Please Don’t Judge White People by Xbox Live
By: Sean Kernan
Tags: Technology, Self Improvement, Gaming, Games, Humor

I could deal with the name-calling and being called every slur in the book. But I had a harder time with it when there were Black people in the game. It packs a different punch when you drop a slur on someone who is actually a minority.

The moment players sensed the voice of a Black person, they immediately went in on the racial slurs, the n-word, calling people monkeys — nothing was off the table. Anyone reading this who has been on Xbox Live (or the PlayStation Network) is nodding their head right now.

I’m not someone who demands perfect political correctness — but man — if there is a line, gaming lobbies have long since passed it.

“Locker Room Talk” has nothing on a Call of Duty lobby.

It wasn’t confined to teen boys being naughty. There’d be straight up rednecks saying it, which takes it to an entirely different level. My friend Mike “Solo Dolo”, who is Black and played with me, was a really good sport about it. He’d just let it roll off of him. He was also really skilled at the game, which was part of the reason he’d catch slurs.

It’s frustrating though. You can be having a fun game with a lobby full of people from all backgrounds. Everyone is joking around having a good time. Then two adolescent little monsters join the lobby and start shouting into the mic, ruining the whole vibe. It just makes things awkward, like it’s a clan meeting all of a sudden.

Could I have called it out more? Sure. I’ve certainly tried on occasion. But an unsupervised 13-year-old with a mic isn’t the most negotiable human being you’ll deal with. It usually ended with the boy reminding me that he banged my mom the night before. For which I was eternally thankful.

I’m not some perfect angel, sent here to virtue signal. I’ve made some ill-advised, selfish decisions in my life. Though I haven’t done any of the race stuff, I’ve certainly been an asshole and have my share of regrets. Heck, I used to internet troll as a young teen. Perhaps that is what bothers me so much. I see a bit of myself in these kids.

When I was 13-years-old, around 1996, the internet was just starting out. I used to get this thrill from going on internet forums and posting a comment that said, “A new study was released. It demonstrates that men who need glasses are inferior and less desirable to women. My condolences to those affected.”

Then, I’d sit there in glee as angry comments streamed in.

Source: pic by imgflip.

I had this feeling of adultlike power. I could get a reaction out of grown men. There’s definitely a bit of that going on with Xbox Live. Meanwhile, my trolling came full circle as, only a year or two later, I had to get glasses.

I can’t sit here and say these gamer kids/adults aren’t racist. It’s hard to make that case when they are shouting the n-word into a mic every day. I also can’t stop them from doing it. I’ve even tried the, “You’re giving us a bad name, dude.” conversation, before I was christened, yet again, with the honorary homo title.

Most of the Black guys I’ve played with, to their credit, were super cool about it and just muted the people. It was, however, tough to see when it was younger Black kid. They’d get upset at times. It sucks that they’re going into adulthood with this impression of faceless white kids shouting the n-word at them.

It would be nice if these platforms started cracking down more. I get that they have a high volume of games and it might be hard to manage — but it’s enough already. It’s been going on for over ten years. There are ways.

For example, there was a game, Day of Infamy, where the entire lobby could vote to mute a player, and it would suspend their talking privileges for a time. It turned it into a public shaming.

Also, online platforms are starting to get reputation systems, where you get a rating.

Source: Xbox Live.

But the system is flawed. It just puts people with bad ratings into a lobby together. Instead of banning them, they’re given their own cesspool to interpolinate.

One can’t help but wonder if it’s even a good idea to let kids play on these online servers at all.

I do hope these gaming systems step it up. And again, please don’t judge white people by Xbox Live. That place is a stain. It’s to the point that it’s just embarrassing.