Re: [CAR-PGa] What Does This Group Stand For?


By Car
Here's a summary of every argument against any of the topics that have been raised about a diverse, welcoming group in gaming:
  • "There are more important things to argue about": That discussing things like nuance, representation, and how we phrase things is unimportant and not worthy of discussion, which has the chilling effect of trying to squash the discussion in the first place.
  • "No you're the racist!": That by bringing up the topic, you are anti-white people and therefore anyone bringing it up is actually a racist.
  • "But what about the vikings?": If we're concerned about how other cultures are portrayed, "why doesn't anyone care about the vikings?" -- ignoring, of course, that not all cultures are equal or dominant. 
  • "This isn't an issue because I game with diverse people/I'm a diverse gamer.": Minimizes the discussion by using one data point to make an argument that since the gamer in question doesn't experience it, it's not an issue.
  • "Everyone is equal, so why are you being so racist?" Similar to "no you're the racist!" this argument ignores all of human history and argues that since everyone should be treated equally, the discussions are pointless.
  • "Keep real life politics out of my fantasy!" By being inclusive, you are part of the "PC police" and therefore attempting to control thought, or ruin everyone else's game, and the slippery slope of even DISCUSSING a more inclusive environment is the beginning of the end for all gamers and must be resisted strenuously.
The moderator who runs the site has received death threats for even hosting the conversation.  Here's a sample: https://twitter.com/Morrus/status/978060591658086400

Both threads were closed for a combination of any of the above points.


On Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 1:07:00 PM UTC-4, Ted Skirvin wrote:



I don't typically frequent Enworld. Can you give a brief rundown on why the first two threads were shut down?



Ted



On Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 12:33:02 PM EDT, Mike "Talien" Tresca <miket...@gmail.com> wrote:


Hi All,

What does this group stand for?  I'm curious as to our mission statement.  I went looking for it, but it looks like the existing web site is down: http://www.car-pga.org

Here's why I ask:  My understanding is the CAR-PGA was dedicated to positively engaging with non-gamers about gaming.  Back when it was formed (before my time), I believe the primary issue was the Satanic Panic and overall ignorance about RPGs. 

I wish I could say those days are over, but there is now a line of thinking that is aggressively divisive and reacts with unbridled hostility to anyone questioning the status quo.  It started with Gamer Gate, but let there be no doubt that it affects every aspect of gaming, including tabletop RPGs. D&D's surging popularity means our biggest problem is no longer ignorance about the game, it's the gaming population's own prejudices and biases. 

I think a group like the CAR-PGA should be dedicated to making role-playing as welcoming as possible for everyone -- and yes, that includes diverse voices and diverse topics.  Are we all older white guys?  Has there been any effort to reach out to more diverse gaming voices? How do we recruit new members?

And relatedly, what are we doing to advance RPGs as a group?  After seeing Black Panther, I've been thinking about otherism, and that led me to write two other articles about stereotypes that early D&D reflected -- phrases like "orientalism," or lumping all African nations into one fantasy region, or even whether or not we should be still classifying sentient humanoids as "races" in D&D. The first two threads were shut down, the most recent is still going: 
I'm not sharing these threads to show my work, but rather a data points about the state of the RPG audience (at least, online) today as reflected in the comments.  I encourage you to read as much as you can tolerate.  You will see some amazingly thought out, really interesting points...and you may also despair for the future of our hobby.  

It seems to me that this group should be the champion of this kind of dialogue, even if you don't necessarily agree that things should change -- we should at least be asking the questions. I have no doubt you are all doing excellent work in personally advancing RPGs.  But as an organization, I'm concerned about this group's future.  

I welcome answers from prospective board members to the above questions. 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CAR-PGa: The Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to car-pga+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to car...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/car-pga.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CAR-PGa: The Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to car-pga+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to car-pga@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/car-pga.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Category: 0 comments

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)