Ultra-Conservative Student Group Criticized over Border Patrol Game
Ultra-Conservative Student Group Criticized over Border Patrol Game
September 14, 2008
A watchdog group has criticized the controversial Michigan State University chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom for promoting Border Patrol, a racist Flash game released in 2006.
The charge came after MSU YAF linked to Border Patrol via a recent blog post.
YAF Watch, a site dedicated to tracking activities of the MSU YAF, writes:
The game, Border Patrol, encourages the player to shoot Mexican immigrants dashing over the border. When the player shoots one of the immigrants, a blood splatter appears. The various targets for the player include a pregnant woman, a baby and man carrying a backpack...
This is not the first time YAF has been involved in degrading immigrants. They first made headlines with a proposed "Catch An Illegal Immigrant" game in 2006. The game would have featured a person portraying an illegal immigrant, and encourage game players hunting the person down. The game was condemned by MSU officials, including President Lou Anna K Simmons. It eventually was canceled.
According to Wikipedia, the MSU YAF was cited as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2006. In 2007 the group hosted Chris Simcox, head of the Minuteman Civil Defense League, a group which aggressively targets illegal immigration.
Border Patrol, anonymously released to the Internet, has been widely condemned. As GP correspondent Colin McInnes wrote in our original 2006 coverage:
Most of the debate about illegal immigration centers on America's border with Mexico, so it's especially troubling that in Border Patrol the player's tasks include shooting "Mexican nationalists," "drug dealers," and "breeders" - pregnant Mexican women - who try to rush the border towards a welfare office.
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Posted 03/20/10 at 09:40am
JDKJ: You accusing someone else of flagging for attention is just too funny for words, Zippy. After all, you're an obvious graduate of the Jack Thompson School for Attention Whores.
JDKJ: You accusing someone else of flagging for attention is just too funny for words, Zippy. After all, you're an obvious graduate of the Jack Thompson School for Attention Whores.
Posted 03/20/10 at 09:38am
ZippyDSMlee: JD:BREAKING, JD wants attention!
ZippyDSMlee: JD:BREAKING, JD wants attention!
Posted 03/20/10 at 09:35am
JDKJ: BREAKING: House votes unanimously to close Zippy's doughnut hole.
JDKJ: BREAKING: House votes unanimously to close Zippy's doughnut hole.
Posted 03/19/10 at 06:42pm
Valdearg: Sage advice, Zip. Sage advice.
Valdearg: Sage advice, Zip. Sage advice.
Posted 03/19/10 at 06:37pm
ZippyDSMlee: Don;t talk to MS/LIve users that you do not know....is jsut easier that way...
ZippyDSMlee: Don;t talk to MS/LIve users that you do not know....is jsut easier that way...
Posted 03/19/10 at 06:14pm
Flamespeak: Didm't steal anything or other people not knowing what the heck Tribes was but felt inclined to tell me it wasn't Halo.
Flamespeak: Didm't steal anything or other people not knowing what the heck Tribes was but felt inclined to tell me it wasn't Halo.
Posted 03/19/10 at 06:13pm
Flamespeak: stealing 'new' game ideas from Tribes while marketing them as something 'new and shiny'." I was blasted by people claiming Halo
Flamespeak: stealing 'new' game ideas from Tribes while marketing them as something 'new and shiny'." I was blasted by people claiming Halo
Posted 03/19/10 at 06:12pm
Flamespeak: I told some Halo fans that 'with the inclusion of jet packs in Reach, Halo has successfully completed its mission of totally
Flamespeak: I told some Halo fans that 'with the inclusion of jet packs in Reach, Halo has successfully completed its mission of totally
Posted 03/19/10 at 05:39pm
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Well, it's not like you were very subtle, there..
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Well, it's not like you were very subtle, there..
Posted 03/19/10 at 05:18pm
JDKJ: @Val": You got me there. That one was pure troll. And posted in memory of DarkSaber, who hasn't been around much, lately.
JDKJ: @Val": You got me there. That one was pure troll. And posted in memory of DarkSaber, who hasn't been around much, lately.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:36pm
Andrew Eisen: JDKJ - Probably the widow/widower.
Andrew Eisen: JDKJ - Probably the widow/widower.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:33pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:who gives a shit about you :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:who gives a shit about you :P
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:33pm
Valdearg: Lol.. Wow, JDKJ. Troll much?
Valdearg: Lol.. Wow, JDKJ. Troll much?
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:27pm
JDKJ: Who gives a rat's ass about the children of fallen soldiers?
JDKJ: Who gives a rat's ass about the children of fallen soldiers?
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:16pm
Andrew Eisen: I completely agree.
Andrew Eisen: I completely agree.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:15pm
Valdearg: If they really wanted to help the troops, they should donate their money to a legitimate charity with a good cash in/out ratio.
Valdearg: If they really wanted to help the troops, they should donate their money to a legitimate charity with a good cash in/out ratio.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:14pm
Valdearg: It's just offensive that people who attend these things think they are helping the troops, when in reality, Hannity is using MOST of the money to live large in the cities he travels to. He could at least scale down his accommodations..
Valdearg: It's just offensive that people who attend these things think they are helping the troops, when in reality, Hannity is using MOST of the money to live large in the cities he travels to. He could at least scale down his accommodations..
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:13pm
Andrew Eisen: Val - But they did get something and that's better than nothing. Also, the Freedom Concert site is clear that expenses are subtracted from the donated amount so while it’s not fraud (from what little I’ve seen) it is pretty crummy.
Andrew Eisen: Val - But they did get something and that's better than nothing. Also, the Freedom Concert site is clear that expenses are subtracted from the donated amount so while it’s not fraud (from what little I’ve seen) it is pretty crummy.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:12pm
ZippyDSMlee: fou fundrasier, from a fou consertive, who would have thought :P.
ZippyDSMlee: fou fundrasier, from a fou consertive, who would have thought :P.
Posted 03/19/10 at 02:11pm
Valdearg: The problem, Zip, is that barely ANY of the proceeds are going to the children. It's all going so hannity can line his own pockets and enjoy a life of luxury. He is a grade A Piece of Human Crap.
Valdearg: The problem, Zip, is that barely ANY of the proceeds are going to the children. It's all going so hannity can line his own pockets and enjoy a life of luxury. He is a grade A Piece of Human Crap.
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Comments
As if I wasn't ashamed of the state I live in enough.
This game should have faded into obscurity already.
You're from Michigan? Me too.
My opinion is...while, yes, it's racist, I do feel that all illegal immigrants should be deported. Period. And that the border between the US and Mexico should be tightened extremely. There are plenty of legal ways for Mexicans to get here.
My question is, how is the game offensive at all? People that get offended at this are like people that get offended at other games.
I think its more of the thing that its promoting the ideal of shooting illegal immigrants and mexican in general as yes alot of illegal immigrants are Mexican but not every Mexican is an illegal immigrant and I'd be ticked if I got shot just because I was thought of as an illegal immigrant.
Plus I'm pretty sure its not the violence but the fact it sort of saying "Hey go shoot a Mexican they are evil illegal immigrants." And yes illegal immigrants should be deported, just not shot at.
Problem with the current system is it's so convoluted that it literally could take years.
Pretty much the system is causing the problems.
That's more or less what i've been hearing...
Essentially, the main reason their are so many illegal immigrants is because the legal methods for immigration are too difficult or time consuming to get through. It seems that the first best step for getting rid of the illegal immigration problem, atleast in the long term, would be to fix the immigration system... Fix the system and then you have a lot fewer people who go the illegal route. The ideal that might just come from this is that illegal immigration is vastly cut down without the need to put a strict enforcement over the border... granted, this doesn't do anything for the illegal immigration in the short term
Another related problem would be the citizenship tests; from what i've heard those things are pretty damn difficult... hell i think i've heard that most americans would not be able to pass the test themselves.
For some reason i'm remined of Spore's DRM issues... the legal way to get the game comes with some real negatives and can be a real pain in the ass because of DRM and SecuRom... so what have thousands do? they get the game illegally and avoid the major baggage that comes with the legal version. And what might happen if EA got rid of the DRM and SecuRom issue? Many of those pirates might just buy the game if they actually enjoy it, and those who have been considering pirating will go the legal way... its a very, very, very loose analogy =p
As a Legal Immigrant to this country, the test is extremely easy. They give a handout/book to you when you sign up for a test of which you have a few good months to go over it, of which this handout/book contains everything question on the test. The actual test is ten questions, all from the handout/book you were given, and you only have to get seven of them correct. After that you have to write a sentence given to you by the proctor and then you are done. The test can be hard if you don't study but it is fairly easy if you do.
Personally I feel that the amount of paperwork and the cost of filling for citizenship is which the real killer is involving becoming a citizen. It can take a real long time just to get to the test along with quite a deal of money. Of which if you miss deadlines and such it can take you even longer.
So why not build a border fence with motion sensors for now? It would cost the same as about 2-3 fighter planes... so basically nothing considering how much our government throws at this problem already...
As for citezenship test, it was so simple, oh my god...
My grandfather has altziemers(wasn't diagnosed until after the test) barely spoke english(though surrisingly better then some people working at fast food places) and guess what? He is a US citizen...
He took and passed the test, no special things were requested for the test either...
I found the test so simple that I was very annoyed with my parents for making me very nervous about it...
As for most americans not being able to pass it, well we do need to fix the school system and putting millions of kids who's parents don't pay taxes in those schools just might be the problem...
oh and I agree that entering the country legally should be made easier, my family waited for like 8 years before we had the permission to come here...
Getting my wife over from the Philippines has definitely confirmed my belief that the legal system for getting someone across is far to time consuming and expensive. It isn't hard and they are not really thourgh with background check or anything, it seems like they (INS) just has alot to do and not many people to do it with.
You think that's bad enough? That's my alma mater.
It's not as if it's even a particularily good game. Of course it's Flash, so...
Why are they so focused on Mexicans in Michigan?
When I was up near that area I saw a taco stand named "Bill's Tacos." Hell, I think they could use the influence. If you want to complain about illegal immigrants, then you should probably be in a state that actually bears the brunt of the financial burden caused by illegal immigrants, like California, Nevada, Texas, etc.
Well you can find illegal immigrants in a lot of states even those no where near border. I think i once recall hearing that illegal immigrants in NY was seen as a serious problem... It seems that immigrants don't just stay near the border after they cross, but are willing to go where ever they see opportunity... if the states closer to the border started getting to crowded with illegals, they would think to move on to other states
Er... Immigrant doesn't always imply Mexican. Most NYC immigrants are from Europe, not Latin America. The "border" there would be Ellis Island.
*sigh* So instead of dealing with the problem of illegal immigration we now have to deal with a bunch of idiots shooting at illegal immigrants.
Problems add up to more problems.
lol, I honestly don't think many people are going to seriously act out this game (not that nobody will, but not that many). There will always be extremes, but I don't think this will cause any moderates to act out
You're probably right. This game won't encourage any more boarder-state civilians to shoot at immigrants illegally crossing than there are already. The thing is that too many people already do just that.
Kurisu, what area of Michigan are you from? I'm in Auburn, like...in between Bay City and Midland. Just curious.
Anyhow, how fun. My sister is going to MSU. I'll have to tell her about these idiots, I'm sure she'd like to know what to avoid like the plague.
White Lake. I won't get any more specific than that.
No way, I'm in my senior year at Lakeland, live in Highland though
*blink blink* I, went to that high school
Wow, small world. Really small world
Lol racists. Taking ignorance to new levels.
on a technicality, shooting the Mexican nationalists in the game should be okay, seeing as they're armed and appear likely to cause mass shootings thenselves.
岩「…Ace beats Jack」
The problem with the border is the government refuses to do anything about it and politics uses the cheap labor for business and a voting block....... its a mess made by the bureaucracy "we" admire ad never do anything to ix.....
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
Ultra-Conservatives making a game where you shoot pregnant women? Oh their hypocrisy is showing.
I though there weren't any ultra conservatives in MSU? To think such idiots are a few miles away.
Saying this game is racist is like saying we discriminate criminals by puting them in jail. This game is to the extreme, but we see that in media everyday.
Are you trolling, or are you actually suggesting that shooting unarmed people is akin to putting criminals in jail?
You don't get points for killing random people in GTA.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
Oh right, so shooting random people for points is bad, but shooting random people 'because you can' is ok?
You shoot random people in GTA? Why? What purpose does that serve.
Because I can.
Then the problem isn't GTA. Its you.
You definatly have to shoot innocent people in GTA at one point during the storyline. Or kill someone as an overreaction, just like in this game.
The difference, I think, is that the people who make GTA don't hold views that are borderline similar to the attitudes represented in the game's fictional universe. The Border Patrol game is part of an overall message of hate, while GTA is not.
I don't think the Border Patrol game should be censored, but it's far more worthy of criticism than GTA.
Really? You don't think shooting at blatant Mexican stereotypes is racist?
Only if San Andreas was racist as well.
No. As I previously noted, the fact that this game is intentionally associated with a real-world message of hate makes it different than games like GTA which are strictly for players' entertainment. "Border Patrol" is political, GTA is just fun.
It's called Parody, idiot. San Andreas (and all other GTA games) was a parody of American society and culture at large. GTA:IV is a parody of the American Dream, in fact Niko often laments about the myth/death of the American Dream. Bully was also a parody.
Border Patrol is racist; it is not a parody. It's a game where the premise is that you're defending America from the dirty Mexicans who are all belligerant alcoholics, single mothers (aka Whores, if you're ultra-conservative), and lazy dirty bums by shooting them. Honestly, if you can't see why that premise is racist, then you have no business breathing.
Go read a book.
Some people(more than half/more than a million) in our prisons are there for lesser crimes then illegally invading a sovereign nation...(they shouldn't be in prison at all but that is a different story)
So while shooting real illegal aliens is going too far, shooting fake ones in a harmless computer game isn't going anywhere near a moral line...
This being made by a hate group for the purposes of spreading hate is... though I am not certain if it is to spread hate or to make people see the tens of millions of people coming here and putting a strain on our messed up economy as the enemy which must be gotten rid of(not through murder: putting a target on some criminal is a common way of making you think of all criminals like that us the enemy so the shootting part of the game may be hyperbole for fighting back which is in bad taste but legitamate).
I don't really know what to think of it...
We defended the 'night of bush hunting' and this seems very similar to me...
Maybe they should look behind the reasons for illegal immigration, one of which is farmers in mexico who are losing out due to NAFTA and thus are forced to move here.
Its aprt of the elists pla to join the US,CA and mexico, good lord we all know CA dose not want to take care of us all :X
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
So.. in other words, your plan to join the US, Canada and Mexico?
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
I'm offended by the idea of shooting pregnant women (for obvious reasons). I'm not offended by the idea of shooting Illegal Immigrants, but overall I think they could be deported instead.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
You're not offended by the idea of shooting illegal immigrants? Buddy, why don't you move down here to Arizona then and show your true feelings. That way you can be indoctrinated into the ways of automatically thinking light brown skin or Hispanic sounding names equals illegal, and just be with a fellow population of violent arseholes who are more than happy to consider a gun to be the solution needed for any problem.
I'm not offended by the idea of shooting many groups. I'd just prefer not to waste ammunition.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
They need to fix the system, so more immigrants will take the legal ways.
Michigan seems like a weird state to be focusing on an issue like that.
I thought that Conservatives were supposed to be pro-life. Oh well, I guess one can make an exception for Mexican babies...
that's sarcasm by the way...
-Remember kids, personal responsibility is for losers! For information on games and psychology, look up: Jonathan Freedman(2002)Block & Crain(2007) Just to name a few...
Don't you know that small government and personal freedom are great, as long as you don't use that freedom to do things that offend us.
It is all a belief what what offends us and what doesn't.
It is a matter of taste.
And that is why we have the ESRB ratings, not only are they there to help parents understand what type of audience this game is catered for, but the ESRB ratings are there for people to understand that games with E for everyone contain less or little subjet matter that could be offensive, like the concept of Evolution in games like Pokemon and Spore.
to the T rating that contains a few things that would be offencive like the clothing on male and female characters and death and medium level violence
To the M17+ games that are rated for High Level Violence, red blood and realistic killings that even though they are not real, they can be offencive to some people's taste.
So in all, I find your comment Anoymous a bit too much like a JT comment because personal freedom is ALWAYS going to offend some people and trying so hard not to offend people is impossible because it shows you don't have real freedom to make a product that all it is is for entertainment.
Psst. Tongue in cheek...
Offtopic: My CAPTCHA code just made an NPH reference. What do I win?
I think the main reason they come here is because of all of the bennifits they get, and how much better America is than some of the parts of Mexico where they live.
The easiest way to fix this is to cut off the bennifits that Illegals get, belive me I live in Arizona and if this keeps up, my state and other states near the boarder are screwed.
I love bennifits
We should be friends with bennifits.
bennefits is in my T-Mobile Top 5.
"
I think the main reason they come here is because of all of the bennifits they get, and how much better America is than some of the parts of Mexico where they live.
The easiest way to fix this is to cut off the bennifits that Illegals get, belive me I live in Arizona and if this keeps up, my state and other states near the boarder are screwed.
"
This is true to a point you cannot get 80% of benfits without a legit socail secuirty number, the funny thing is they pay taxes into social security(whitch they will never get) and they pay most taxes because federal tax is done through the employer and unless the emploer wants to get in trouble with the IRS they generally do it correctly.
State taxes are also paid as they rent or won homes and land they HAVE to pay taxes on it, so 80-95% of the "do not pay taxes misnomers" is just that a misnomer.
The true damage is done is when you have an area flooded with people local agenties that help the poor are stained you have a influx of cheap labor driving down wages in some markets and you have a imbalance of people who may or may not pay for hospital/health care and the hospital this can mean more and more losses, but then again hospitals are a part of the broken healthcare system in the states so it jsut shows how bad things are when hospitals can not bare it.
It is a burden on local city's and towns some can deal with it some can't, in the end we have to count heads and send workers back to work with proper paper work until immigration is overhauled, the government needs money and by putting workers back to work and gettign that tax rev, by all means toss the criminals out, but much like modchips and backups they are are not "illicit".
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
You do realise that you don't actually have to pay them, right?
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
Remember that is it well and truly possible for people to call the Resident Evil 5 game rasist while RE 0-4 have been shooting paler European or American Zombies.
Also while I don't like shooting pregnant women in games, I do feel that as a game that focuses on immigration issue there will always be cases when men women AND children get involved in immigration issues.
Same thing happens here in Australia where I come from.
If the world was not so stuffed up and the gap between the have and the have nots was not as big then we would not have this problem in the first place.
"I don't want to use the term Black as i know that is well and truly rasist to other people's opinion"
How the hell is the term 'black' racist? It's the common nickname for a dark skinned person. Oh and how can you be racist to other people's opinion? That phrase makes no sense.
Fluff story, haha
I think it is a sign of how people are pissed that our government refuses to protect our boarders due to lack of funding for the boarder potrol, and we need to invade mexico and take out those god damn drug dealers and such that are making the whole situation at lot worse than it needs to be.
Damn, I left out they need to point out the mexicans going across the boarder are drug smugglers and such
yea there is a ton of games like this get over it.
Immigants, I knew it was the immigants. Even when I thought it was the bears, I knew it was the immigants!
Wait, wait one more.
If I could be a superhero
I'd be Immigration dude
I’d send all the foreigners back to their homes
For eating up all of our food
And taking our welfare and best jobs to boot
Like landscaping, dishwashing, picking our fruit
I’d pass a lot of laws to get rid of their food
‘Cause I’d be Immigration Dude
(I'm sorry if I got a line or two wrong)
Conservatives over-reacting in a bigoted way to an issue they don't understand? Why am I not surprised.
I have a freind who works at a restaraunt here. He's the guy who has his job threatened by illegal immigration daily. It's a shame our country doesn't have the economic space for this guy to prosper, he's smart, competent, he deserves to be able to work for a decent wage.
It's a shame that we fucked over south america for decades, breaking their economy for short term profit, ultimately leaving them no choice but to immigrate here.
This is a complex issue people. There are no good answers to it.
Well no, that's not true. There are good answers to it. Stop fucking over the third world, and focus on organizing a sustainable robust economy here.