A couple of centuries of social attribution?

And it's no more correct in that situation than it is here.

Fair enough. Then why define her as one and not the other? Why only tell half the story? Maybe because that's the only half that supports Evan's point?

Thank you for your opinion, but we're having an actual discussion here. Unless you have something relevant to add, please be quiet and let the grown-ups talk.

So how does that make her black, as opposed to white? Or mixed?

So if she does not define herself as black in the game, what gives Evan the right to define her so?

Well, to be fair, what exactly makes her black, rather than white?

But if the game doesn't define her race, then she is no different than Jade from BG&E, which entirely destroys the point he's trying to make.

Instead, all these characteristics some of you are talking about here are more defined by one's social class.

It would have been accurate, anyway.

No, the problem is that Evan repeatedly defines this woman as black, when in fact she is just as equally white. So why does blackness take precedence? Is it because that's how our culture normally defines people? If so, does that make it a valid reason?

But if we remove the article mentioning her as black specifically, the point of the article still stands...that the game doesn't make a huge issue out of it, that it doesn't define who she is...

That's disappointing. I was hoping Evan's perspective on race was a bit more progressive than that, and I was also hoping that he was more dedicated to journalistic due dilligence.

There is, I think, when someone trying to make the point that we should work towards being a post-racial society begins to define people arbitrarily by race, especially when the arbitrary labels do not even fit properly. Evan has decided Nilin is black, even though she is equally white.

I think the real issue here is why we are defining this character as black; or rather, why Evan is. She's no more black than she is white (if the other commenters are correct about her black/white parentage) so why does Evan define her as a black character? Why does he define her race at all?

While Nilin may be technically just as "white" as she as black, society's rules have long dictated otherwise

Yes. Having not played the game yet, it's becoming increasingly clear that Evan is the problem here, not the game developers.

I'm not the one saying she's "black." If she's of mixed race, then say she's of mixed race. Or better yet, don't make a point of mentioning her ethnicity at all if it's not relevant.

No, I'm not a white guy? How did you come to that particular conclusion?

Then the question is why does Evan refer to her as "black?"