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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 8369213" data-attributes="member: 1210">This gets at the heart of what I feel is often missed in these discussions vis-a-vis racism being depicted through nonhuman races. They're not human. I know, we get the &quot;humans with pointed ears&quot; argument trotted out all the time when people argue that it's impossible to rp a nonhuman... to which I call BS. Sure, your roleplaying will come from a human place, since we're all human, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend to be Something Else. And sometimes you can do a fine job of it. I'm sure we have all read at least one alien viewpoint character who came across as profoundly nonhuman, even though it was written by a human. Likewise, I've seen plenty of actors portray things that weren't human and do it well. So yeah, I find that argument suspect. Personally, I prefer the opposite approach to dealing with the racist elements in the game from what has been taken over the last couple of years: Lean into the inhumanity of nonhumans, not away from it. Don't make other races more human-like; make them more alien. Don't try to wipe out what makes (f'rex) a kobold not-like-a-human; accentuate it. You wouldn't call it racist if I were to say that humans are smarter than bees, or that wasps are foul-tempered and aggressive.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 8369213, member: 1210"] This gets at the heart of what I feel is often missed in these discussions vis-a-vis racism being depicted through nonhuman races. [I]They're not human. [/I]I know, we get the "humans with pointed ears" argument trotted out all the time when people argue that it's impossible to rp a nonhuman... to which I call BS. Sure, your roleplaying will come from a human place, since we're all human, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend to be Something Else. And sometimes you can do a fine job of it. I'm sure we have all read at least one alien viewpoint character who came across as profoundly nonhuman, even though it was written by a human. Likewise, I've seen plenty of actors portray things that weren't human and do it well. So yeah, I find that argument suspect. Personally, I prefer the opposite approach to dealing with the racist elements in the game from what has been taken over the last couple of years: Lean into the inhumanity of nonhumans, not away from it. Don't make other races more human-like; make them more alien. Don't try to wipe out what makes (f'rex) a kobold not-like-a-human; accentuate it. You wouldn't call it racist if I were to say that humans are smarter than bees, or that wasps are foul-tempered and aggressive. [/QUOTE]

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