype. Shit, I like tacos but I'm not Mexican. Do I have to be white to eat steak or black for chicken? Fuck that shit. Priorities, people.

You can ban it. And they'll STILL lurk.

And steal GAF poster ideas.

Word for word.

and say they "realized" it on their own.
and even use the same reference pics.

Just like the Final Fantasy Elixir font.
Just like Serah looking like a hentai bag.

The stories I could tell...oh my.

 

[RSLAEV]

I think anyone who deems ignorance as the sole reason for what they're saying (i.e. I CANT BELIEVE YOUVE NEVER HEARD THE WORD), and worse discredits them because they wouldn't know any more than anime and video games deserves my passionate retort:
Fuck you elitist demeaning prick. YOU don't know what you're talking about and YOUR opinion doesn't matter. I'm not gonna listen to some jerk who spent his whole life in a region of America that uses derogatory words that are so old a maniacal gold rush attendee ran a comedy act about them.

See? I can play too.

Seriously though. Its all regions. Other than the old ass book I never heard it. But what would i know? Allz i duz r play uber gamez and reed manga. Its not like I know anything about my own culture.

Poll: How many times have you honestly heard someone USE this word?

See I want to stay out of this thread but I click it I see posts like this and...what are you trying to say exactly? Seriously I have no idea what the hell you are trying to communicate with this post. Maybe if you did more with your life than play video games and read manga you could formulate a coherent argument. Ruh Roh-there I go being condescending again. Another fragile ego destroyed I'm a monster.

 

[ckeur]

Never heard of the slur, I'm from Georgia. Neither have my roommates, who are from different parts of Georgia than myself.

 

[Kimosabae]

The article has been edited by the writers since this thread started. I titled this thing with a good deal of sarcasm in mind. Its why the "racism" part is bracketed by "this is why we cant have nice things" and "breaking!" (which is a jab at Kotaku's article tagging)

What did they edit?? I saw both articles when they broke, and the most editing I saw was from Kotaku regarding its update after 5th Cell's response.

I understand what you were doing with the title: which is exactly what makes it sensationalistic. You were trying to evoke an emotion from readers; making it very hard for the more influential of them to look at the situation in a detached and objective fashion.

From where my light is shining, there's a lot of knee-jerk, one line responses on the first page condemning both sites that prove my point.

 

[IrishNinja]

There is no coincidence in the fact that people who are ignorant to the history of racism in the U.S. are the same people who are saying this is "no big deal." And again, yes, sorry but if you have not heard this term, you don't know anything about the history racist propaganda in the U.S. Just because it is not a big deal to you, doesn't mean it isn't to others. At least make an attempt to raise your cultural awareness rather than obnoxiously assuming that your perspective is the objective one.

amazing. im never seen more ironic uses of words like "obnoxious" and the like.
so you feel it's your intellectual mission to educate people about things youve read on the internet. awesome! could you maybe try that with less ad homenim and condescension, though? i bet it'd go over a lot better!

And again, yes, sorry but if you have not heard this term, you don't know anything about the history racist propaganda in the U.S.

yup, im gonna go hit my high school & college for refunds, because despite learning a great deal about the civil rights movement & the history behind it, i missed this one piece of anecdotal history, meaning, which = not knowing anything.

Spoiler

also, who still starts condescending crap like that with a faux-apology? didnt that go out with high school debate, or was that just my failed school?

ugh, we all agree it wasnt intentional. a number of us didnt know the context, but the google images brought the point home more than crap posts like that one. point = made, to sit on the "OMG YOU DIDNT KNOW BRO" part and insult without knowing the next dude's background, that's another example of ignorance here.
im not diminishing the context, im saying id not heard it prior. also, yeah, 99% of this has to do with the DS' graphics & game's art style.

 

[Ca1amity]

What did they edit?? I saw both articles when they broke, and the most editing I saw was from Kotaku regarding its update after 5th Cell's response.

Kotaku edited two sentences or something in their article along with adjusting the title of the piece. Both of these edits reduce the inflammatory nature of the writing.

I understand what you were doing with the title: which is exactly what makes it sensationalistic. You were trying to evoke an emotion from readers; making it very hard for the more influential of them to look at the situation in a detached and objective fashion.

To sensationalize something is to provoke interest/excitement at the expense of accuracy. I did no such thing.
Please go back and read my OP, not just the title, before you start telling me what I was trying to do. You'll notice that this race thing is one point among a few I raised and not the one I really wanted to get at in the first place.

From where my light is shining, there's a lot of knee-jerk, one line responses on the first page condemning both sites that prove my point.

Welcome to every first page about everything on GAF. Thats not unique or new.

 

[McLovin]

I've never heard of this term.