SO MUCH THIS.

Nowhere near as good as this story, but I once had a patron wanting books about Greek mythology, “you know, the ones about Jesus.”

No.

Why is this always the knee-jerk response when somebody points out issues of race, gender, or culture in video games, but when a complaint is made about a specific game’s mechanics being faulty or a theme being overused as a whole (re: the “realistic military shooter”), nobody really responds with the “don’t like it,…

I really appreciate this article, and I know my wife will. She’s Black, and a gamer, and while she does often make characters that resemble her as far as skin tone goes, she always picks long, flowing hair because it’s the closest thing available to her full, thick natural hair.

Am I the only one that read Parkes' update and couldn't help but think that the UN is pretty much admitting to exercising confirmation bias? From her tone, it just feels like they are skeptical over the research in favor of video games and are putting more stock into the anti-game "research."

I would have liked to have finished Secret Wars first, true, but the way I look at it is now we get to go back and see how things ended up the way they are. Kind of like watching Star Wars in the Machete order (IV, V, II, III, VI).

I second that notion. And third it.

White people have a “me too” syndrome.

Not literally oppressed; no one gathered us up into concentration camps, we were in full possession of our civil rights, and the laws applied equally to us.

Agreed. Unfortunately, some bullies made that change in a shorter span of time, and the change feels less genuine. Thankfully, you describe most people, bully or otherwise.

Good point. I think they have lost that meaning, but you are right to point what I overlooked, that they did have meaning when they were used as insults.

While I know that trolls exist and I agree they certainly junk the place up, I have to say that I can understand some of the nerd rage to an extent (let me reiterate: TO AN EXTENT).

The South seceded (or tried to) from the rest of the country, so that’s one way of looking at Southern independence. You can also say that people see the flag as a symbol of rugged individuality and a rugged, non conformist attitude.

I don’t think we have to worry about that. Southern literature is a hefty chunk of the literary canon; you can’t get an English degree without a class devoted entirely to it. And our culinary culture is pretty much to thank for American cuisine—even if you can’the get sweet tea North of Virginia. :-)

What I was getting at was that most Southerners claim to wave it in the name of Southern independence and not white supremacy. However, because the Confederacy was pro-slavery and it is associated and thd flag was their flag (or at least a flag associated with them), it’s forever married to slavery, at least…

It’s been a long-standing issue ever since the end of the Civil War, really. The KKK used it as a symbol, and it has long been associated with outright racist groups. As those groups grew smaller and/or became less overtly violent, it steadily turned into a symbol of Southern independence and individualtiy. However,…

TOO SOON.

Gladly.

One thing we often forget is that game development has gotten more expensive over time, yet the price of the games themselves has been holding pretty stable at $50-60 for a new release for about 15 years now. They’re about the only form of entertainment media that can say that, with the price of books and movie…