I think the problem here is separating racist imagery from accusing someone or a company of being racist. Croal's comment was purely about the imagery in the game that "dovetailed with classic racist imagery." No where in that quote does he claim that any employee, designer, or the company is racist. 

Also, I don't think you can claim that RE:4 was racist towards the Latino community 1) because Spain isn't a Latin country (as in Latin America), it's part of Europe. 2) Spain was one of the colonizers who went out and raped, pillaged, and decimated the Indigenous people throughout the world. The racist imagery people complain about these days, many times, stems from the mindset of noble colonizers (people of European decent) coming in to civilize subhuman savages (Indigenous people of non-European decent). 

To answer your question, I don't think that either of you are racist. If you don't think that the imagery in Resident Evil 5 is borderline racist, that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion, as is Croal.

Why visit this argument three years later though? What's the relevance for today?

Everything he said was obviously inferred. He also said "Clearly no one black worked on this game." He's making it about race himself.

A quick quip on the spanish part: they did colonize Mexico.

In all, I had such a hard time with this story. I was unhappy with the tone and it was initially very long covering more instances including one I heard this week of someone accusing a game of being racist becuase of accents being used by some characters. After being berated the accuser back-tracked and said he was only kidding.

I'm just sick of all this politically correctness and people like Jesse Jackson who play the race card so willy-nilly. They're taking advantage of people's emotions and it's irresponsible. They should be held accountable for the needless arousal they cause.

I realize picking something that happened years ago wasn't wise but it was the most well known controversy. What bothered me about it the most (which I didn't mention) is the change to the game that had to be made because of his comments. It was a form of censorship. Capcom went back and added a more culturely diverse group of people in the game because they were afraid his reaction would snowball into something bigger.

I am 110% against censorship. I want to see the artist's visions unadulterated by the insecurities of a few.

I need to do something lighthearted like a review of Monster in my Pocket for the NES because this shit was stressful.

Unintentionally racist imagery is still racist. I don't think anyone at Capcom has an axe to grind concerning Africa or black people, but when I played through the game it was uncomfortable when I started fighting spear-wielding natives in grass skirts. Do I condemn the company for that? No, because I know there was no hate behind those artistic choices. That doesn't mean Capcom and other companies should tread carefully when handling racially-charged imagery.

I'm disturbed by your choice of a headline though. Of course racism exists. Whether it exists in Resident Evil 5 is up for debate, but hate and prejudice are very real things.

Matthew, I'm curious, then, what type of imagery would have to be in a game or whatever form of media for you to consider it racist, outside of the use of racial slurs?

First off, from what I've read it looks like you have an issue with black people calling out their concerns on racial issues. And before you blow an emotional gasket, reread what you wrote and what you decided to cite in your arguments. It could be a very valid criticism; I freely point out stuff when I think it's being overdone. But there's an overtone in this I'm not sure you're aware can be read into this that may be distracting to what I think you're actually trying to say, if you're saying anything else. Basic communitation theory: message sent isn't always message received and very often you lose some degree control of the message once it's out through whatever medium is it is sent. Much of said controversy - and likely some of your issues with the racial discussion in the U.S. - stems from that.

Second, intent has little to do with whether something is racist, sexist. Sometimes, a person just doesn't have the knowlege of how something will be perceived. I've had many good nature, great people say racist things to me because they they were from small homogenous towns and didn't know something was actually racist because I was first black person they hadn't encountered via a television or movie screen. Hell, I vividly remember a tongue lashing I received from an Asian friend in high school for saying something I wasn't actually aware was offensive to the Asian community because no one had told me. Intent has a lot more to with whether the person is racist.

Oh, and for the record, there was that cry of racism in RE4 as my understanding goes. Frankly, I completely missed it at the time - partially out of my general not caring about RE as a series - but there was some noise made if what I've been told is correct in Spain and maybe some here but the complaints gained little traction. So that claim, may only seem ridiculous in your head and for the cause of making the point you want to make, but it was pretty real for some. Why it never picked up as a story is another matter altogether.

I've made this comment elsewhere here before, but a lot of the issue with the RE5 trailer did have to feeling that if you weren't initiated to what RE was, there a degree to which the imagery was a little disturbing. I know was RE is and I had an initial tinge of Birth of a Nation/Ethnic Cleansing when I first saw it. It was a jarring image in the context of racial history and also the problem that is is lack of games set in that part of the world for people to be used to it. I also wouldn't expect it to have been a concern from a Japanese company being the particular history that would make someone think about what they released isn't a major part of the history that part of the world. For the love of God, this part of the world was still selling Darkie toothpaste when Disney was starting to realize that maybe the minstrel cartoons might not be so endearing. Back to the intent issue, Capcom isn't a racist company. I don't even think RE5 is a remotely racist game.

I'm with you in not liking censorship. I'm pro-freedom of expression. Hell, I'll defend the KKK's right to hold a march in my city, even though I'll spare no harsh word in voicing my displeasure to ever seeing them step foot anywhere near where I call home. But if you're pro-freedom of the expression, you might want to step down from your high-horse a bit condemning people for expressing their concerns and displeasure with what they saw. You're more than welcome to disagree, but N'Gai, Jesse Jackson and many others have just as much right express their concerns and open that dialogue.

Also, bear in mind Capcom wasn't censored. To my knowledge, the game wasn't supressed and nor was anything taken out. This wasn't Sony and Mircosoft saying we won't let you put this game out on our platforms or the government saying you can't released this here if this doesn't change. Capcom saw the criticism and concerns and changed it because as a business they felt it made their product more viable. Are you going to cry censorship if Nintendo takes the concerns of Zelda's art style because many people don't like it and change it? It's part of the expression. Is it censorship when a character design get changed because fans of series dislike it and company seeks to appease the people to whom they are selling their product? This is standard practice for a company trying to sell a product or advertising.

Was there social pressure on Capcom? Absolutely. But they as a business had every opportunity and right to without changing a thing. No one forced their hand on the matter, they did because they felt it would be more marketable. It seems your beef should be as much with Capcom for acting - I don't know...like a business -  as the people you're villifying.

Its not the games so much are racist in recent times (but back in the GTA:SA/urban street game era in was rampant) its the players online.  Since video games have gone online I constantly get flooded with racists remarks and spam to the point where I dont even use my headset when I play because when you beat someone they first thing they do is call you a racial slur.  I also quit playing WoW because I just got tired of all the racist trolling and just random racism in general.

Racism has a solid foundation in the video gaming community.  I think that racism in game design is actually unintentional for he most part but unless you dont know what you are posting as a background  or story plot device could be construed as racist, you wont think it is.

Like your resident Evil example.  It can be construed as racist if put in the wrong context.

Another thing that lots of people dont seem to realize is that Japanese culture has a lot of inherent racism and games developed in Japan will often carry these attitudes into the game because its a cultural norm to them.