In the fifth week of this course, we focused on genders in online gaming and the action of live streaming. For this week’s blog, I wanted to talk about the impact racism has had on online gaming. Kishonna Gray’s, “Deviant bodies, stigmatized identities, and racist acts: Examining the experiences of African-American gamers in Xbox Live” article does a great job of narrowing the scope of online gaming issues down to just voices. Based solely off of voices, it is amazing to see how far forms of racism could actually go.

In the article, Gray focuses on deviance. In class this week, we defined this term as being abnormal or not fitting towards the “mythical norm”. Gray connects this to how voices over online gaming on Xbox Live can lead to potential instances of racism. In her work, she actually takes the role of a participant observer during the study. I think this is pivotal because Gray is actually reporting her findings here. She is not making judgements and conclusions based off of the interpretations of others. Instead, it is all down to what she witnessed herself, and what she takes away from it. This is what makes this study/article so powerful.

According to the article, the following is an actual excerpt from a conversation that took place while Gray was conducting her study (269):

Silentassassin321: If I could find this EXPLICIT I would whoop his EXPLICIT. On some real EXPLICIT. But they do this behind they TV screen. Tough guys. Internet tough guys. You know how many times I’ve been called EXPLICIT to my face?

Mzmygrane: How many?             

                                                                                                       Silentassassin321: None. You know how many times I’ve been called EXPLICIT online?

Mzmygrane: How many?

Silentassassin321: Too many ta’ count… 

Based off of this excerpt, one of the gamers mentions being called the n-word online. The gamer says that they are not called this word during face-to-face interactions. I think that this speaks a lot about the toxicity that occurs in online gaming. The fact that some people carry out racist acts online rather than in-person is very hypocritical. Now, some people may say that racism does not occur as much today as it used to. As we can see, this is not true. Racism may not be shown in-person, but it does exist on online platforms. Personally, the truth is, if someone is racist over an online video game, but does not say anything racist in person, they are still a racist! The gaming world is very toxic, there is racism, there is hate, and there is despair. What makes it worse is that some people turn to online platforms in order to show their true colors. 

On my behalf, I have never been attacked with racism while playing online games. What I have witnessed is the hatred towards someone else based off of the way that they sound. This is another point of focus for Gray. Our voices are a part of us, that being said, they do serve as something that can make us stand out and be distinguished from one another. One time, when I was playing Fortnite with randoms (squads), I overheard a male criticize a female for her building skills in the game. He mentioned things such as, “Right, you’re a girl, of course you can’t build”. Knowing what I know now, I believe that the only reason this gamer said this was because he heard the female’s voice. Had he not heard her voice, he could have still criticized the gamer, but he would not have the chance to bring in gender. At the moment, I did not say anything. What I did do was back out of the game. It was something that I did not want to hear about or be around, so I felt that leaving would be best. I knew that I could take the female’s side, and she probably would have appreciated it, much like any other gamer would, but the truth is, after the game, that same individual could continue to do the same to other gamers. I did not and still do not have the power to stop individuals from being cruel. 

It is really unfortunate that cases of racism and hatred take place. Online, in-person, or whatever. In my point of view, who you are online is still a part of you. For the people in the world who think that they can be a different person online and a different person in real life, you are wrong!

-Andy Kissoon