Racism vs Racial Insensitivity in Esports

[u/ituralde_]

[EDIT 2] adding more explicit commentary because reading comprehension is hard.

The esports community has failed at this distinction and it has caused a lot of drama and consternation.

Racism is believing awful things about some group. [EDIT] Think of this as a measure of Character.

Racial insensitivity is saying something about a group that is offensive. [EDIT] Think of this as characterizing someones actions. You could also call this "racist actions", describing the actions a person took. I chose the phrasing to make a distinction between actions and character, not to pretend that this made the actions not racist.

[EDIT 2] The phrasing doesn't matter here and it's a shame I can't edit the title because people are caught up on this. The important distinction (again) is character judgement vs actions. Neither racist actions no racist character are something the community should tolerate. The distinction only matters in that someone who does not want to be known as racist will be willing to reform their racist or otherwise offensive behaviors when given the opportunity. That's why it's important to remember that, when it comes to Actions and Character:

These are not the same thing.

Both are incredibly important. Impact is more important than intent; it's important to be cognizant of how your actions are interpreted by the world around you. [EDIT 2] This means that being racially sensitive is a terrible thing and merits the punishments that have been getting given out.

That said, it's similarly inappropriate to always assume racism in the presence of racial insensitivity. [EDIT 2] This means that not everyone who says something awful and punishment-worth is doing so out of outright racism. Young, dumb kids say and do dumb shit for reasons above and beyond being a terrible person.

The important behavior we want to teach to players and fans is that sensitivity matters, and we undermine that by accusing everyone who makes a mistake on the sensitivity front of being immediately racist/homophobic/etc.

Racial and other insensitivity is and should continue to be punished by the Overwatch league and its constituent teams. The important result of this should be that lessons are learned, not that players are crucified.

Take a look at EQO's case - he made a mistake. For a lot of us, it's an obvious mistake but clearly not one he thought of. Both he and the Philadelphia Fusion made sincere responses to the mistake. This is a perfect example of how this shit should be handled. We as a community should also treat it as such, and while we should be harsh on players who do make these mistakes, we should also encourage these young people from various backgrounds to learn from such mistakes. Let them be examples to their fans, don't bury them in negativity.

This is really important.

[EDIT 2] For clarity since this has been all over the comments, EQO not only fucked up bigtime through his actions, he made it worse by trying to play coverup. The good response absolutely was at the behest of some authority figure in the Fusion, and that's exactly what we should expect of organizations in the league. We, as a community, should take a trust-but-verify approach - give the Fusion credit for their swift response and give EQO the benefit of the doubt that this was a lapse of judgement, but also keep an eye out that the final statement was sincere.

Take a look at XQC for another example.

In full disclosure, I don't like XQC. I don't like the majority of his fans. I'm probably naturally biased against him.

However, I don't think he's a racist, and I sympathize with the guy who is broken over being saddled with this label by the powers that be.

He made a mistake. Sure, he hasn't really shown that he understands this but at the same time, how the heck could he? He's being told he's racist which isn't something he's capable of identifying with. He doesn't share the beliefs he's being accused of, so how could he get anything from this?

He's not a racist. He made a huge fuckup and has been hounded by the community as if he's evil. He's not evil, he fucked up. He displayed poor judgement, that doesn't make him a bad person - it makes him human.

[EDIT 2] I thought this was clear from context but the important distinction is that he doesn't see him as a racist and continuing to accuse him of that worldview doesn't help anything. His actions WERE racist. You could say he was "acting racist" or "being racist" in reference to his actions if that terminology fits it better. Does he have a racist worldview? Only insofar as he clearly doesn't understand why it's important to be sensitive about how you show up publicly.

XQC isn't the first and EQO won't be the last to make these mistakes. So let's learn a lesson as a community and give these players the window to improve themselves and how they show up in public. Condemn the action, not the person - give them the window to reform. Let them acknowledge the difference between intent vs impact and use these examples to teach the community about why this matters.

Demonizing the people only undermines the opportunity for a lesson to be learned by the players and the community as a whole.

Let's maintain our standards, but enable our players to rise above careless behavior to those standards. Let's not saddle them eternally with the baggage of a mistake made of youth, ignorance, community-driven habit, and/or carelessness. Let's not make accusations of a person's character when they yet have the opportunity to grow from a poor choice.

[EDIT] This has gotten way more traction than I ever thought it would, so I'd like to clarify a few things in simple terms.

1. The punishments were good and appropriate. I think the first reaction to negative behavior would be to stop it and punish. Only after should we look at how to rehabilitate bad behavior.

2. The distinction I'm trying to draw here is the difference between Actions and Character. I think a redeemable Character can perform reprehensible actions. In the case someone does something reprehensible, we shouldn't shut the door on them redeeming themselves if they choose to accept responsibility and reform. That's really all I'm trying to say.

[u/[deleted]]

TLDR: Racism and racial insensitivity are two different things

[u/Numyza → u/[deleted]]

This is really just redefining something that already exists. It generally goes under the concept of "casual racism". Where certain concepts are ingrained in society or your upbringing and you use them without really understanding the implication they have on other people.

Casual racism is still racism. It still persists certain concepts and ideology even if the people saying these things don't actively believe in superiority over the other group. That's what makes this such a big thing. These people aren't bad individuals per say, but them saying these thing still perpetuates things that are damaging to others.

This topic I find is very dangerous because it's so nuanced. It's very easy to think "i'm not a bad guy because I don't think this way" when one still says or does certain seemingly innocent things that damage others. Acknowledging and changing these habits makes you a good person.

[u/atgrey24 → u/Numyza]

I think OP's point is the necessary separation of a racist/racially insensitive acts and racist intentions. Attacking a person's entire identity ("You are a racist") makes them defensive and unlikely to hear the necessary criticism. Highlighting their actions ("this thing you did/said is racist, even if you didn't mean it that way") allows them the distance to recognize and hopefully change those habits.

[u/Numyza → u/atgrey24]

I can get on board with that. In simplier terms it may be the concept that good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Just because someone did something bad doesn't mean they are a bad person, they just need to learn from that instance and grow.

The issue I have with the discussion is just that I fear it may devolve into one where people defend bad actions as "being different or misunderstood". It's very easy for any group to reason their behavior away. Something all of us have to make sure doesn't happen.

[u/Uiluj → u/atgrey24]

I agree that if everyone did this then the world would be a better place, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth to treat adults like children. We paternalize racially insensitive people because they're not mature enough to understand their actions in the context of a global culture. I highly doubt EQO though it was okay to do the squinty eyes gesture in front of an Asian person, and xQc wouldn't say "go suck a dick, I bet you'd like it" to Muma's face.

They already know what they did was stupid, but the camera made them think there would be no consequences. Jake mentioned this, xQc is a nice guy in person, but he talks shit about Jake when he's alone in front of a computer. It's why people who cyberbully or send death threats via the internet probably wouldn't do that in real life. There's something about the internet that makes people think there aren't real people with real feelings on the other side of the screen.

[u/atgrey24 → u/Uiluj]

I don't think it's necessarily patronizing to hold someone accountable for an action, but not hold that action over them forever. This is especially true for first offenses. There were repercussions for EQO's actions (between fines and donations the dude is losing 10% of his yearly salary, on top of the other suspensions), and while they were appropriate I think he also gets an opportunity to learn from this.

Repeat offenses result in harsher punishments and less forgiveness, as evidenced by xqc.

[u/Signore → u/atgrey24]

People should be able to accept a valid criticism without it being sugar coated though. How can you do racist things without being racist?

[u/atgrey24 → u/Signore]

Speaking generally, there's a lot of societal/institutional racism that gets ingrained in people without them knowing it. Making people conscious of those things will be more effective than just claiming they as a whole are racist.

Additionally, everyone is ignorant of certain things until they encounter it. For example, I wasn't aware of how sensitive the Korean-Japan relationship is until that dude on NBC made that gaff during the Olympic coverage. It's definitely possible for someone to say/do something insensitive without knowing that was a problem.

(again, this is a more general answer to your question, not necessarily addressing the specifics of what we've seen in OWL from xQc, EQO, Taimou, etc.)

[u/[deleted] → u/Numyza]

Gotta disagree with you big time on this. Racial insensitivity does not always equate to casual racism

Racism is, by definition, assuming superior status of one race over others. Period.

Casual racism definitely exists, where someone is brought up believing a certain thing (hate blacks, Jews, Asians, Mexicans, Irish, Indians, Whites etc.), and they don't realize that some of their own beliefs are racist/prejudiced.

But there is an enormous difference between that level of racism and doing something that is insensitive.

A HUGE amount of Asians are shorter than your average person from, say, the Netherlands.

Does that mean a guy from the Netherlands calling someone who is Asian short is making a Racist statement?

Well, that completely depends on WHY you are calling them short. Are you doing so because you believe their Asian genes are inferior because it made them short? Well, then yes that is racism.

But if you're doing it to "poke fun" just by calling them short, then you are not being racist.

If you make fun of them for having almond shaped eyes, are you doing it because you feel their eyes make them strictly inferior as a race? Or are you poking fun?

My wife teaches English to Chinese kids every morning online. She recently told me a story where a kid about 4 years old saw a black guy on one of the slides on the teaching power point. The boy, after likely never seeing a black guy before, pointed at the picture and said "Too dark! Too dark!"

By your logic, this boy is a racist.

Clearly, this boy did not mean "That guy is too dark, and therefore he is inferior." Whether he knew it or not, he DID say something insensitive though.

Please note, I'm not excusing the things EQO did. I'm also not saying people shouldn't be allowed to be offended.

But saying being racially insensitive is the same as casual racism is just simply not true, fair, or realistic.

[u/Lipat97 → u/Numyza]

I mean its the same as the environment stuff. Like no, you aren't a terrible person when you don't recycle, but if everyone recycled everyone would be in a better place.