At some point, we have to look back in history (being depicted in different mediums) and accept that humanity has had a racist past, then FINALLY open an adult dialogue about it. Every single “ethnic” person I’ve met (which is the majority in Milwaukee,) agrees.

I’m not saying that this game really has anything to do with a racist piece of history in any way. Rather, finding a problem with it is nothing but close-minded. Maybe our parents taught us to find differences in objects too much? After all, everyone has their personal differences, so why not celebrate the similarities?

Great article, Tim! I hope this game comes to Wii. I actually just played 6 hours of RE4 today on Wii.

Whoa, let’s not even go near the idea that white people are being persecuted here. As for the idea that self-preservation precludes any racist intent…. this is a video game. I don’t see myself fending off a hundred zombies anytime soon.

We’re using different criteria for our analysis of the trailer here. I see that trailer and it uses racist imagery that goes back to Joseph Conrad.

And, importantly, I want to play this game. I don’t think it should be cancelled, or Capcom should be made to change the setting. Subtle differences in approach can make all the difference here. I think that you guys are making rational arguments, and I’m happy to partake in a mature discussion on this, but I do feel that Capcom will need to be more sophisticated with this.

Bunkai, that is an interesting link, and it does reinforce the fact the setting is a good idea. I hope that the game shows the dehumanizing effect of the infection to give us context. The trailer does not do that, and with no context, I see how it would be offensive.

This is unlike the furore over the recent Vogue cover with LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen for example. I disagreed with people that felt that cover was racist, because we all have context. People seeing that cover as an example of playing on the fear of ‘black men taking white women’ have issues of their own. I think this trailer is different, and genuinely has problems.

Of course they’re different… everyone knows that as long as you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing to a white person, it can’t be considered racism. I mean, after all, they’re WHITE… right?

That trailer looks like self-defense to me. Regardless of racial point of view, setting, or anything else, if a mob of people are coming to kill me, I’m gonna do what I can to give them all a dirt nap… black, white, yellow, green, or purple… makes no difference when it comes to self-preservation. If you say that you wouldn’t… you’re lieing.

And if you’re wanting to talk about setting, it seems a logical setting to me. Remeber H.I.V. and Ebola? Remember their birthplace? How about you take a look at this link (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol4no4/klugman.htm) and then try to tell me that a remote African village isn’t a good place to set a story about such a wild disease outbreak. Where would make more historical and scientific sense to set such a story?

But to get on topic:
A white man shooting a black man is not racist, nor a white man shooting a hundred black men. Racism is a state of mind that breeds an act of hate. Without the state of mind and malicious intent, it can’t be racist. It is only a violent and horrific act.

Sorry, but that’s the truth unless Capcom has made Redfield into an actual racist through virtue of the narration.

DEFINITION
Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1933
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race 2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

I know full well the Japanese are coming from a completely different cultural background, but then so am I; I’m not American. Ok, I’m European, but I was raised without the racial hang-ups that are prevalent in the US today. But, they’re prevalent in the US for a reason, and Capcom needs to have some awareness of that if they’re going to deal in the US market.

I, too, am hugely excited by the idea of taking on an entire village of zombies in an improved version of RE:4, one of my favourite games of all time. I think setting the game in Africa is a brilliant idea. However, the sight of a lone white man gunning down hundreds of black people (regardless of their ‘condition’) is too close to the bone. And as for your other examples, I agree fully, but two wrongs don’t make a right.

And Bunkai, the reality is that Wesley Snipes gunning down a bunch of white vampires doesn’t carry the racist connotations this does. They’re completely different. To paraphrase comments made elsewhere, I can understand if you don’t feel it’s as bad as some make out, but if you don’t see it as racist at all? That’s worrying.

Does that same excuse work for people who watch bum fights, death porn, and other illegal pornography on the internet? They’re just enjoying it as entertainment, not for the bad stuff that might be in it?

I know, that’s an extreme argument, but so are things like: “If we want to stop making race an issue, then just stop making race an issue. Good or bad, stop it.”

They’re both based on fallacy, and seem to say, “since we don’t like the issue, the let’s bury it.” Whether you agree with Mr. Croal about RE5 being racist or not is trvial to me. What you should, and I hope you will, agree is that race is not a buriable issue. It’s something we must discuss and confront to bet ourselves, and our passion, games. Is it so wrong that he brought up what most of us have been too afraid to discuss?

As for the just a game statement, I’m still shocked gamers have such little confidence in what they enjoy. Film can be cinema, fiction can be literature - why shouldn’t we hold games up to artistic and social standards?

good article but last i checked he is definitely white, or at least white-ish…definitely not black though.