Trust me, dude. For some odd reason, it just won’t get through some people’s heads. It’s a waste of time with some folks. The amount of ignorance you can find in this thread alone could possibly shock you. Racism as well. And this is the Overwatch forums of all places.
If you’re so correct and everyone else who challenges you are ignorant then please teach us and counter the points I raised. Surely you can do that if your protestations aren’t just false accusations of racism and strawmanning.
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The entire thread is full of explanation as to why Ana and Pharah are Arabic and not black. Anyone coming in continuously making that argument in that smarmy manner people around here like to do doesn’t want to learn; they want to crap on black folks.
Just as well, black people aren’t obligated to be at the beck and call of non-black folks to educate them when they try to start something. We stopped working for free awhile ago.
If you want to learn, read. Stop expecting us to do everything for you, much less with a patient smile.
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Definition three. It is racism, plain and simple. If it’s okay for white people, it should be okay for black people. Anyone who disagrees is being racist. Period.
Therefore if it’s okay for a white person to say they want representation in their games, it is okay for a black person to say the same exact thing.
It is your problem when you can’t differentiate between someone talking about the people who buy the games and company policies, even when the company isn’t even mentioned once.
But let me say two things about this ridiculous statement anyway
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Different games will target different audiences. White dudes are not the target demo of every game
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You don’t need an all white cast to get most people, including most white people, to buy a game or watch a movie. If the game is really fun and well made, most people will play it.
No, I said that someone doing a specific thing was racist. Discriminating against someone on the basis of race, which is a clear cut definition at it’s most basic.
This has nothing to do with my post. But by the logic you posted above this should be okay it’s just catering to a demographic, right?
I personally don’t think that way and don’t like it, but I also don’t have a problem with representation either.
This isn’t the Diablo forum. Nor is it the topic of the thread. Why should I be talking about an offtopic thing in the forum of a different game? If I were there, I would tell them not whitewash that character.
It isn’t censorship to include black people in video games.
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Another false cry to racism. Are you incapable of arguing my points and not attacking my character? You just make yourself look bad. You won’t try to prove me wrong though will you? It’s not that you won’t because of some ridiculous dreamt up nouveau-slave scenario you just described. It’s because you can’t. Because you’re wrong but you’re too proud to say so and have to resort to crying “racism!”. It’s pathetic.
As for the reading, any particular books I should be reading to enlighten myself on the apparent racial homogenity of Middle Eastern and black people? If you’re telling me to read I assume you are the very font of knowledge and would be able to point me in the right direction. Except that whole idea smacks of racism a bit don’t you think? At the very least extreme ignorance.
Or perhaps I don’t want to learn from ignorant, arrogant, bullying little SJWs. Maybe you should sit down and listen to someone who can actually use their grey matter. Try prying yourself away from your ideology long enough to see what is straight in front of your eyes.
As for the smarmy comment. EnvoyOfPower is reaping what he’s sown.
Nowhere in the post did I call you racist.
You’re obviously here to argue with black people though, then you get mad when they don’t kiss you where the sun don’t shine after the fact. That’s what you’ve done the last couple of posts.
Read the thread, or continue getting mad that no one here is trying to spoonfeed you information just because you demand it like a petulant child.
You know, there is a saying to paraphrase that goes a little something like…
“If you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, only the hit dog hollers.”
I think there may be some hit dogs in this thread. I’m not gonna name names because I’m trying not to label any particular person anything in here, but it seems like an appropriate saying right now.
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Michael Chu and Jeff both said at one time one is coming. I think in this video Chu says yes again.
at 44:16
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Sadly, I think this game has WAY bigger problems to prioritize than appealing to extreme small minority who probably don’t even play the game.
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You know, Venus…? You’re quickly becoming 1 of my favorite posters on these forums. Always a well-thought post from you. And for that, I thank you.
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Why, thank you. I appreciate it.
You’re welcome, boss. It’s just sometimes you see something, and you gotta take a moment and admire and compliment. Even if you don’t truly know the person behind it. You gotta acknowledge solid work when you see it. Whether it’s a: A painting, an amazing dish prepared to eat, a person’s post online, a person’s performance in a sport or movie, etc. You just gotta make time to thank them for providing quality content. No matter what that content might actually be.
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Really? Care to share how you know it’s an optimization issue? Because Apex is one of the smoothest game launches I’ve ever seen.
Game is literally a heavily modded Source Engine game.
You’re saying a whole lot of nothing. And are you really suggesting that any black person who looks outside of your narrow definition of what a black person should look like must be wearing weave or be appropriating something? Oh my god. As anecdotal as my or other Black Americans stories are they still happened and they are still our experiences. I’m telling you there are people in my family that look like Pharah and Ana and yes we are black. No you don’t have the right to tell me that they aren’t black because they identify as such. African is a large continent. Just like white people come in all shapes and sizes with various hair colors, etc. so do black people. Why is that so hard for people to understand. Arab and Middle Eastern are not races. Just like Hispanic and Latino is not a race. What’s next…Lucio isn’t black because he’s Latino? ![:joy:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/joy.png?v=6" ":joy:")
Now I will agree that Pharah and Ana are not BLACK AMERICAN because they are not native to America but they ARE black.
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Most Egyptians do not identify as black, and these two have many nods in their various skins to Arab roots. And with the numerous references to Ancient Egypt, it is likely that they are simply Arabs.
Black people can look like Ana and Pharah, of course, but none of their design indicates that is the case for them.
Arab, fyi, is a distinctive genetic group whose origins can be traced back pretty far.
Edit:
If you want to view them as Black because of their skin color, there is nothing wrong with that. It is perfectly legitimate. There are black Egyptians. But, just keep in mind there are multiple definitions for this term and they do not meet the criteria for some of them.
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Careful now. You might get that other guy to appear out of nowhere, and ask how if you’re certain that they are Black. And how you should ask them. Even though, these people are your family. 
Or better yet! You might have the other guy come in, and claim that the traits we’ve gone over have are extremely unusual. And how it’s highly questionable to exist.
It’s called self hatred. Just because you don’t identify as something doesn’t mean you aren’t. Google and read the article “Being Back in Egypt”. Here’s an excerpt:
“The black community constitutes a substantial proportion of the Egyptian population, yet many Egyptians seem to consider them an inferior minority, subjecting them to varying degrees of racial discrimination and degrading treatment.”
I would be hesitant to identify as being black when facing that kind of adversity as well. Arab isn’t a race it’s an ethno-linguistic category. If you speak Arabic you can call yourself Arab.
As an aside when Obama was running for president the first time he was called an Arab (as an insult). Goes to show you that being Arab and black are not mutally exclusive.
Arab is actually genetically distinctive. Science is moving away from the idea of the five races, and moving towards viewing these differences as moreso belonging to regional ancestry.
Race is a complicated issue.
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It’s made up and it’s subjective so it’s prone to error and debate. But I know one thing…if Pharah and Ana were deposited in 60s American during the Civil Rights movement they would have had to sit at the back of the bus too. That makes them pretty black to me. Lol
Also the Middle East isn’t even a geographical thing it’s a political term that is fairly new.
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And that’s perfectly valid. I don’t personally see them as black because I see that they all the Arab influences in their design, and know how Egyptians tend to identify. And I know that they have the backing of genetic research that shows that region to be very distinctive, to the point they know that modern Egyptians have more of a mix of sub-Saharan African than did the ancient Egyptians based off research on Northern mummies. As you travel south where many Nubians resided, they expect stuff to change and early research indicates that.
But I don’t mind if others see them as black, because black is also used to refer to anyone with a particular skin color. And that skin color has had real world consequences, and that belief has shaped world politics. It affects people’s lives to this day.
I think it may be better to say that people want a hero that is of sub-Saharan African descent, but that requires a lot of explaining and history that can be short handed by the word black. And so I understand why such a simple request doesn’t generally involve such explanations.
In the end, I come down on the side of them being Arabs because of their numerous cultural markers indicating Arab origin, and the real world history and identification of most Egyptians. But I don’t really care so much so long as people don’t use it as a way to invalidate the desire of others to see a black woman in Overwatch of sub-Saharan African descent.