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/TakaSol]

ITT": white guys discussing racism as if they have a say in how it should be handled LMAOOO

[u/ituralde_ → u/TakaSol]

What, just because I'm white I should like racism and tolerate it? I don't get to want to see a better standard and encourage reform in the community just because I'm white? I don't get to like decency because I'm white? I don't get to talk about racism and what it does to the country and the world because I'm white?

Yeah, I'm a white male. I've absolutely lived a privileged life. I'll never understand what it means to be a minority. I'll never understand what it means to be oppressed. I'm sure if I ever was in a minority situation I'd not even recognize what the feeling of being a minority was. It's alien to me and I can't hope to ever understand it.

All I've got is what I can see.

What I do see is bullshit comments like this driving people by the millions to vote for the worst president in American history. It drove millions to vote to commit economic suicide in the United Kingdom to leave the EU because the poles weren't the right type of white.

I may not have the best solution to this problem but it's a sure as hell a lot better than sniping and saying bullshit from the sidelines.

Guess what. It's not just minorities that have to be part of the solution. It's not just whites. It's everyone.

This country, the United States, was founded on a self-evident truth that all men were created equal. It hasn't ever really lived up to that and didn't even believe that at the time. But just because this nation didn't expect decency back then doesn't mean we can't expect it now. Just because we have ignored living up to our own ideals for hundreds of years of our history doesn't mean we cannot start now.

We're unique in the world. Nowhere else is it even remotely possible to see someone with a different background yet assume a shared identity. That's the power of America even if the leadership of this nation has repeatedly failed to seize upon it.

I want us in the next generation to seize upon what this nation should be, and that means doing everything in our power to break down barriers inherited from previous generations.

I may not have the right approach.

If I don't, by all means let's have a discussion about it.

But being divisive helps nobody but the russians and the profiteering billionaires who want nothing from this country but another fucking tax cut.

Maybe this all means nothing but I earnestly want to try to live the world I want to see around me. If I've got something wrong please let me know. If you care, enlighten me.

Else? Maybe try not being part of the problem.

[u/BlameReborn → u/ituralde_]

Look doing slant eyes is a racist gesture... its like if I went on TV and exaggerated my lips like a black person's on purpose.

I would deserve the shit I got and would have to work on improving myself or i could keep doing the bullshit and get kicked out.

[u/ituralde_ → u/BlameReborn]

Absolutely. I don't disagree.

This is more or less what I'm trying to communicate.

We rightly jump on racist behavior because it's not acceptable.

But at the same time, we need to make sure we leave open the path for redemption. If someone does some horrifically racist shit, absolutely punish them for it, but also make it clear to them - and to their fans and supporters - how to properly apologize, take responsibility, and be sensitive to this shit. Encourage people to be respectful of each other.

Regardless of what words you use, we need to draw a line between the actual Nazi/KKK bullshit and someone exercising incredibly poor judgement who is actually capable of reforming after a terrible set of choices.

When someone is in the position of being called on their racist action, we want them to progress towards responsibility and sensitivity if at all possible. We want people to grow past racism, not be pushed in and consumed by it. It's not valuable for the zeal of those with the best intentions to drive away those who are capable of learning to be better.

The whole point of ending racism and the like, after all, is to be inclusive. We absolutely should punish unacceptable behavior, but we should also leave open the door to redemption as well.

[u/TakaSol → u/ituralde_]

Thats nice for you and all, but you have no right to judge how people, especially PoC react to racism

[u/ituralde_ → u/TakaSol]

I'm not trying to judge how people react to racism. I'm not a good writer; I'm sorry if I came off that way.

I think judging reactions is flawed. People should react to anything how they feel and they have a right to that without being judged. Everyone has an entire life story in their own shoes and it's not up to anyone else to say fuck all about what kind of perspective that might offer.

Once you react to something though, it's time then after to take a strategic approach to solving underlying problems. How do we reach out to people to end this shit instead of passing racism as an enduring legacy to the next generation?

Do we want our grandchildren living with this same shit the same way that previous generations abandoned us to this?

How do we build and engage a community that tries to end racism instead of marginalizing it and sending it to communities like T_D where it merely festers and is used by our enemies against us?

Don't we want the future to be full of people that can finally see past thousands of years of failure to maybe, finally turn around and not think twice about considering their neighbors to be brothers and sisters regardless of background?

I want us to overcome these divisions. Maybe I can't make a difference in the rest of the world but maybe we can start in the places we go for fun.

[u/allprologue → u/ituralde_]

you are all over this thread saying you couldn’t possibly understand and being here to learn, putting on a self deprecating show but out of the other side of your mouth preaching about what is and isn’t productive, and how to address racism, and what’s divisive or not when poc and allies try to explain things to you.

I’m sure you mean well but this has been messy beyond words. you’re being a disingenuous about wanting a dialogue when what you are trying to say is that you’re uncomfortable with the word racist being used where you don’t believe it applies despite that you know nothing about EQO or, really, about racism. And you’re finding more and more long winded ways of saying it.

I assure you the way forward in confronting racism is not to be hyper defensive of people accused of it. There is no onus on anyone to provide racists (or people who do racist things if that sounds better) with a path to reform and no one has any pitchforks out for that matter just because they have correctly identified EQOs actions for what they are. The secret to this is that if the fact that people are mad at him would block him or anyone from wanting to improve, they aren’t really committed to doing it and no amount of coddling will make them.

[u/ituralde_ → u/allprologue]

I haven't been hyper defensive of people being accused of it and outright applaud throughout the thread the punishments that have been handed down. It's the appropriate response.

I'm not uncomfortable with the word 'racist' being used. I'm trying to differentiate between racist action vs racist character.

I think it's highly counterproductive to play moral masturbation because we got to call XQC, his fans, EQO, and some number of others 'racist'.

I want this community to improve, so I want the message that racism isn't OK to actually reach people and not be the rallying cry for the average twitch chat being. How do you reach these people? you reach their idol. Maybe they turn on their idol if their idol reforms, but maybe the message trickles down.

I don't think the solution is to marginalize these people, bury our communal heads in the sand, ignore it, and hope it goes away. Because it's not going away - it's only getting worse.

If we're going to try and reform the community, then we need - first and foremost - the culprits to be prepared to accept responsibility for their actions.

We can't make them do that if our goal is a moralistic crusade because that's not going to connect with them. That kind of crusader attitude is what pushed people into Trump's camp back in 2016. Why? People (for the most part) don't think of themselves as deliberately racist. Those people are out there and do exist but that's not what we're dealing with in this case.

If we want people to reform we need to give them the benefit of the doubt that they aren't evil. That has to be step 1.

If you think this hasn't been going on, you haven't been paying attention to this sub over the past 24 hours. Hell, even in this thread, most of the conversation has still been a battle between people battling over how evil they thing one of EQO or XQC is or isn't.

I want this shit to end, not split /r/cow along the same political lines as the rest of this country. That means not treating each other like the enemy and instead fostering dialogue about how people's actions show up. If we're going to end it we can't just shun, ignore, and hope it just ~goes away~ when these behaviors are clearly and demonstrably seductive to large quantities of young people.

I'm sorry if I don't have a beautifully constructed party line. I don't do this shit for a living.

[u/youranidiot- → u/TakaSol]

What gives you the right to judge that?