funny or racist?

[Limejello]

hi I'm writing a sci fi rpg called operator which you may have read about above and I made a joke at one point and it occurs to me that it might be offensive.  All though I am trying to write an edgy rpg it worries me that some people may not have a sense of humor...what do you think about this exerpt?

Race and Age can be altered at will and have become fashion statements.  We've all heard the term wigger from the days when white people used to pretend to be black.  Well now through the miracles of gene therapy they can actually become black!

[migo]

I'd say it brings some interesting philosophical questions in there. One of the issues with racism is that "race" is an inalterable characteristic. It completely changes the situation if it isn't constant.

My take is leave it and not worry about people being offended. It has too many interesting implications and options for discussion to accomodate the PC crowd.

[Limejello]

cool thanks.

[ODDin]

This is not racist at all. What you're talking about is a technology that was developed in the future. You're not giving an opinion about it. For instance, if you were to say, "in the future the government of Planet Alpha Centauri has decided to kill all the black people", it doesn't make you racist. It makes the guys in Alpha Centauri racist, but you're not saying you agree with them.
As for the joke about people becoming black - this is really as innocent as it gets. People who get offended by that are probably racists themselves, but don't want to show it and try very hard to find racist comments everywhere they can.

[Limejello]

well actually I was talking about the joke rather than the technology but still thanks for your support, I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

[Chris_Chinn]

Hi,

If you're concerned about the content of your game in terms of racism, probably the best thing to do is go ask around in communities that deal specifically with anti-racism.  There's also plenty of books on the topic as well.  The problem a lot of people have is that whether something is or isn't racist has to be considered in it's context- not just by itself.

That aside, if you want to include possible setting considerations about what happens when people can change their appearance at will, you'll especially want to look into internalized racism, the white beauty standard, etc. as worthwhile research topics.

Chris

[Parthenia]

I think it's an interesting premise, but "wigger" is a weak example. It needs more context and maybe contrast. There are so many others you could use, depending on whether it's fashionable to look like the dominant "race" or if there is a dominant "race" in the first place. There's a difference in intention between a white person adopting what he perceives as the mannerisms of a black person (which aren't genetic but cultural) and a black person straightening her hair or bleaching her skin because she believes that white features are more attractive than her own. Then one begs the question why do people change their features on a genetic level, especially given that "race" isn't genetic? Race is a social construction, and has no genetic basis. In the world of your rpg, have they been found genetic proof that race exists? Now that's pretty intruiging and edgy.

Julia

[Callan S.]

Then one begs the question why do people change their features on a genetic level, especially given that "race" isn't genetic? Race is a social construction, and has no genetic basis. In the world of your rpg, have they been found genetic proof that race exists? Now that's pretty intruiging and edgy.

More fun if it's a trend to genetically change into another race, but people wonder why they don't quite feel like the race they changed into. They think 'hey, it's at a genetic level, that's enough...but it doesn't really feel enough'. Rather than a flaw in the setting, it'd be a fun issue to hack into.

[Justin Nichol - BFG]

Best not to use the term wigger in game, because it actually pisses quite a few people off including black people. I would say though that the idea of changing your race is not racist, and that it reminds me of Elf and Ork posers in Shadowrun where people have plastic surgery to look like Elves because it's fashionable.

[migo]

What's another example that gets the point across as succinctly as wigger though?

[Justin Nichol - BFG]

Well if you're going for succinct sure. If you're going for maturity or sensitivity, well thats another question. Like I said, drawing a correlation with people wanting to be a member of another race and it currently being possible is good cyberpunk theme, but I think the wigger comment might be a little subpar as far as maturity and not really accurate either.

[contracycle]

What's another example that gets the point across as succinctly as wigger though?

What IS the point?  As far as I am concerned, to call someone a wigger is to call them a nigger.  It is an extremely racist sentiment, usually found among "whiny whites" who treat all attempts to address racism as some sort of conspiracy.

Again, as has been asked above, what precisely is the point here?  To discuss melanin frequency in the skin?  Thats been done regularly, since at least William Gibsons sculpted tans.  Or is to project a racist sentiment from the present into the future?

[wreckage]

"a black person straightening her hair or bleaching her skin because she believes that white features are more attractive than her own."

That makes me sad just thinking about it.

Regarding race and genetics: there is more variability within a "race" than between "races". That said, the traits that people visually cue to "race" would be genetic; moreover the traits that people mentally assign to race would be genetic. Just think: what if every pale teenager on earth could look like he IMAGINES his rapper hero to look??? The mind boggles.

Casual and simple genetic alteration would be scary. Remember back, if you read your history, how it used to be fashionable to be "consumptive" ie, to look like you'd had tuberculosis? How badly would people **** themselves up to be pretty? Consider cultures where necks are hyperextended, feet were broken, and so on.... now imagine giving humans the keys to their genetic cage as far as appearances are concerned. What if  highly patriarchal society could engineer women with instinctive bonding or inbuilt emotional dependency like some birds and mammals have?

Ah, sorry, I'm now totally OT

[migo]

What's another example that gets the point across as succinctly as wigger though?

What IS the point?  As far as I am concerned, to call someone a wigger is to call them a nigger.  It is an extremely racist sentiment, usually found among "whiny whites" who treat all attempts to address racism as some sort of conspiracy.

What definition of racist are we working with? A wigger is a white person who wants to behave like the type of black person who freely refers to himself as a nigger (nigga', whatever). Nigger has lost its value as an extremely negative term due to so many blacks calling each other niggers.

Again, as has been asked above, what precisely is the point here?  To discuss melanin frequency in the skin?  Thats been done regularly, since at least William Gibsons sculpted tans.  Or is to project a racist sentiment from the present into the future?

Everyone knows what a wigger is. The example shows taking being a wigger one step further.

[Bossy]

Definitely not offensive... for me.

One thing to remember about offensive messages is that it depends on who delivers it and how, not just the contents. Yours didn't feel like it but then, we don't have the whole book. It would be offensive if you were repeating this kind of joke again and again (in that case twice would be too much),

Moreover you're writing an RPG setting which is a piece of fiction, so you're fully entitled to the right of distanciation. So as long as you keep a hint that you're an author who's creating an universe, fictional characters can express opininion and messages that you do not necessarily agree. So you could deliver an even more offensive and get less reaction just because the context of the book and because the reader knows it is a fiction.