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/ituralde_]

As far as I'm concerned, you do something that could be interpreted as racist, it's on you to prove you aren't racist.

This is the line I'm more or less trying to approach. I just want us to have the expectation that the normal behavior is for this proof to be made, not that people are eternally incapable of reform.

I don't think you should have to unpack every interaction. I think you should be able to freely judge based on someone's actions. Be upset when someone exhibits racist behavior. But also be willing to take their actions at face value if they make a serious effort to acknowledge their fuckup, apologize, and demonstrate reformed behavior in the future.

As a corollary to that, it's totally fair to absolutely go after those who don't apologize, acknowledge, and/or demonstrate reformed behavior. People that aren't trying to be decent - or are outright deliberately being indecent - don't deserve to be part of this community.

[u/[deleted] → u/ituralde_]

I just want us to have the expectation that the normal behavior is for this proof to be made, not that people are eternally incapable of reform.

I think OC's comment is incredibly well said, but I think I'd revise the proof comment to be it's on you to not say or do ambiguously racist things, because it isn't about whether the person is racist, it's about the person contributing to and normalizing racism culture. I didn't intend to do that isn't evidence, and the intention isn't even the problem. The impact is the problem.

If it's important to a person or a group to be able to say or do ambiguously racist things, they ought to weigh that against their desire to be included in groups that are concerned about the saying or doing of ambiguously racist things.

[u/ituralde_ → u/[deleted]]

I'm not brilliant about wording this but this is a huge part of what I'm trying to say with all this.

It's not OK to be close to the line of racism. And it's a really easy line to avoid, so why be near it?

I don't want to minimize how awful it is to be insensitive about things like racism. That's the opposite of what I'm trying to do. I want that shit to still be punished.

I also want reform to be the expectation. I want the player that makes this fuckup to see the path to reform, and to have the community waiting for it. I don't want a young player to feel that they've ended their public image eternally over even a massive lapse of judgement. I'd love for nothing but these moments to be highlighted so that both that player and all their fans can learn what it is to reform and why it's important to be decent to others.

[u/[deleted] → u/ituralde_]

I don't want a young player to feel that they've ended their public image eternally

Let's take the biggest offender, xQc. He still has a large following and he's still making a lot of streaming revenue.

over even a massive lapse of judgement.

It wasn't a lapse of judgment, it was a repeated misunderstanding or willful disregard for the behavior standard he was expected to meet.

I'd love for nothing but these moments to be highlighted so that both that player and all their fans can learn what it is to reform and why it's important to be decent to others.

OWL did everything it could as a league and an employer to do just this. Then it was on xQc to reform his behavior. He didn't.

[u/ituralde_ → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I don't mean to argue against this. I think the punishments are still appropriate.

I just want the community to provide the avenue and the encouragement for players to make the choice to reform. What struck me in XQC's case is he indicated he didn't see the path to do this, which is a failure of mentorship as much as it is a failure of his own.

[u/[deleted] → u/ituralde_]

I don't see you arguing against accountability.

What struck me in XQC's case is he indicated he didn't see the path to do this

I have a hard time believing that xQc didn't see a path to not saying homophobic and racist things. Rather, I think he believed and still believes two things: that he wasn't saying homophobic and racist things and that OWL and the community at large was making a big deal out of nothing.

I think both of those beliefs stem from the idea that it's intent that matters. xQc believes himself to be a good guy, a good guy wouldn't intend to hurt people, so he didn't do anything that he should be held accountable for. That's why intent isn't what matters.

The hardest part of accountability is accepting that you are capable of doing something that you should be held accountable for and that your intentions don't really matter. And when you do a thing that you are held accountable for, reconciling it with the narrative you have for yourself without dismissing your impact out of convenience.

[u/ituralde_ → u/[deleted]]

This is my bad and my poor writing.

By 'this' I mean 'reform actions while rejecting the label of being a racist'.

There's a dangerous loop that goes like this:

1. Person does <action> that is racist

2. Person doesn't think of themselves as racist

3. Person cannot acknowledge that they did <racist_thing> without accepting that they are racist because they ALSO struggle to divorce <action> from <nature of person> especially when the <nature> involved is so universally condemned.

This is what triggers the sort of defensive rationalization we see all the time regarding racial issues. People take sides from there and it all gets ugly.

The challenge is more or less as you highlight - it's accepting you did something wrong - but it's complicated in cases like this because of the conflicting self-understanding of "not being racist".

Racism isn't always the deliberate and malicious action of an evil person - it's more insidious than that, and it makes it that much harder for people to reconcile.

I think XQC was somewhat set up to fail because he didn't have a guide through which is a personal clusterfuck the way EQO clearly did. XQC on his stream came across as defeated and not seeing a way out.

That's what I was trying to highlight and I probably wasn't clear.

[u/[deleted] → u/ituralde_]

I admire you grappling with this subject, and I don't think your writing is poor.

Bringing this back to the OP, I didn't see anyone of consequence calling xQc a racist. He made homophobic remarks and used a meme in a racist context, and every OWL authority and media source I saw said some version of that. For every inconsequential person on the internet calling him a racist in a place he doesn't have to look, there's at least one person chatting in his stream dismissing his actions. If xQc thinks people are calling him a homophobe and a racist that can never be reformed when the community holds him accountable for homophobic remarks and using a meme in a racist context, that's really on him.

Sure, it might be difficult for xQc as a person. But if it's so difficult that he can't stop making those remarks and using those memes, then he probably shouldn't be in OWL.

Taking a step back, I think the more important discussion to have isn't racist actions don't mean you are racist (because I think that's exactly what it means), but rather every one of us struggles with systemic racism and has implicit racist biases, and it's important that we all hold each other accountable for our thoughts, feelings, and actions that are informed by those biases.

Not being a racist isn't the goal. Recognizing and challenging ourselves and each other's racist thoughts, feelings, and actions is the goal, and many of us are going to be really wrong sometimes, and have to own that.