African Women's Blog Critical of Resident Evil 5 Trailer

yeah, its too bad we have to look at these black people all the time.... but atleast we get to kill them :). Those damn black people

Dear Puti Tang,

After reading this article I find it an obligation to tell you that there have been many games Resident Evil games, before this game. And all of the zombies in the previous games were of European descent. Now, I can only guess that this lady is a person who will complain on just about everything. I suppose if they hadn't included Africa in the zombie demographic she would question the gamers underlining "racial" tones, and ask why they didnt include Africans.
This lady clearly is just some Neo-Panther Anti-White racist who is looking for a reason to complain about something. If there were only zombies of european descent who lived in africa, the lady would probably cry over how the gamers are trying to rob her "people" of their land. I know that this comment wont do much, and honestly I just don't care, but I hope my cynical words peirce the air somewhere, and it hopefully reaches her ears.

As a black person myself I am not offended... but if they want an easy way out of this they could simply write in a black main character (but I'm sure there already is one)

It's Resident Evil... it's obvious that the portrayed attackers are infected with something. And given RE4s shops not all of them are going to turn out to be after your ass...

[...] So, the trailers for Resident Evil 5 have been out for a while now. They’ve received a lot of feedback, look gorgeous, and have been accused of being racist. Yeah, Chris sure has his hands full fighting all those black people… [...]

That woman is dumb, seriously, HOW MANY GAMES about the World War 2 haved comes out in wich we where shooting Germans? She didn't really understand the meaning of "Why it was black people that where infected this time", it's because the organisation that spreed the virus in these games are doing it on POOR places, in Resident Evil 4, it was in Mexico, why? They don't have a lot of medication, hospital, so it was the PERFECT place to spreed it. Now it's in a black country, and look at the houses, why they're are spreeding it there? BECAUSE THEY'RE POOR! And why you're not seeing: Canada, USA, France, place like this being infected in the new Resident Evils? Because we got the defense against those things, period. That woman should just take a chill pill, sit on her couch, and look how this game is awesome. Thank you

This game is gonna rock! Racism? That's for whiners. A game's a game. ;)

The thing that bothers ME the most is that she says she'd prefer all zombies to be black from this day forth

Honestly, I have been playing RE since the first game on the PS1. There have been black S.T.A.R.S. members as well as black zombies in a few of the games.

1. I'm a black person and it truly pisses me off to see someone bitching the way that they are. Not all people are this ignorant and try to find racism in EVERY little thing out there. I mean honestly black people, where were you at in the last game when they were shooting spaniards? Maybe it's just an issue when you decide you need to get your face in the news or get published somewhere.

2. Capcom is indeed a Japanese company. I'm sure that they didn't decide, "Hey, let's make a racist ass game and market it to young children."

3. The author of this game is truly a moron. I'm sorry but if you have no idea what the game is about, then why are you talking about it? Perhaps if you familiarized yourself with the entire series you'd realize they have never targeted a specific race. The games take place in a numerous amount of countries. They span from America to Europe. Now with this new game taking place in either Hati or Africa, there's an issue. STFU! You should really do research before typing up an article voicing your idiotic opinions on how something is racist.

4. [to the author of the article & anyone else being a whiny bitch] I love how you give an age demographic for which this game is aimed at. You obviously know nothing about the subject and you just figured that you'd jump in on some controversy. If you knew anything about video games as a whole you'd know they have a rating system just like films do. This game is rated M for Mature. That means that it's intended for gamers 18+. Show me how this is trying to show young white children how to kill blacks.

All in all, you should know what you are talking about before you go making assumptions about things and calling out racism at the first sight of black and white. We all know what they say about assumptions--you make an ass of you and mumptions. So as the previous statement ended: GTFOY and shut the hell up.

~theron_~

i think every game should be about a white guy killing hordes of black guys. in fact...they should just skip the whole 1st person view with guns and just put you in a helicopter where you can simply drop bombs on whole villages in africa. I do complain about the graphics though, I don't think they really show expression of pain and horror on these black faces when you shoot them up! Cmon Capcom, get your sh*t together...if we're gonna kill these coons at least make it look real...thus making it more FUN! I REAAAALLY wanna see those white eyes and teeth when get wide when there's a knife comin at their neck! I mean realistically it's Darwin's theory of evolution all wrapped up in a pretty package for you. I think one day after we really do wipe them all out, black people will be right next to the monkeys at the zoo on the endangered species list.... Maybe they'll even have those crackers you can buy to feed them.

I know a perfect solution. Just lose in the Game, this way the the african horde kills the white person, and then the game won't be racist, since its okay for them to kill a white person.

Really if people are that retarded not to be able to distinguish between a human and zombie they should just die. It's pretty obvious that that they are zombies or why would they attack him out of nowhere (I don't see the main protagonist having bunch of money or food on him either).

the racest stuff- LOL, really funny.
its in africa or somthing ppl get over it!! -

- on that note, capcom has prob pushed back the relese date just so they can set the story some where where their are hordes of white ppl to kill.... hum it cant be in north america -its all mexicans here, and we dont want to piss them off (no offense- ive got mnexican friends too), thought set the story in a trailer park and it should be smooth sailing.

- but hay wait a muinite, dont black people kill mases of black ppl too... makes you wonder - has this writer lady herd of whats happening in durfur??? i gess its like gangster talk, its ok for them to do it to eachother and its not ok for white ppl to.

-and hay i lived in Berkley CA, i was the one white kid in a fifteen block radius, almost all my friends where black - if an outbreak happend, and i had a machettie and an m16, i would have shot zombies regardless of race -- theyre ZOMBIES!!!!

This is ridiculous. The year is 2007, every aspect of life no longer needs to be dictated by a color! It's a video game, in which you kill zombies! If the name of this was "Ultra-Nazi 007" and you ran about and slaughtered these "savages" while barking racist epitaphs I could understand your outraged, but come on.

The Resident Evil series consistently changes locations during it's series (the last was Spain) so obviously the inhabitants of said region will change to reflect said region. Perhaps in the future all video games will have pink and yellow colored characters in them so as not to upset the sensibilities (sic) of some moronic alarmist who's quite clearly never done ANY research into said topic or even bothered to Google the name.

By writing this article you've proven your just as ignorant as the beer-swilling bigot flying a confederate flag in some backwoods US state. Any publication which would give you journalistic license should immediately be put out of business for further the struggles of an already disenfranchised people by pushing another BS reason as to why they should be persecuted. Way to keep yourself down... THE REASON THERE'S SUCH A RACIAL DIVIDE IN PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY IS BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU CONTINUOUSLY FORCE THERE TO BE ONE!

I for one would love to speak to Ms. Rueberg and make her understand exactly how ignorant her simplistic (to say the least) view of race-relations will affect any person who reads it.

How could any 'credible' journal of opinion let a racist like her write for them with her obviously slanted racial prejudices?

San Andreas contained a man armed with machine guns, rampaging cars, satchel charges, a military combat helicopter and jet fighter, a rocket launcher, a chainsaw, etc. the man was black, and most of the city was white, hispanic, asian, and black. but the shit hit the fan when he, like the billions of people before him, had sex with someone. Huh?

[b]Hmm...alot of people are complaining that you can’t tell that the black people in this game are cannibalistic mutants that are trying to kill you. probably because they are like that in real life anyway…[/b]

@dan

so wait anytime a white man kills black men, it is racial? That is a very stupid statement to make. Also anyone who is against racism should be offended by this? Why? He's not shooting them because they are black he is shooting them because they are zombies, if there was a white zombie in the bunch he would not hesitate to shoot them as he would shoot any other zombie. The thing is once you become a zombie you are not human anymore so what race you were no longer matters. Let me put it this way, say a large mob was trying to kill you, and you had a gun, lots of ammo and no means of escape, what would you do? You would probably kill them, or maybe not because you may have reservations about killing that much people, but say they are not people but instead lifeless drones that can't be reasoned with, drones that are not human anymore, now would you shoot em? You'd probably say yes, but even not the fact that they used to be black means absolutely nothing now since he can't be changed back now does it?

Dan- Thank you. Thats an outstanding answer. I'm bothered by the fact that racial profiling exists, and that if my name didn't sound American, I may not be called in for an interview. This is a problem that has to be solved from all angles by everyone. It's a matter of discrimination that we all have to work through.

As for the game...well, we've already gone there. It's a dead horse. The articles stemming from the game and the original article aren't really at issue, but it's the fact that race is brought up- that's the real issue here.

There are other places to fight that battle and have that talk. I don't this game was the right reason to bring up race and video games. I do think that other games were better for that discussion and that in this case, the monsters being black is a matter of geography. For something like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or Scarface, where a person of color was willingly taking part in unlawful or immoral activity...that's where this needs to be.

I don't think that removing depictions of negative acts is the solution. I actually don't have a solution as I think that avoiding depictions shows fear of addressing the issue. I also think that those that aren't able to really understand that the depictions are entertainment, or for educational reasons, would take something and go entirely overboard with their opinions.

@Dan:

Putting them on a pedestal won't increase equality -- it will only lend credibility to the white supremacists' argument that blacks and whites are fundamentally different. We as a society, and as a race for that matter, need to stop worrying so damn much about who might take offence and get to work on the REAL problems faced by minority groups. Poverty immediately comes to mind.

"What this SHOULD be about is sensitivity."



This is about sensitivity, with 12 games bearing the Resident Evil title for far too long the black zombie hasn't been represented. This exclusion shall end and black zombie equality will reign!

From what I have seen of the trailer, there is a scene which shows a black man being held down and infected or changed into a zombie (or whatever the enemies are). This would imply that all of the people are being changed against their will. The reason they are attacking him is not because black people are savages, but because these particular black people have been exposed to some kind of toxin or agent that causes this behaviour.

If people would only look at the context of this stuff before immediately decrying it as racist. As everyone above pointed out, no-one complained about the defeating of all the white zombies in the previous games. Perhaps it was more transparent that they were zombies as they shuffled about slowly. With the new "24 hours later" style fast zombies it might not be as apparent, but still, this is jumping to a conclusion that insults Capcom by accusing them of racism where none exists.

The accusations at the end are the worst however.

"including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages"
WRONG. It depicts black people who have been transformed through some kind of plot device into something not human that makes them act savagely. The savage behaviour is not due to the colour of their skin, and to suggest otherwise is a false accusation of racism.

"the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing"
The white man is Chris Redfield who has been a protagonist throughout the entire Resident Evil series. They are continuing a story and want to continue using the characters that people have become familiar with. If the protagonist were black, I believe this person would still cry racism, stating that Capcom is trying to get black people to destroy each other...

"the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults"
How many times does this have to be said? Mature content video games are not marketed to children. Young adults (of appropriate age) are perfectly ok playing the game. The fact that children often want to do things that older people do combined with the fact that many parents do not monitor or care what their children watch or do does not mean these things have been marketed to them.

"Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people."
Once again, young people should not be playing the game due to the violence it contains. On top of that, I would like to point out that many years ago, people feared, hated and destroyed black people because they saw them as different. Now that (more or less) people are treated equally, saying that black people in video games being shot is bad while they have no problem with whites being shot in previous games is absurd. All people are equal despite differences in skin colour, whether it be in real life, or as heroes or villains in fictional stories told through video games.

Slavery. Pure and cut, slavery.

This is not about whites feeling guilty. Of course you shouldn't feel guilty for something that, although the effects of it are still evident, you weren't responsible for.

What this SHOULD be about is sensitivity. The understanding by whites about this country's checkered past. The admission that things in this country are still terribly skewed in favor of whites. The realization that until everyone is brought onto a level playing field, ANY depiction of the dominant race in this country performing negative acts against minorities (especially ones they enslaved, beat, lynched, raped, murdered) needs to be removed and scrutinized further.

@ Kit: I don't think ONLY blacks should be offended.

As a white male, I think ANYONE who is against racism and prejudice should be offended by this. The insinuation that ONLY blacks can be offended by this is in and of itself the proof of white denial. You don't have to be black to be offended by this. You just have to have a heart, a conscience, and a clue about race in this country.

A whole lot of videogames include the killing, hunting, exterminating and feet-tickling of people from countries, ethnic groups and even several blends of religion. However, those are videogames. And they're usually set on a theme.

For many others can be said that they follow historical events. It's perfectly fine to kill gazillions of germans in every world war shooter. Nobody's ever complained. They're Nazis.

For many of them there can be said that it's fantasy. It's made up. As with Resident Evil. It's perfectly fine to finish hordes of zombies, no matter where they come from. They're Zombies.

Why would there be anything wrong with that? If I were to make a game based on vampires, and how the player is going after them as a vampire killer, and those vampires just *happen* to bite several black people, should I switch off the cam and say "CUUUT! We can't do that, they must be treated special, we can't show them like this, we can only show them... just here and there, one at a time, so they don't complain they've been left out."?

This is what's wrong with the whole idea. You really have to accept that, in order for everybody to be treated equally, not special, you will have to *play* the bad guy too, from time to time, when it's play-time. Nobody's pointing at you saying that you're ideal for that role. It just happens to be *your turn*, and if you refuse, you single yourself out.

ok no worries that's cool, I guess it was just the words you used in your previous comment, i.e. 'everyone'

i think ethnicity is unimportant in this instance, although it's an easy mistake to make. alot of people are making the argument that in resident evil 4, no one was up in arms over the slaughtering virtual spanish villagers. the real gist of the game was not that you were killing anyone of a given ethnicity, but that the poor and downtrodden were made to suffer even *more* at the whims of a maniacal and sinister dictator. that's the true horror of the RE franchise - the innocent suffer even further, and are transformed into something utterly evil for the purpose of someone nefarious.

given that it appears capcom is continuing the storyline from the previous game in some fashion, that's almost certainly the theme here. what better place for an evil dictator to set up camp than in an economically depressed and lawless area where their activities will not be scrutinized? like it or not, the economic reality of many african nations are a perfect backdrop for this sort of horror detail.

don't like that this is a good backdrop for such fodder? then get off your butt and start donating to unicef, working for the red cross, and working for real and sustainable change in the world. and learn to see beyond black and white, because otherwise you're going to have *alot* of sacred cows to protect.

I am from Spain and I have to say that I enjoyed very much Resident Evil 4. In fact, I was glad that such a great game took place in my country. So far I have never met another Spaniard who disliked the game for the issue of killing Spaniards.

As stater by some participants, it is too soon to judge the game. If it is well done, it could deal with social and political issues that are usually rare in videogames, and therefore it could be exactly the oppossite of what Black Looks thinks. It also may have a native playable character. Time will tell.