Over the past day, I've seen #GamersAreGood pop up on Twitter and it's predictably been met with a polarized response. Why? In addition to the obvious parallels with reflexive #NotAllCops campaigns, there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of why gaming culture has increasingly been scrutinized over the last few years and what the appropriate response should be from people who enjoy the hobby. Before we get into it though, there are a few key points that need emphasizing:
To be clear, this isn't meant to create a direct through line from Gamers --> GamerGate --> Steve Bannon --> White Supremacy. Gaming is NOT fundamentally tied to white supremacy and I really hope no one walks away thinking that's the point of this post. However, white supremacists, misogynists, and other bigots have covertly used gaming as a platform for spreading hate and recruiting fellow hatemongers for years. This coopting of gaming as social interaction only intensified with the rise of social media and the political polarization that is currently gripping the globe. But increased social media use has had a major drawback in that that most targeted hate campaigns are easily proven and put on display for the rest of the internet to see. This brings us back to the parallels with another major movement in our midst: Black Lives Matter.
Much like with BLM, social media has allowed stories of abuse to be disseminated and verified to a large degree. It's hard to deny that there's a systemic problem with how law enforcement operates when they are routinely recorded brutalizing compliant victims, shooting unarmed suspects, or even planting evidence at crime scenes. The same goes for the death threats and doxxing efforts that GamerGate loves to employ. So why is there so much push back? Why the fervent denial? It is undoubtedly, at least in part, due to people's personal attachment to gaming, just as people who identify with the military or law enforcement are often the loudest defenders of the authoritarian status quo. This denial manifests as an appeal to a greater majority of "good" examples that attempt to invalidate legitimate criticism.
Hence we get #GamersAreGood and #NotAllCops and #BlueLivesMatter
Just as we see with the attempted silencing of the BLM movement, the appeal to the upstanding majority of gamers who only want to enjoy their beloved hobby is a denial that any problem exists. That's the fundamental flaw with these pushback campaigns. The point is NOT that some or even most gamers aren't completely bigoted assholes. This should go without saying and you should not need to approach the issues plaguing the overarching community of gamers as if it is a personal attack. We all know there are good people that play games, just as there are moral and upstanding police officers who just want to do their job.
THAT'S NOT THE POINT. STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT THE POINT.
The point is admitting there IS a problem. The point is coming to grips with a cancer that is slowly killing our communities. Problems cannot be actively fixed without first acknowledging a problem exists. Disease cannot be cured without first identifying the underlying cause. To believe otherwise is to live in a state of denial and a passive form of consent for the evil that people commit under the cover of willful ignorance. The first step we all must take is recognizing what shared history brought us to this point and where that point is. No, not all gamers are bad, but we already knew that. Do not use that mantra to underhandedly assert that all gamers are good. We are not all good, and it's about time we as a collective acknowledge that fact. Only then can we begin to actually look for solutions for the hate that is afflicting us.
Thanks for reading my rant :-)
- Saying there is a problem with gaming culture is NOT a personal attack against you
- NO ONE is saying ALL gamers are universally evil
- NO ONE is saying gaming predisposes someone to moral malfeasance
- Your positive gaming experiences and interactions are valid no matter what, but individual anecdotes are NOT an adequate counterpoint to a systemic issue
- No, this is NOT about ethics in gaming journalism
To be clear, this isn't meant to create a direct through line from Gamers --> GamerGate --> Steve Bannon --> White Supremacy. Gaming is NOT fundamentally tied to white supremacy and I really hope no one walks away thinking that's the point of this post. However, white supremacists, misogynists, and other bigots have covertly used gaming as a platform for spreading hate and recruiting fellow hatemongers for years. This coopting of gaming as social interaction only intensified with the rise of social media and the political polarization that is currently gripping the globe. But increased social media use has had a major drawback in that that most targeted hate campaigns are easily proven and put on display for the rest of the internet to see. This brings us back to the parallels with another major movement in our midst: Black Lives Matter.
Much like with BLM, social media has allowed stories of abuse to be disseminated and verified to a large degree. It's hard to deny that there's a systemic problem with how law enforcement operates when they are routinely recorded brutalizing compliant victims, shooting unarmed suspects, or even planting evidence at crime scenes. The same goes for the death threats and doxxing efforts that GamerGate loves to employ. So why is there so much push back? Why the fervent denial? It is undoubtedly, at least in part, due to people's personal attachment to gaming, just as people who identify with the military or law enforcement are often the loudest defenders of the authoritarian status quo. This denial manifests as an appeal to a greater majority of "good" examples that attempt to invalidate legitimate criticism.
Hence we get #GamersAreGood and #NotAllCops and #BlueLivesMatter
Just as we see with the attempted silencing of the BLM movement, the appeal to the upstanding majority of gamers who only want to enjoy their beloved hobby is a denial that any problem exists. That's the fundamental flaw with these pushback campaigns. The point is NOT that some or even most gamers aren't completely bigoted assholes. This should go without saying and you should not need to approach the issues plaguing the overarching community of gamers as if it is a personal attack. We all know there are good people that play games, just as there are moral and upstanding police officers who just want to do their job.
THAT'S NOT THE POINT. STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT THE POINT.
The point is admitting there IS a problem. The point is coming to grips with a cancer that is slowly killing our communities. Problems cannot be actively fixed without first acknowledging a problem exists. Disease cannot be cured without first identifying the underlying cause. To believe otherwise is to live in a state of denial and a passive form of consent for the evil that people commit under the cover of willful ignorance. The first step we all must take is recognizing what shared history brought us to this point and where that point is. No, not all gamers are bad, but we already knew that. Do not use that mantra to underhandedly assert that all gamers are good. We are not all good, and it's about time we as a collective acknowledge that fact. Only then can we begin to actually look for solutions for the hate that is afflicting us.
Thanks for reading my rant :-)
