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Demihumans of Color and the Thermian Argument
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<blockquote data-quote="Professor Murder" data-source="post: 8349862" data-attributes="member: 6991813"><p>Woof.</p><p>It's a heavy topic. Most "Demihumans" in rpgs spring from Tolkien. As a result, most times, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings and Gnomes are pastiches of various European cultural tropes. As a result, they tend to be depicted as white. Gaming has long laboured under the spectre of being a "white man only" hobby. As a result, the natural inertia is to reinforce the white-centered narrative of how the humans and near human races are depicted. As such, there will be this persisting tendency to if not defend than to give a pass to the overwhelming whiteness of the setting. It is something the hobby will struggle to move past. Be mindful of when you find yourself siding with scoundrels. When you throw up your hands and say "I don't understand why anyone needs to play a black halfling," perhaps you are not doing so because you want to keep some people out of our hobby, but understand that: A) Said people may reasonable view it as you do not want to make space for them and B) Bigots rightly view your indifference as a win. </p><p></p><p>"But Prof! Are you saying I am being racist?"</p><p></p><p>Who knows. But you aren't doing any favors to those fighting racism in our hobby.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Professor Murder, post: 8349862, member: 6991813"] Woof. It's a heavy topic. Most "Demihumans" in rpgs spring from Tolkien. As a result, most times, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings and Gnomes are pastiches of various European cultural tropes. As a result, they tend to be depicted as white. Gaming has long laboured under the spectre of being a "white man only" hobby. As a result, the natural inertia is to reinforce the white-centered narrative of how the humans and near human races are depicted. As such, there will be this persisting tendency to if not defend than to give a pass to the overwhelming whiteness of the setting. It is something the hobby will struggle to move past. Be mindful of when you find yourself siding with scoundrels. When you throw up your hands and say "I don't understand why anyone needs to play a black halfling," perhaps you are not doing so because you want to keep some people out of our hobby, but understand that: A) Said people may reasonable view it as you do not want to make space for them and B) Bigots rightly view your indifference as a win. "But Prof! Are you saying I am being racist?" Who knows. But you aren't doing any favors to those fighting racism in our hobby. [/QUOTE]
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