So basically, animal crossing added hairdos from black culture, and white people put them on their character in game, and people are genuinely going nuts about it.

  • redthebaron [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    like it is a game though i think that is the bigger disconect for me like on real life i can understand the reason why to have this discussion but like people wanting to play the game and use the cool hair that is new and stuff because it is a game and it is a big part of animal crossing is about being able to look how you want to look and deal with animal friends it doesn't seem the same, like i don't know i might be just not be taking this seriously enough if so i am sorry i just really think it is a game

    • AlfredNobel [comrade/them,any]
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      4 years ago

      I have no background on what the twitter drama is nor have I played Animal crossing. Usually though these cases are like one black person on twitter being like "Hey, these hairstyles have a cultural significance to them and we had to fight to have them be acceptable in white spaces. Please don't use them as a cool costume". Then a bunch of outraged gamers pile on blowing it up into "OMGZ, it's just a game I should be able to do what I want, DOES IT OFFEND YOU? ARE YOU TRIGGERED? stupid SJWs".

        • AlfredNobel [comrade/them,any]
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          4 years ago

          How would you know in game the difference between someone celebrating an afro as a symbol of black culture, and someone having one as a "cool" hairstyle divorced from any context? The internet and games have never been good on questions of racism.

            • AlfredNobel [comrade/them,any]
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              4 years ago

              That's a good question, my thoughts are that symbols have power, and people don't want to see them divorced from their context. Why does an afro look cool? What caused the cultural shift that allowed black people to wear their hair in a natural way in the 60s and 70s? There is a lot of context of struggle, overcoming racism, and experiences there. So what are you celebrating if you don't know the context?

              Like I said above I think this was just someone trying to add that context which then got blown up.

      • 420clownpeen [they/them,any]
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        4 years ago

        That's pretty much exactly what happened. Honestly if that shit hadn't blown up/that conversation had taken place in DMs, all the original people involved might've been able to have a productive conversation about it. None of this started with malice on anyone's part.