ForceUser
Explorer
Hi all,
The goal of the following question is to clarify, in the context of tabletop roleplaying, what may or may not be cultural appropriation. I am particularly interested in the point of view of nonwhite gamers.
Over the past few years, people of color have made it known via social media that some of them find certain common practices to be culturally or racially insensitive, or even racist. These include, for example:
Is it cultural appropriation for a white person to roleplay a nonwhite person, or for an American to roleplay a character based upon, say, a feudal Japanese samurai? How much does (or should) cultural appropriation matter in the theatre of the mind?
I ask for two reasons: One, I am genuinely curious in knowing how nonwhite gamers feel about it. Two, I enjoy DMing campaign settings in non-Eurocentric fantasy lands. In my current campaign, the center of action is an Al-Qadim-like region, and I roleplay viziers, imams, jinn, sheikhs, and sultans, as well as foreigners from European- and Asian-themed lands. In the past, I've DMed a Vietnamese campaign in which all the players and the DM were white and all the characters were Vietnamese. I have attempted Arabic accents, Japanese accents, Vietnamese accents, and so on, based not upon research of those languages but upon what I recalled from American film and TV, ad hoc, to add roleplaying "flavor."
Being entirely white, no one at my table has ever complained or taken offense in all the years we've played together. Likewise, I've never discussed this with them. However, we whites are often racially and culturally insensitive, often without realizing it. I'm trying to be more mindful. So.
Is it possible for roleplaying to be culturally appropriative?
[Note--I know there is potential for divisiveness in even asking, but I wanted to post it here in the family-friendly ENWorld rather than the Circvs, because I am hoping for constructive feedback. Thanks.]
The goal of the following question is to clarify, in the context of tabletop roleplaying, what may or may not be cultural appropriation. I am particularly interested in the point of view of nonwhite gamers.
Over the past few years, people of color have made it known via social media that some of them find certain common practices to be culturally or racially insensitive, or even racist. These include, for example:
- Indian-themed Halloween costumes worn by non-Indians
- Disney's recent Moana snafu
- White people darkening one's skin to cosplay drow or other nonwhite characters
Is it cultural appropriation for a white person to roleplay a nonwhite person, or for an American to roleplay a character based upon, say, a feudal Japanese samurai? How much does (or should) cultural appropriation matter in the theatre of the mind?
I ask for two reasons: One, I am genuinely curious in knowing how nonwhite gamers feel about it. Two, I enjoy DMing campaign settings in non-Eurocentric fantasy lands. In my current campaign, the center of action is an Al-Qadim-like region, and I roleplay viziers, imams, jinn, sheikhs, and sultans, as well as foreigners from European- and Asian-themed lands. In the past, I've DMed a Vietnamese campaign in which all the players and the DM were white and all the characters were Vietnamese. I have attempted Arabic accents, Japanese accents, Vietnamese accents, and so on, based not upon research of those languages but upon what I recalled from American film and TV, ad hoc, to add roleplaying "flavor."
Being entirely white, no one at my table has ever complained or taken offense in all the years we've played together. Likewise, I've never discussed this with them. However, we whites are often racially and culturally insensitive, often without realizing it. I'm trying to be more mindful. So.
Is it possible for roleplaying to be culturally appropriative?
[Note--I know there is potential for divisiveness in even asking, but I wanted to post it here in the family-friendly ENWorld rather than the Circvs, because I am hoping for constructive feedback. Thanks.]