ANALYSIS — Racism + Video Games Will Never Go Away. For Companies and Orgs, Make It Plain of No Tolerance.
Racism does not let up. That doesn’t mean that people should not be held accountable for their actions when it comes to it. In the video game world, yet another up-and-coming streamer a part of a well-known organization has “slipped” his tongue publicly. Instead of complaining about something I know that happens far too often, I’ll offer some solutions to how both non-people of color gamers, companies, and organizations can further combat a no tolerance mindset towards these “slip-ups,” whether private or public. (PS: If it’s part of your everyday vocabulary, it is not a slip-up.)
DETAILS
On Saturday, Fortnite player Daniel “Dubs” Walsh was suspended indefinitely by FaZe Clan for using a racist slur on another player’s stream. In a video shown, viewers can hear Dubs plainly saying “f**king n*****” before his friend replied back that he was live streaming. Only then does Dubs react in a “Oh Sh*t!!!” manner, realizing his words were being heard public, and eventually goes quiet. Known for his competitive play-style, Walsh recently signed with FaZe Clan last year and qualified for the Fortnite World Cup in both the solo and duos divisions.
Upon the video surfacing to other social platforms, the FaZe Clan organization would announce in an official statement on Twitter that they would suspend Dubs indefinitely.
“FaZe Clan will not tolerate any form of hate speech,” the statement read. “It is imperative for us to foster an inclusive environment in this community. Due to his actions, we are suspending Dubs indefinitely from representing FaZe Clan while in professional competition, streaming, or posting on his social channels. We are requiring Dubs to go through sensitivity training and proactively requiring all FaZe Clan members to go through sensitivity training immediately.”
DISCUSSION
Let’s not be blind that these types of things happen all the time in the world of video games. Every few weeks (or days even), whether known publicly or not, these racial and/or discriminatory slurs are said online. For few, the severity of the punishment can hit pretty hard based on policies and procedures placed by companies and organizations, but unfortunately, many are not held accountable.
It is commendable that FaZe Clan took swift action into accountability and enforcing their suspension towards Dubs, as well as setting an example through Dubs to enforce an all member’s sensitivity training. Who knows what exactly what the training will exactly involve and how it will be operated, but one has to start from somewhere. As an organization, any type of media or public attention regarding this does not look good at all for the organization as a whole. An hour prior to FaZe’s statement, Dubs did make a public statement on his Twitter in regards to apologizing for his intention of saying the word, but again, that wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t get caught.
Reading up on the news articles surrounding this from ESPN, Reuters, and a few other mainstream media sites, many of them give brief, background details regarding the incident. Of course, as news, they are only obligated to give the information to inform and not so much offer public opinion.
What is the solution to this type of act moving forward? We know that come next week, this will all be swept under the rug, with Dubs and FaZe Clan potentially using this as a comeback marketing plan, which in turn, would re-up on the money, viewers, and other incentives for both parties. This type of cycle is nothing new under the sun, as it’s a crisis management protocol to assist in swaying back the public, but there are decisions that can be made to ensure to the public that this is a serious matter. FaZe Clan is doing standard protocol if enforcing their own policies, but what should other organizations or companies do that don’t necessarily have policies in place for crisis management situations like this?
SOLUTIONS
Let’s break it down. First and foremost: Accountability is the biggest transparency action that organizations and people can do when it comes to this. Specifically in the gaming industry, we need less slaps on the wrist and more direct action. Sure, enforcing a strike system could be the beginning, but what happens when the severity outweighs the policy? Simple: Do not place the money over ethics. Both companies and personnel should reaffirm their commitments towards combating racism as part of their values of diversity and inclusion.
Another solution is of course reviewing and updating direct policies and procedures to have straight forward, direct language. Racism, ableism, and sexism are all a few examples of negative prejudgements with the purpose of maintaining control and power. It’s also just not creating the strict guidelines, but also monitoring and re-enforcing…from the pre-screening, selection, onboarding, present duration, to the conclusion of relationship/contact/etc of personnel.
The final solution: Speak up and speak out, both private and public, no matter your demographic. For Dub’s friend, knowing very well that the actions taken would not only affect Dubs, but also him, would have been commended if he would have immediately cease and desist the expression of the word that was said live. Some tend to do blanket statements in trying to beat around the bush later on in the wrongdoing of such actions. But let’s be real, that will never work in making impact towards the larger problem of racism, especially if apologies and retractions happen after the fact that one is caught.
Bottom line is that racism will never go away, but suppressing it in ways that we can control on our own, both public and especially private, is a direct step in the right direction of making damaging impact towards a “system of advantage based on race.”
