Obviously the hot-button topic at the moment is the depiction of racism in the Resident Evil 5 trailers, and frankly, I'm glad that it is. We should be angry about this. But not about the supposed racism in Resident Evil 5, we need to be angry about the insistent belief that racism is the underlying agenda, intentionally or sub-consciously. After all, how much does it say about us as a people, and I am talking about the human race as a whole here, when in our ostensibly enlightened times we are not only still yet to be rid of racism, but that we should actively hunt it out not to quash its vile influence, but instead use it to promote our own celebrity exposure. Because, let's be honest, I'm not entirely certain just how offended these "racism watchdogs" actually are and whether or not they simply want to appear offended so as to garner some form of sympathetic acknowledgment from their peers. It's a dangerous to line to follow and one I am loathe to skirt.

However, one thing needs to be said, because sometimes those who truly don't consider race a problem in their life can take that sentiment just one step too far and not pay heed to any issues of race whatsoever. Anyone who follows Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report should be well familiar with his character's stance on race, that being that he "doesn't see colour". Now, of course I am well aware that these aren't his actual sentiments and that his character is a parody of many of the more corrupt aspects of our world, but this one is particularly effective in that it exposes a very real problem about our PC society.



Racism exists, but far more important than that, race exists. I am a firm believer in the human spirit and our need to accept people as members of the human race as opposed to being accepted as a member of the black race or the white race or any other colour in the rainbow. However, to simply deny the importance of race is self-defeating. People of different race share different qualities from one another, and as such, people of different race should be treated differently. However, this is no simple matter of segregating one race from another; no, this is a process of acknowledgment and acceptance.

You can't ignore the fact that a person is black or white, and you cannot ignore what this does to affect that particular individual's physical makeup, cultural distinctions, and even their personality traits. You do have to understand that they may be different from yourself and that this simply makes life on this planet just that much more interesting. After all, we're all human so why can't we all just get along?



This does bring up a point about gamers, however. Especially those who delve into robust fantasy or science fiction. In fact, this isn't directed just towards gamers but all people who attempt to escape to other worlds in order to leave behind the ignorance of this one. We expose ourselves to such a diverse array of possibilities through our chosen form of entertainment, from worlds that are composed not only of human beings of all colours but also of sentient species so unlike our own, yet still able to co-exist with humanity (sometimes more violently than we would like but still, its all for the game play), to actually putting ourselves in the shoes of person of diverse descent, giving us a chance to look at matters from a brand new perspective. It is because of these diverse perspectives that we all share that, for the most part, the responses towards the posts regarding N'Gai Croal (and others) were made in measured, respectful, and above all, reasoned form. It truly made myself proud to be a Dtoider, but more than that, a gamer.

We, as gamers, are able to explore race issues without exposing potentially inflammatory contexts and through this we are able to gain further understanding of our human brothers (and sisters) so we can strive to make a difference in our world where it all really counts. And even if we do have the option of traveling to a foreign world to take in a cursory look at race relations, we do have the option of taking it all to a game set in our world, in our time, in a realistic (at least as far as race goes) manner that won't always be politically correct.

Because let's face it, political correctness is one of the greatest conceits of our time, an attempt to sweep everything under the carpet so we don't have to face the grim reality. As most of you pointed out, it simply isn't worth being PC if we have to sacrifice creativity that has the potential to further the discussion (or even if it doesn't further anything. Sometimes we simply want to have fun, all underlying messages aside, and so long as the context does not intentionally attempt to worsen the state of affairs there is nothing wrong with it). After all, we are all human (deep down in some cases) and the greatest testament to humanity and the human spirit is our creativity.So as a message to all of the watchdogs out there, "Please, PLEASE don't try to bring down that which makes us human just because you cannot see beyond your own ill-founded prejudice."