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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marandahir" data-source="post: 8034561" data-attributes="member: 6803643">The problem is that all humanoids are stand-ins for real-world humans, in some form or another. There's only so much rubber you can apply to the forehead to disguise the human underneath (and the human roleplaying the character). Some humanoids are treated like always*-chaotic-evil monsters, such as Orcs or Dark Elves, and unfortunately, the tropes associated with what characteristics they've been given are drawn from centuries of racist caricatures made by white Europeans and Americans about people that look "other" than the designated insular audience. D&D, as a hobby that emerged in the 70s & 80s predominantly among white male Americans and Canadians, bears a history of those racist caricatures, whether purposeful or simply due to a lack of awareness of the insidious tropes they (and we) leaned into at times because they were in the stories they (and we) grew up with. Checking privileges, countering racism and discrimination, these are not one and done tasks. They're ongoing jobs of each and every one of us. We've let these tropes fester in our hobby for too long, and now as the hobby finally explodes into more mainstream and diverse audiences, we're actually being held to account for them.These insipid tropes do not exist in a vacuum either. WotC and other game development studios can have the best of intentions, but if the leadership is predominantly white and male and cis and hetero, there's a self-perpetuating problem of insular bias within the company. This begets caustic work environments and you get messy issues like the Orion news. The answer is not to puff up and defend the hobby and the company, the answer is to continue holding ourselves, the content we create and consume, and the people who make that content (that we purchase from) to account. We can force change in corporate culture, but it takes time, effort, and ongoing attention to the issue at hand. If we let up because it's working, or because we're getting small victories, then it's easy for the movement to peter out.*Yes, I know there are exceptions. But the Drizzts and Thralls of the world prove the rule.</blockquote>

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