Writer says GTA is racist; gamers react

Richard O. Jones, a writer for Black Voice News, wrote about his concerns regarding what he sees as racial stereotyping in video games; gamers everywhere form contrasting views on the issue.

In “The Bad News and Good News of Obsessive Video Games”, Jones wrote that negative video games reinforce poor self-images in Black youth, that playing such games for prolonged periods of time mentally implants anti-productive images. In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Jones relates that players assume the lead character of Carl Johnson, a down-on-his-luck Black criminal, who roams city streets stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by shootings.

Jones quotes John Murray, a psychologist who’s studied violence and stereotypes in the media. According to him, Blacks and Latinos being portrayed as villains or victims who get killed often and easily is the code for powerlessness. Murray adds that these images persist because too few minorities are in the industry, that roughly 80 percent of video game programmers are white, about four percent Latino, and less than three percent are Black.

In part two of Jones’ article, he quotes Eileen Espejo, who said African American females in video games were far more likely to be victims of violence; African American characters in general were least likely to respond to pain. Espejo also said that in a study, it was found out that characters in games for young children were exclusively white, ergo, video games are not a representative of the world we live in.

Jones expresses his concern that unless minorities are motivated to get on the business end of the video game industry, Blacks and Latinos will continue to be portrayed in a negative light and also miss out on a ten billion dollar a year industry.

Jones also points that if minority players would spend a portion of their life learning to create these games instead of wasting their lives playing them, there would be as many Black millionaire video game designers and illustrators as there is athletes and music artists.

His article has spawned heavy debate among the members of the gaming community. Gamers comment on whether it is really true or not that Blacks and Latinos are often perceived as the villain in most video games; and if it’s true that most game developers are educated whites who perceive minorities as such.

Via GamePolitics.com

Richard O. Jones, a writer for Black Voice News, wrote about his concerns regarding what he sees as racial stereotyping in video games; gamers everywhere form contrasting views on the issue.

In “The Bad News and Good News of Obsessive Video Games”, Jones wrote that negative video games reinforce poor self-images in Black youth, that playing such games for prolonged periods of time mentally implants anti-productive images. In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Jones relates that players assume the lead character of Carl Johnson, a down-on-his-luck Black criminal, who roams city streets stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by shootings.

Jones quotes John Murray, a psychologist who’s studied violence and stereotypes in the media. According to him, Blacks and Latinos being portrayed as villains or victims who get killed often and easily is the code for powerlessness. Murray adds that these images persist because too few minorities are in the industry, that roughly 80 percent of video game programmers are white, about four percent Latino, and less than three percent are Black.

In part two of Jones’ article, he quotes Eileen Espejo, who said African American females in video games were far more likely to be victims of violence; African American characters in general were least likely to respond to pain. Espejo also said that in a study, it was found out that characters in games for young children were exclusively white, ergo, video games are not a representative of the world we live in.

Jones expresses his concern that unless minorities are motivated to get on the business end of the video game industry, Blacks and Latinos will continue to be portrayed in a negative light and also miss out on a ten billion dollar a year industry.

Jones also points that if minority players would spend a portion of their life learning to create these games instead of wasting their lives playing them, there would be as many Black millionaire video game designers and illustrators as there is athletes and music artists.

His article has spawned heavy debate among the members of the gaming community. Gamers comment on whether it is really true or not that Blacks and Latinos are often perceived as the villain in most video games; and if it’s true that most game developers are educated whites who perceive minorities as such.

Via GamePolitics.com