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There’s politically correct, and then there’s whatever this thing is. Basically, a blogger from the Houston Chronicle accused Left 4 Dead 2 of racism for – we kid you not – including African-American zombies and setting the whole shebang in New Orleans. His logic, of course, hinged heavily on Hurricane Katrina, since – wait, what does this have to do with racism again? Valve was left scratching its head as well.
"Utter insanity," Valve’s Chet Faliszek said when asked for comment by Destructoid. "There are mixed races of zombies, there are all different races of zombies that you shoot, and since we placed it in New Orleans, that makes it racist? I honestly re-read the paragraph about five times ... but when two of the characters in your game are African-American, it's a weird thing to be accused of. We're like, 'how does this work'?”
“This is a videogame, those are real people's lives, we are not trying to make a statement with that ... [New Orleans is] a place we love, it's dear to our hearts. We would not cheapen it. It's not a brick-for-brick representation of New Orleans; it's a fictional version, and I love that city," he added.
So that’s that. All this talk of racism is really starting to weigh on our spirits, though. Why can’t we just go back to the good old days, when videogames only caused murders and 100% of youth violence? Those were such carefree times.
Comments are closed on this article
NeoTifa
September 25, 2009 at 10:53am
So zombies can only be white? The black are immune?! Lucky....
n0ctis
August 12, 2009 at 9:33pm
Everyone wants to be the next Jackass Thompson.
________________________________________________________________
.: vires et honos :.
Ace of Spades
August 10, 2009 at 5:39pm
OK, lets have you (the reader) put yourself into this situation for a moment and follow along with me a bit please. Lets just say you are stuck in a world-wide zombie outbreak epindemic. You know, I know, and we all that if there's a zombie coming towards you, you're going to "pop a cap in their ass", not matter if they're white, black, hispanic, asian, etc. So lets not start by saying that black zombies are racist. But I guess that blogger doesn't think it's not racist to shoot white zombies.
I bet if the blogger is black, he'll shoot a black if one was coming towards him.
And people also started this bullshit when Resident Evil 5 came out. What hell is up with people?
whiplash55
August 09, 2009 at 8:46pm
Some people are so fucking stupid in our society today they'll look anywhere for racism. The fact that there isn't any racism to be seen means they'll just invent some. If this stupid assholw can't find any real racism in Texas he has to go looking for it in a video game he should just pack it in and stop calling himself a journalist and get on down to McDonald's and see if they'll hire him.
What a complete prick, incompetant asshole.
Tekzel
August 01, 2009 at 10:40am
That dude is utterly off his rocker. Overly sensitive twits like this are a big part of why I couldn't care less about the whole politically correct movement. If someone feels the need to get all butt hurt over something I said, then they are are just going to have to deal.
bingojubes
July 31, 2009 at 5:41pm
if memory serves me correctly, aren't the zobies a shade of gray, anyways? they have no apparent skin color. in left 4 dead, the maps were mostly dark aside from selective lighting, but it didn't really occur to many that, "omg i'm killing [insert group of people here]". they were GRAY ZOMBIES. whatever turned the people into GRAY ZOMBIES wasn't racist (in fact, i believe it was an equal opportunity infester), why should we be so sensitive to it?
okay, maybe in Left 4 Dead 2, they brightened up a couple of the maps to see ZOMBIES better. whoopie. when it was darker, i guess i could have snuck past a few select zombies, instead, but i killed them because they would eventually try to infect me, not because i might be harboring some deep hatred for those select people.
if that blogger wins, i want my Klansman or Nazi Zombie mod.
No0b-0-rAmA
July 31, 2009 at 1:34pm
After reading this article many times and doing extensive research, I have come up with a conclusion. The article is total horse sh*t. The part I'm really suprised about is how the author seemed belive it would be racist to put black people in Africa. I mean, common! It would be hellava lot more racist if the zombies were white in Africa. It's like going to fight the japs in COD5 and expecting to see white people. It's freaking Africa, as in AFRICAN american. I don't know what a African American would feel about this as I am a Asian in Canada, but judging by their comments, afican americansalso think this is bullcrap. If the man is fine with shooting white people but not with black people, he should be classified as a racist himself. A large percent of the new orlean population is african american, so it would be reasonable to put african american models there. And in what way does a goddamn zombie invasion have to do with hurricane katrina? Maybe if you were playing a giant wave it would be a little touchy. However, i did get lots of laughs reading the comments of the article flaming the racist.
mesiah
July 31, 2009 at 9:52pm
There are actually plenty of whites in africa, middle easterners as well. Africa is a big place, but thats beside the point >.> I myself have so much ethnicity in my family tree that its hard to claim myself as anything but american, but I have been called everything from black to hawaiian so I am the last person to be racist. With that in mind, I really feel that blacks as a whole are more racist than any other race in the US. Not that they don't have reason to be, but it often gets abused such as the case in this article.
Tekzel
August 01, 2009 at 10:50am
No, they don't have a reason to be. Nor do whites. In fact, only an ignorant clod embraces a racist point of view. When I was a kid, a poor white kid in a predominantly black neighborhood (going to a school that was 80% black) mind you, our next door neighbors where some of the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful people on this green ball we call earth. They helped us on many occasions in various ways, including financial. Just the thought that someone would look down upon them because they were black just boggles my mind. Racism is ignorance personified.
People are often vile and disgusting, but that is never tied in any way to their skin color. It is almost ALWAYS due to their upbringing. If there is an issue in the black community that causes a higher percentage of them to commit crimes and such, its not because they are black, its an issue of upbringing, which could affect anyone of any color in exactly the same way. Its a systemic issue and it will be a BITCH of an issue to resolve. People have to be taught pride in themselves, not in their race, or what have you. THAT is dangerous, and is the root of racism. And THAT is what causes the perception that "black people are more racist than whites" I often hear people express. Its a great thing to be proud of your heritage, but don't let it make you a racist.
COMMANDER_COOK
October 10, 2009 at 1:10pm
My school was over 99% white. I think African Americans are scared of my hometown because the clan used to have big gatherings there in the 70's. I'm not racist, though.
linkmaster6
July 31, 2009 at 12:33pm
Whole heartedly I agree with Devo85x, no one seems to relieze that history is solely written by the winners. Since Hitler was used as an example I will follow suit. For the most part his views (though seeming completely alien to us) were kept for historical record but in a few hundred years that have of the story will fade and it will be how the Allies annihilated the evil Nazis.
I think its more rasict to say only white people can be shot in games or by other people of the same color, same goes for people of other races only "being allowed" to take out other members of the same race.
Demographically if you look at the southren United States a larger portion of the population down there is African-American, I would actually be pissed if there weren't African American Zombies. Excuse me for any misunderstanding for what I'm about to say, in no way do I find racism good its only ignorance at its best, Its like playing Far Cry 2 and not coming across and predators!
Lets cut the bullshit and stop playing the race card. I'm human, you're human, we both eat, breath, drink, have kids, and die the same way naturally and by other people's hands.
I'm not saying racism doesn't happen I'm just saying that its not like when they develop a game they make sure everyone on the development team is part of every race or all a single race.
lunchbox73
July 31, 2009 at 11:13am
I don't believe for a minute he really thinks it's racist. He's just trying to get a big reaction and that's what he got. He's probably really excited Valve even said anything about it.
DOOMHAMMA
July 31, 2009 at 10:42am
I've spent my entire life killing white people in video games! Whoever wrote that newspaper article is a moron and should get booted from that paper for being as brain dead as the zombies in L4D2.
HeartBurnKid
July 31, 2009 at 10:38am
You're only allowed to shoot white people and aliens. Shooting people who are the least bit non-European is racist.
Don't you guys know anything?
mpcrsc562
July 31, 2009 at 10:01am
first off, the game is fictitious.
secondly, it is a backward step for everyone. if there were no black characters portrayed then valve would be accused of racism for not including black characters. since black characters are included and some happen to be zombies, then valve is accused of racism. correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't two of the main protagonists black people, forgive me for being politically incorrect: African American?
that blogger has too much time on his or her hands and needs to get a grip on their life.
Devo85x
July 31, 2009 at 9:31am
I know I am going to sound evil by saying this but stick with me a sec... does this guy realize that right and wrong, good and evil are all based on opinion... they are all a point of view... so his "killing nazis is right and killing union soldiers is wrong" theory is kinda messed up... now when I say this I am not trying to say Nazis were great people at heart, but even they thought what they were doing was the right thing... same as the south in the civil war... he said "As much as I enjoy video games, I do not like having to play a part of history that I would like to forget and avoid, but can't."... if we do not embrace history, we are doomed to repeat it... if you forget that the holocaust happened, it WILL happen again... not the exact same way, but very similar... as for saying L4D2 is racist... this moronic individual finds the game to be racist because he was looking for it... he says it is too close to hurricane katrina... but the game doesn't even hint at that... that is like saying CoD5 was way too soon after the holocaust... it will never be time for us to make a game where you are a guard at a german death camp, or a hijacker in the 9/11 attacks... but this is not the argument... his argument for L4D2 is that racist for having african americans in N.O.... but statisticly... is that not correct? After all, to me, it would seem worse to exclude a minority from a game that has fought for so long and so hard for equal rights... this makes this individual (that wrote the blog post) hypocritical for mentioning this and then calling it racist when they get statisticly correct representation... as for wanting to burn the confederate flag... not that I agree with what it stands for, but if you have the right to express your opinion in a blog post like this (refering to the actual post, not the MaxPC story) then you have no right to supress the ideas of another individual (unless it directly hurts someone else... which a flag isn't)... lastly, going back to the killing of the union soldiers being to hard for him... noone is forcing you to play the game, a game is protected under freedom of speech, so acting as if it shouldnt exist is going against they very ideals that America was founded on, and if you dont like it, then leave... go to Iraq, or Vietnam, or North Korea... im sure they would let you wright blog posts like this too... (not really)
Thank you to anyone who read all of this, and please reply what you think... :)
fullur
August 01, 2009 at 10:24pm
It is easier to side with one side or the other based on your perspective, but that does not make it right or wrong. Right or wrong is a constant standard.
As for your comment about not recalling the Holocaust dooming us to a repeat, you could not be more right. In fact, Hitler is often quoted as saying, "They forgot the Armenians, they will forget the Jews" when questioned about his "Final Solution."
dag1992
July 31, 2009 at 12:23pm
I have to agree. You kill North Koreans in Crysis yet there was never a public outcry.
WindowsXP
July 31, 2009 at 9:12am
Its as if people intentionally try to find things racist, and then raise alot of poo when they find something that "seems" bad.
I love how Valve straightforwardly said they had no clue what this guy was talking about.
I Jedi
July 31, 2009 at 9:02am
Why do the few make the whole look like dumbasses? And why do the few make the rest of us hate them?
JCDenton994
July 31, 2009 at 8:22am
Honestly, L4D IS racist. But Valve ain't the culprit, most of the time its the players. How many time did Louis get the short straw? And had to charge in and lure all the zombies away so that the others could walk through safely....way too often! lol :P
foamcup
July 31, 2009 at 8:15am
Go read the actual blog post, it is literally made of failure. My favorite part is his ignorant opinion on the American Civil war.
neo1piv14
July 31, 2009 at 8:07am
Gotta love Valve's PR team. Valve to people looking for racism where it doesn't exist: "Wtf?" Wouldn't it be a bit more racist to not even acknowledge that black people exist? Just my .02
bingojubes
July 31, 2009 at 8:01am
instead of being angry, just wait until he can freely mod the game. then he can mod it so he can vent his "frustrations" playing the fun game that is Left 4 Dead 2.
DriZzLe
July 31, 2009 at 6:46am
Racist? wow...that is not racist...
...this is racist:
Me Chinese, Me play joke
Me put pee-pee in your Coke...I mean , really, where are the Latino Zombies, the Japanese American Zombies...why does it always have to be about the black man?
dracx619
July 31, 2009 at 7:22am
lol...some people.
just like when they called RE5 racist causeyour shooting africans. cmon, sheevas killin em too! but wait, sheeva was made into a very light skinned blackgirl, thats racists!
so is beyonce, rihanna, and a whole lot of other black girls who have light skin...so they must be racists cause they aint 'black enough' GET OVER IT PEOPLE...lol
jrocknyc
July 31, 2009 at 6:49am
that's actually a valid point... how awesome would an Akihabara-based L4D map be? All those loli-maid-zombies and chubby nerd zombies and yakuza zombies...
Caboose
July 31, 2009 at 3:39pm
OI! Where the hell are all the Canadian zombies eh? They're racist against Canada because they haven't put anything Canada in either L4D or L4D2! It's all anti-Canada eh!
Makes aboot as much sense!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
thepoor
July 31, 2009 at 5:01am
"Those whose lives on the pass will never success"... Learn from the Asian "Japanese, especially".
drainbread
August 01, 2009 at 1:32am
But there is a flaw in your plan, MJ was born a black man and died as a white woman in a mans body!
