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/ItsSupercar]

Here's the problem I see: people imagine a firm line between "racist" vs "not racist", and then draw that line way out at extreme behaviour. We've mythologized racism to the point where we don't recognize its everyday forms. And so because we've narrowed the word's definition in this way, the accusation of racism-- which we believe only applies to the most severe behaviour-- becomes more of a social faux pas than racism itself. "How dare you call this person a racist? He's not even burning any crosses!"

But racism isn't always manifestos and slurs and overt attacks. Racism can be little everyday bullshit too. Racism can be rude treatment and dumb jokes. That shouldn't be taken to mean a joke is on par with a lynching, or even remotely close; it just means that racism is a broad concept encompassing actions large and small, and that on the whole it's still common as dirt.

[u/ituralde_ → u/ItsSupercar]

This is a really good point. I think what we want, where possible, is to correct racism when we see it in a way that we don't demonize the perpetrator IF and ONLY IF the perpetrator is willing to reform their behavior.

There's a mental leap to get past that otherwise people instincually reject that goes as follows:

1. If I did something racist, I must be a racist

2. I don't think of myself as racist, therefore I must not have done something racist

3. Therefore, what i did couldn't have been wrong.

What I was trying to highlight (and probably failed at) was that this cycle prevents otherwise good people sometimes from recognizing how to correct their behavior without consigning themselves to some sort of eternal character damnation.

To prevent that thought process, we need to have an acceptable route to correcting a bad behavior without eternally demonizing someone's character as a person.

If we can divorce "person is a racist" and "person did racist/racially insensitive thing" then we can tackle the problem as one of a correctable choice or behavior rather than a person's fundamental decency. We can correct a behavior without attacking an individual. We maintain the stick but we also have the carrot in the form of a desired standard of decency.

By targeting the behaviors, we can target racism in all of its evident manifestations and excise it from the public sphere and don't need to fear attacking, alienating, or rejecting an otherwise decent individual to tackle it's more insidious forms.

Those determined to be racist have no place in an inclusive society, but those who aren't should be allowed a path back in.

[u/eggbutts → u/ituralde_]

I'm really confused by what you're saying here. Are you saying that if a "good" person does something racist and people accuse them of being racist, that's going to prevent them from fixing their mistakes?

[u/ituralde_ → u/eggbutts]

Not quite.

People think they have a solid understanding of their own character and very seldom outright think of themselves as evil.

Racism is evil and pretty much everyone acknowledges that.

Thus, when you characterize a person as 'racist', you create a sort of cognitive break. They know how they feel, they know their intentions, so if you accuse them of intending something that they don't intend, then it's easy for them to dismiss your perspective.

Instead, if you focus on their actions, it's more easy for them to see why they fucked up and it's easier for them to accept responsibility and reform. They can accept their action as a mistake that's outside of anything they'd intend, rather than being forced to characterize themselves as evil.

Does that distinction make sense?

[u/eggbutts → u/ituralde_]

I see what you're saying now, but I don't believe that it's a distinction that needs to be made explicit, nor is it the responsibility of others to make that distinction for the perpetrator.

If you do something and people start calling you racist, isn't it pretty obvious that people are saying that because of what you did? I don't see why it's necessary for other people to assure you that they don't think you're racist. In fact, lots probably do, especially strangers who don't know anything about you. If you're dismissing their perspective because they didn't coddle you, what kind of attitude is that? "Oh I know I did something wrong, but these people are being mean to me so I'm not going to listen to them!" So instead of having a productive conversation about the implications of what they did, we're going to spend all our energy hand-holding them like they're 10? No one's entitled to that sort of treatment, and we shouldn't encourage it.