Offensive Content of Mr. Narcisse on Deus Ex:HR's "Racism"

Below is a letter I wrote to TIME. It entails just what was so offensive about Evan Narcisse's (The Time's "Techland" blog contributor) article "The Worst Thing About Deus Ex: HUman Revolution".

Hopefully it inspires those of you who grew up as I did to send TIME mail of your own. We can't let someone like this get paid for degrading us like this.

Dear Time,
This letter is in response to a recent article a contributor from your Techland blog made regarding the supposed racism of a minor character in a videogame called "Deus Ex: Human Revolution". The contributor's name is Evan Narcisse, and the aforementioned article is titled "The Worst Thing About 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution'".

This article, and thereby it's author Mr. Narcisse, has grossly offended me. I come from an impoverished background, one so stricken with poverty that my parents had to routinely take me with them to go digging through trash and bottle collecting before we were able to inherit the home we have today. As you can imagine, it is a sensitive subject for both myself and my friends who grew up in just as bad if not worse conditions. Your contributor, however, seems to have no appreciation for the sensitivity of this subject, as statements like "Letitia talks about people losing employment and real estate, and it makes one ask if she ever had either or even any dignity" show.

The character is barely plot related and yes, though her voice acting is horrible, she is a sign of the poverty stricken "lower class" in the game's depiction of a futuristic Detroit. What she is doing is looking through trash to likely find something like a bottle or can to trade in for some cash to get something to eat. This in no way implies she never had a home, since my closest family friend had lost his home when he was young due to a mortgage that got out of hand. He too dug through the trash along with my family. Before the accident that took his life, he was a kind and considerate man, one who was dealt a horrible card by fate when he lost his job. My father too lost his job, which is what drove us to go collecting in the first place.
The implication that doing such a thing reflects an absence of dignity is grossly offensive to me, my family, and anyone else who was not blessed with a financially solid upbringing.

Another line which offends me and those I care for is " Letitia embodies a strain of racist stereotype that renders black people as less than human, as the worst that society has to offer."
Excuse me? Mr. Narcisse clearly just said that this character, one who is poor to the point of looking through trash and uneducated most likely due to her poor upbringing is a "racist stereotype". He is flat out saying that those who act this way are stereotypes. I, my family, and my friends are and never have been living stereotypes! The offense is doubled when he goes on to imply that only African-American individuals are stricken with such a horrible situation. I am a Hispanic man with a mother who came over from the Dominican Republic to this nation on a boat. Some of my friends were "black" as Mr. Narcisse calls them, but many were and are Hispanic and Caucasian. To say that this "stereotype" renders "black people as less than human" is the same as saying "digging through the trash due to your horrible situation and speaking in a slang that shows you have not had the benefits of education is not only something only negative towards African-Americans, but also shows you are less than human".

I can only assume Mr. Narcisse apparently has not had the depression of poverty in his life, and if he has then he clearly has forgotten what it was like. I am outraged at how you can have a contributor with such a callous disregard for the state some individuals are forced to live in, going so far as to not only imply such a state of living is only a stereotype, but to further say it is a stereotype that only affects African-Americans and shows them as "less than human".

I demand an apology from Mr. Narcisse and for said article to either be rewritten or taken down from your Techland blog which I routinely frequent for its other, more socially sensitive contributors.

Sincerely, Ian Caronia

-For information on where to send your letters:
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Can you post a link to the dude's article?

And from the info I got from you from the dude, the whole racism stereotype, that was just stupid on the dudes part. People like them look for one thing that is degrading, and then find ways to make it even worse. The fact that character was black was probably just coincidence.

have you watched the scene? I admit that alot of people jump the gun when it comes to racism, but after watching the actual part this is suppose to be futuristic Detroit but the woman talks like she just stepped out the cotton field in 1803 South Carolina.

I actually noted the way she talked when I played. It does sound weird, but I wouldn't suddenly accuse the developers of racism considering the amount of homeless people in the game that aren't fucking black (and the amount of diversity in the game in general). That one chick just happened to be one of the hobos with more to say. Fuck if I know what they were thinking, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.



The article in question: http://techland.time.com/2011/08/31/the-worst-thing-about-deus-ex-human-revolution/

Should've linked that shit right away, OP.

Thanks man, and no, I haven't seen the scene.

EDIT: WTF? her voice sounds like it was done by a guy. I will admit, that is a bad character to be made. Looked like someone just thought that they were gonna just have fun with the character development on this one.

But racism? That is still freaking stupid. I'm just gonna say, what happenes if it was a person of another ethnic background? People would be saying that derogitive to that ethnic group.

Hahaha, I gotta admit, something was wrong when that character was made. I wouldn't be surprised if it was racism.

I debated doing that, and was going to, but since it's clear this mother fucker wants to get noticed I didn't and hoped my quotes were enough.

You see, the more hits an article gets the more notoriety the journalist gets within the company, meaning that his bullshit is generating more traffic than it is getting angry letters, so he'll continue to lick his fresh checks while people like me want to make him earn those checks the right way and with the abuse the race card (note that this guys is also supposedly one of the who said RE5 was racist).
_However, since you posted it I won't do say anything against it. You're right that it's best to let people see for themselves, but I know half of those people aren't going to write up any kind of complaint at all. Just a matter of wanting to prevent inadvertently helping this asshole generate traffic.

Plus, it sounds odd because it's badly voice acted. VERY badly voice acted.
Also, I'm almost positive it was a guy doing it. Maybe Dave Chappelle needed a check.



There is a difference between a racist stereotype and a realistic representation.
This NPC is poor and likely has been all her life. That leads to a lack of education, which leads to the kind of dialect, slang she had.

Racist stereotyping would be if she had huge lips, big eyes, huge hands, and called every white person "Massa" or "Boss". She called the Main Character "Captain" because he was once a well known leader of a SWAT team on the police force.
-Another example of racist stereotyping is saying that all black people speak like that, or saying that only caricatures speak like that, when anyone who has ever been to Detroit or New York or in any inner-city can tell you a number of individuals who speak the way that NPC did.

The reason it was funny was because it was badly voice acted by an actor who sounded like a guy. That's it. Nothing else about that character was cartoonish, and she certainly wasn't offensive. There are real people like her. Saying the way she acts is a stereotype is saying those real people are living stereotypes, since their mannerisms and dialects very much resemble how that NPC speaks.

Again, when the representation is true to life, then it's NOT a stereotype.
Besides, did you play the game? There are other black characters and each of them speak differently. The gangbangers speak like thugs, the old lady speaks like an old lady, and the undercover detective speaks like...well...like someone who had a high education and a financially stable upbringing would speak.
_So, if you haven't, please take a look at the whole before commenting on a single piece. If you have but still thought it was racist, then please also consider what I told you about the difference between a racist stereotype and a realistic representation.

This journalist is an asshole and, as from the quotes I pointed out, is more offensive than even a caricature from the 50's.
Who the fuck does he think he is saying that, just by looking at her, she possibly never had any dignity? As I stated, I came from that kind of background. I was one of the few able to get out. The only people who think this is just a stereotype, and of just black people, are ignorant individuals who have never been through and around others who have been through such a horrible situation.

no one from New York talks like that, no matter how poor, iv met homeless people on the train that talk better diction, but maybe people in the south still talk like this but inner city Detroit? in the suposed future? i dont think the developers of the game are racist if they were they would have made the hate alot more subtle. i think somebody was trying to be funny somewhere.

Look, I'm not going to debate you on this. If you don't think anyone talks like this then fine. The point of this thread isn't to debate whether or not the way the character was talking was overblown. It's to point out how offensive the journalist behind the article is, and how offensive the article itself is.

No matter what you think about the character's speech, it's about the character as a whole. The article doesn't primarily focus on the character's verbal mannerisms. It focuses on the character's looks and overall situation. Narcisse talks about how the character is an offensive black stereotype less because of how she talks and more because she's black, dirty, and digging through trash. Oh, and because she holds out on info to make sure she gets some cash first. That's not being shysty, that's making sure you don't give someone information without getting what you need to eat first (much like nearly every other informant character in the game).

Even if you think the character's speech is a stereotype, don't you think it's incredibly offensive to say that her situation (poor, homeless, digging for cans) is itself a stereotype? Isn't it even more offensive to further say that it's a black stereotype, implying only African-Americans are known for being in such horrible situations?
Isn't it then horrifically offensive to say that such a situation for a character portrays that character's ethnic group as "less than human"? He's bluntly telling you that individuals in such a situation are "less than human", and, as he then says, "the worst society has to offer".

Gangbangers, mafia members, rapists, murderers: THOSE are the worst society has to offer. People scraping by just to survive are NOT. They ARE human. They can HAVE dignity.

I'm sure you'll agree that, no matter what you think about the character, these remarks are needless when your sole purpose is to convey that the character is a stereotype. He didn't have to say those things to get his point across, especially when those things not only diverge from the sole thing that, according to you, could be considered racially insensitive (the speech) and focuses on degrading the homeless.
"Letitia talks about people losing employment and real estate, and it makes one ask if she ever had either or even any dignity."

For him to get on his moral high-horse and use the race card while spewing out such offensive material is like a teacher scolding a student for cursing in class and doing so by using a string of vulgarities.

So, do you understand where I'm coming from and why I'd appreciate others to write in against this journalist?
I can see where you're coming from. You never heard anyone talk like that so I get it. But putting that difference aside, can you see why we should in the very least demand a public apology?

To be honest, I have never heard anyone talk like that woman did, in person or other wise. But I still didn't think anymore of it other than "That was just bad".

To the point, anyother person who has played the game would have just seen her as another character in the underground city of Detroit. The fact that this guy focused on the one black woman who was homeless of the whole game makes the guy sound increadibly stupid, and from the comments that I've read on the site, make the guy himself seem racist. The guy was just grasping at straws to make a story, and the fact that he had to make it a negative standpoint on a supposodly good game(Never played the series) just makes him a desperate fucker who's gotta hate.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention and such, +1

Wow dat voice actually made me sick. Havent had voice acting that bad since.....ever.

Anyway on topic I read the article & I can see why people would be offended by it. Good luck with your endeavors.

yea i see where your coming from, I hate that mentality where you think because your speaking out on racism you have some moral authority over another race, and that doesnt give you the right to spue hatred like this person did in there article. in that point you are totally correct. I havent played the whole game or veiwed any other character interactions between the cast. this particular scene was brought to my attention by a friend of mine who is Black,was brought up in the same low income environment as you and me, is not racist, does not have any particular hate for the developers,and otherwise is enjoying the game, but was a little offended by the scene. I was watching it like, come on even if she is homeless, has no dignity or respect for herself, there are a million ways you could have portrayed that same character got that same point across. and made it less offensive no matter her race, like i said im not calling the developers racist like i said i havent played the game for all i know there is a tobacco chewing hillbilly, and a spagghetti eating mafia boss in the game, but even you whether you admit it or not have gotta see how somebody viewing that can be just a little taken back about how the woman was portrayed.

Complaining about possible racism is very odd. If there was a blog post about how all Asians know karate and like to sleep in drawers, wouldn't it be weird if someone said, "I'm Asian, and I agree with this because I know karate and sleep in a drawer!"

The stereotype that blacks are poor and don't use proper grammar is typically bad because when used, it is usually negative, such as, "Blacks aren't useful, they're all poor and can't talk right." People speak out against such stereotypes because they don't want them to be prevalent; they don't want people to think that all black people are poor and don't know how to use correct grammar, because not all black people are like that.

Narcisse isn't saying that poor people are bad; he's saying that this is a negative presentation of a black character because it is based more on stereotypes than reality. Do you know about blaxpoitation? From Wikipedia: "Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. These exploitation films were made specifically for an urban, black audience." A lot of people find them offensive because they focused on stereotypes instead of reality. To blaxploitation filmmakers, being black meant being poor, living in the ghetto, being violent, and fucking a lot of women. Did black men like that exist? Yes, but the filmmakers didn't interview them or try to understand their situations. They just used what was in the ether, what was believed about black people, to make a movie they thought black people would like.

The character in Deus Ex: Human Revolution isn't based on real people, even if real people resemble her. It's based on stereotypes. Even if some people fit those stereotypes, it doesn't make it right to assume that everyone does, and that is what people are worried about when they complain about possible racism in games, that some people will see the poorly-created character and think, "They're all like that."

That sounds vaguely familiar. It reminds me of what a certain article in TIME says.



She's a bitch about it, too. 2,000 credits just to be told to go play around in the sewers? After I was done with her, she probably could've eaten for a fucking year. I happened to have saved beforehand, but I gave her a few Hot Devils as a consolation prize.



The only stereotype I could possibly imagine the developers applied to her (consciously or otherwise) is the way she speaks. Other than that, she's a homeless person who happens to be black. So? Have you played the game? There's diversity among the homeless.

THANK YOU