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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jfdlsjfd" data-source="post: 8855717" data-attributes="member: 42856">From a company's point of views, their goal is to maximize profit. By removing things, they'll not lose any racist dollar (because I really doubt KKK members or Nazi supporters would stop buying D&D products because of a removal of, say, dark elves from a setting) but they are confronted with a situation where a group of people actively say they don't want to see X in their game (and they might, indeed, stop buying). Therefore, their goal becomes to remove X, even if X isn't extremely logical. What's driving the change isn't the soundness of any argument but its existence and the feeling of their customers.The argument is that "Real-life racists used "they are cursed by an evil god to be evil like him and serve his evil ways" to explain why they could enslave and murder a minority, so this argument can't be used in fiction without replicating real life racist trope, especially as "always evil" is a justification, in game, to kill members of this race". I have never encountered this argument in real life. Honestly, I thought most racist arguments emerged in Europe and the US in the 19th century, where the concept of evil god wasn't strong (monotheism was strong). But, it doesn't matter. If people think it, they'll ask for the removal of the explanation, and it makes sense to remove them. I don't think there will be many "evil god cursing people" supporters.Pointing out that the argument used by real-life racist was that "MY GOD has cursed THEM to be evil/soulless/generally inferior so I am justified in enslaving them and killing them" is a different argument (and even more offensive and obnoxious for reasons that this board forbids to explain) might be true, but I don't think it matters from WotC point of view to implement change based on their target audience reaction.</blockquote>

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