Whenever non-gamers get a small whiff of gaming they nitpick on what they can find to exacerbate the problem by broadcasting it throughout the social media universe, which is exactly what happened when Democratic Congressman Lou Correa took aim at World of Warcraft.
On October 31st, 2019 Correa posted the following tweet online.
.@Blizzard_Ent—I was looking forward to welcoming you to Anaheim for your 13th #BlizzCon.
Instead, I find myself asking how this can exist in one of your games.
The @FBI knows online radicalization is real. I hope you agree & will remedy this immediately. Racism isn’t a game. pic.twitter.com/jAEgk9rw02
— Rep. Lou Correa (@RepLouCorrea) October 31, 2019
The news managed to find its way into the gutter of Vice’s news feed, and it became a story where the news outlet used the opportunity to lambaste gaming even more than they usually do.
Ben Makuch’s article was published on November 6th, 2019, and is filled with all sorts of charged language, where Makuch writes…
“The player, who runs a racist, anti-semitic guild called “Enclave” had his avatar dressed up in white robes and a white hood—an obvious allusion to the garb of the Klu Klux Klan—with two avatars appearing as slaves beside him (one named “Jesse Jackson,” referring to the civil rights leader.) The player commented “next stop Charlottesville” in a screenshot taken by a staffer and posted by Correa, referring to the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville where a white nationalist terrorist killed an anti-racist protester with his car during the protest.
“Correa, who has taken a strong stance against recent white supremacist terrorism in the United States and has demanded that law enforcement look at the issue more closely, said the racist costume contest was just another example of radicalization in gaming.”
The guild in question where the photo originates from is called The Enclave, which has been around since 1998, according to Vice. They’re a politically incorrect guild that love edgy jokes and taking the filter off of communication, which means they’re true free speech advocates.
Western values such as free speech are things that Democrats hate, and thus, Correa penned an e-mail that attacked the gaming industry for allowing gamers to be creative and to engage in the kind of politically incorrect humor that the Left want to censor.
Correa wrote…
“The user-generated content found in World of Warcraft is just one example of how far-right extremists are infiltrating online platforms and video games. By allowing white supremacists refuge, companies inadvertently create safe harbors that extremists can leverage to recruit and indoctrinate other people while also degrading the enjoyment of their own fans,” […]
“I call on the industry to do better at managing and moderating their communities. Your players and fans want to play your games, not fight with white supremacists. Kick the bad actors out—for everyone’s sake,”
So who then is a “white supremacist”? Anyone who makes an edgy joke? Anyone who dresses their character in a white robe? Anyone who takes pot shots at POCs?
Who gets to determine who runs afoul of the Left’s race-laced banhammer?
Even Vice had to note that the guild itself isn’t built on blatantly being racist, writing…
“Though the guild is not blatantly racist in its recruiting posts, its racism has been well-known in the community for at least nine years.”
So then why the hoopla?
It’s all chest-puffing and smoke blaring from the typical harangue hecklers who foist their screeds onto the cultural plates of others and forces everyone to eat it.
The Vice article rounds out by noting that so far The Enclave hasn’t been punished, and they’re still around, but given Blizzard’s penchant for adopting Social Justice orthodoxy, don’t be surprised if the guild (or the guild leader) ends up getting banned.
(Thanks for the news tip dk max and QuickShooterMK2)
