UKTerrorist

Why Can't We Be Colour Blind?

Another day passes as I sit at my machine juggling Counter-Strike, emails and IRC within my taskbar. As I flick through my channels I see what's being said by certain members in the CS community talking about other members who are regarded to be in the more skilled category of CS players. I can't get my head around why they are not allowed to idle in a certain channel. It's not because they have a bad attitude or are unsociable in any way; it's simply because of their skin colour.

Jokes about Black/Indian people (other categories, but these being the main ones) are rampant in everyday life, and it's only natural to shrug them off and not think of them as anything more than a joke. But what happens when you know a person in the channel is the butt of the joke and gets really offended by them? I myself have witnessed this first hand, verbal assaults on a person's skin tone and ways of life, attempting to degrade that person to feeling lower than another person simply for the entertainment of everyone else. This is known to be one of the worst methods of abuse as it can effect a person in the long term.

I was writing an end of year project on bullying and racism in the workplace, and through the research that I did, I came to realise that racism on IRC/Counter-Strike servers does infact walk hand in hand with that of which I had studied for uni. Little do people know that the effects racism has on people can lead to such symptoms as loss of confidence, loss of self-esteem, lack of motivation, aggression, acute anxiety, panic attacks, anger and as far fetched as it sounds, murderous thoughts. They then lead onto depression and in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts.

Naturally as you sit in your chair reading this you are thinking 'Ah, what a load of tripe, it's only a joke'. Well then sit back and think about the situation if it was in reverse. Imagine a 10:1 ratio of people just having a go at you because, for example, you are the best CS player in the world, then at CPL you get a -10/13 score. Sure you would see the funny side of it, but if that joke kept on being thrown in your face day in day out, it would start to get very annoying. Chances are you would try retaliate, thus giving other people more ammunition and reason to keep dragging it up.

I myself enjoyed Counter-Strike because it gave me the experience to talk to people who I don't know what they look like, where they come from and who they are with. Hopping onto a CS server with all your friends or clan, not knowing their skin colour and just playing the game with the person because you enjoy their company. Now I find it harder and harder to enjoy knowing that when a racist joke is being said I have to act quick in trying to stop this from going any further, simply because I don't like seeing my friends being at the end of these sad peoples jokes.

I was reading an article on cricket (of all sports), and when a spectator was asked about ethnic minorities he said "I feel that the sport has improved tremendously with encouraging and allowing more people to join the British clubs", he also compared it to football "I believe that there is a lot of room for improvement and that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Football Association aren’t doing anything about Asians being able to play in the England teams. Racism hasn’t been wiped out of football but the cricket boards act like it has from cricket". Is it possible that these people who are saying these comments don't realise that they are the source of racism in our Counter-Strike and IRC servers? These players just keep plucking away at comments which can infact cause the rest of the community, like sheep, to think the same. I myself don't find comments as such on IRC funny at all. When I see comments like this being said, I simply change my channel for the simple fact that I don't want to be known to be one of these people. If I play a mix with someone on the team who is spurting out racist comments in team talk, I make it my duty not to talk to them.

As a devoted godfather to a half-cast niece, every time I see racist comments being made in a Counter-Strike server it makes me think of her. I sometimes actually wonder what her life will be like in the near future as she walks into school. Will she get shunned by the other kids simply because of her skin colour? What if she experiences the emotions and such that were explained in the paragraph above? No matter what way you look at it- be it your friends, family, online friends or in my case, my god-daughter, it's hard not to worry about how they are feeling.

At one stage in your life you will experience an event that will emotionally scar you and turn you away from that certain aspect of your life. Why be the root of someone's problems when you should really be there to help them. Just because you don't know that person, and they have a tone to their skin unlike yours, doesn't mean you have to try make their life harder. For all you know they could go on to create a cure for the common cold, or be that person that saves your life when your house sets on fire. God created everyone equal. Every man, woman and child has a right to enjoy life to the fullest.

Upon research, I came across an column written by a member of the UKT community who was commenting on exactly what this article is about. Here's a snip:

"A more serious (in my view) showing of immaturity, is the recent over-use of comments such as 'newjew'.
I personally am not religious, an atheist, but I find that the use of these comments, in a harsh and insulting way, is just blatant racism, and I frown upon it. The use of comments such as these in an insulting manner, just shows how immature many people are, and their lack of respect for other people's feelings. Their usual response when I question their use of words, is something along the lines of "Oh, but he’s not a Jew so it doesn’t matter" or "I’m only kidding, jeez".
There isn't much one can do about the use of other peoples language, apart from banning them from a channel in IRC, or banning from a server in Counter-Strike, but I hope that one day they will say 'newjew' or 'newgro' without thinking, and in real life, will get a beating- for lack of a better word."

The fact that the people making these comments are generally 16-25 year olds, and generally say it with people backing them, just goes to show how mature they really are. Their attempts to be funny in the only way they know how is simply bullying. The fact is, if they let a comment like 'jew' or 'nigger' slip, the person on the receiving end of the comment would have to react in a certain way simply to gain back their dignity. You don't know what's going on in that persons head. Depending on the persons feelings, the retaliation can range from being ignored, have a comment said back, a thump in the nose or a savage beating.

On that note I will tell you about my god-daughters father. He moved into this country because he fell in love with my sister. They were going out for 4 years when they decided to have a baby. He is the most honest and loyal person I know. He works a staggering 17 hours a day, Monday through to Saturday as a bouncer. Every night he has to refuse a customer from coming into a club simply because they are in a very bad state. And every night he gets told to go home to his own country. Other nights these people take out a knife on him. Little do these people know, a bouncer has the right to throw them to the ground and have him arrested for a verbal comment. A verbal attack can premeditate a fight, and a bouncers job is to stop that from happening. Instead of doing so, he ignores the comments, and let's the person walk away thinking they are all high and mighty. Little does the person who said those comments know, the people in the queue waiting to get in think he's a muppet for even suggesting a comment as such to the bouncer. I'm 99% sure this is the same in the Counter-Strike community. I know this is how I think when I see a racist comment being made. Sure someone may think they are funny, and the poster gets fuel to continue, saying these comments for other people's reactions. Never the less, I'm sure the majority of the community think that this person is very sad, as the people humouring him have relations or friends that are coloured, but refuse to say so.

Your views on others and ways of expressing them amongst people should always be how you want yourself to be treated. If you want a fair treatment, give what you want to get. I'm not saying that you have to go and change your lifestyle or ways of life - that's your own choice. At least try keep your views on ones skin colour to yourself, because in the long run, the only person that you are making a fool of is you.