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Xbox launches "Black History Month" promotional campaign for the month of February.

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You forgot the Micheal Jackson games, Moonwalker on the Mega Drive was pretty good.
The DefJam fighting games were good also, but they're sad to play when you consider the state of hiphop today.
Yes, there are definitely more...I just couldn't think of them.

I didn't even count games where there were black characters in more minor roles, like MGS 4, TLOU, GoW Ragnarok.
 

mrmustard

Banned
Why do you guys in the US have to celebrate people for their skin colour? It's weird and kinda racist tbh.
Wanna know what would be racist? If the also would make a sweepstake that month with some of their special edition controllers.
8qa6xWI.png
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.
 

Kuranghi

Gold Member
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.

Can you give me some examples or links to resources for this part? Not trying to do a gotcha I'm genuinely curious of what you're referencing here.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Can you give me some examples or links to resources for this part? Not trying to do a gotcha I'm genuinely curious of what you're referencing here.

It's merely US history. It would take a slew of citations, history books, etc. It's dense. And despite what the YouTube era might suggest, these kinds of long lasting, sophisticated topics cannot be covered in a series of brief videos or articles. You're going to have to study the breadth of our history from the 1600's clear on to modern day.

I caution to point to some recent informative items like The 13th on Netflix, because even well-informed and intentioned works like it misses a lot, but if you're looking for something quick I guess that's a decent example. The Harvard Review has also published some pretty good articles on the subject since about 2013-ish.
 

Skifi28

Member
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.
I can get behind the ideal of it being a national day or whatever for the reasons you mentioned, but what is hard to shallow is how commercialized it is like pride month. From the outside it looks like a joke, basically the opposite of what it's meant to be.

PUNikGU.png
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I mean it is Black history month in States, so why not, but...

What is with this "blacks", "whites" shit, they made it sound like a slur. But we are called Slavs, so I guess it is normal 🤷‍♂️
 

John Bilbo

Member
I can get behind the ideal of it being a national day or whatever for the reasons you mentioned, but what is hard to shallow is how commercialized it is like pride month. From the outside it looks like a joke, basically the opposite of what it's meant to be.

PUNikGU.png
What I have seen in my country pride is a rainbow themed pop/rock festival plus a parade with quite revealing clothing / nudity
 
You actually think the race dynamic is worse today, than it was 60 years ago? Or 160 years ago?
It was better 10 to 20 years ago ill tell you that. It got really bad in the past few years. Peaking in 2020 with the media ratching things up. I don't remember people preaching to end colorblind society back then, as it was to be thr goal.

Now moron people say that's racist. I will never accept that. Treating people as they are as humans rather than making judgments based on appearance of ethnicity is the way to be. There is even corporate firms pushing seminars on how to see race and pander and push guilt for being born rather see people as your fellow countrymen. It's gross and I will always push back.
 
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Chronicle

Member
Not trying to start anything. Seriously. But I've always found the playstation community more inclusive and a mixed ball of people. That's one of the reasons I prefer it. However, good on MS.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.
Can you give me some examples or links to resources for this part? Not trying to do a gotcha I'm genuinely curious of what you're referencing here.
I will be honest as a 55 year old white dude growing up here in the US I have learned more about Black History in the last few years then I ever did growing up in schools.

When I was young growing up in the 1970s as I look back the schools I attended honestly the only history I was taught about Blacks was they were slaves at one point and never things about their actual accomplishments

Sorry if this offends some
 

Topher

Identifies as young
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.

What you say is absolutely true, but I will point out that this all began 250 years before this land was ever a "nation" and reaches back to Europe and Africa when these states were simply colonies of the British crown. Having said that, you are correct that we are talking about a demographic that has been largely robbed of their culture and the Civil Rights movement is a part of this country's history that isn't given much attention outside of Black History month.
 

Gaelyon

Member
Grab your Black History Month characters! A white woman, a white disabled man, a white robot person and an old Jamaican stoner. LMAO.
Yep. White able male person is the standard "normal" one but look, we also care about "special" people like women, disabled person, non white person or french. :pie_eyeroll:
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I will be honest as a 55 year old white dude growing up here in the US I have learned more about Black History in the last few years then I ever did growing up in schools.

When I was young growing up in the 1970s as I look back the schools I attended honestly the only history I was taught about Blacks was they were slaves at one point and never things about their actual accomplishments

Sorry if this offends some
No reason for it to offend anyone, you can't control what you were taught growing up. I just think it's pretty telling of the times, which is interesting.

I will say, as a 38 almost 39 year old, through school it was much different for me. We had multiple areas where we talked about Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, MLK, Rosa Parks, etc. It wasn't something we discussed for large portions of our education, but it was brought up semi-frequently, and we were also tested on it.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
No reason for it to offend anyone, you can't control what you were taught growing up. I just think it's pretty telling of the times, which is interesting.

I will say, as a 38 almost 39 year old, through school it was much different for me. We had multiple areas where we talked about Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, MLK, Rosa Parks, etc. It wasn't something we discussed for large portions of our education, but it was brought up semi-frequently, and we were also tested on it.
My early years I lived in the deep south, Biloxi Mississippi to be exact and again looking back the deep south in the 1970s wasn't that welcoming to people not fitting a certain image they had
 

MadPanda

Banned
Strangely enough, games are mentioned but no discounts for BHM, which is notably in contrast with the Anime month announcement from yesterday taking place at the same time, where MS discounted games across the store.
That's because blacks aren't less worth than whites 😏
 

Topher

Identifies as young
My early years I lived in the deep south, Biloxi Mississippi to be exact and again looking back the deep south in the 1970s wasn't that welcoming to people not fitting a certain image they had

I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and it was exactly the same. For much of my youth, I didn't even know who Rosa Parks was even though I lived in the same city that made her famous.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
For those outside of the US wondering why there is this celebratory month for blacks here:

This nation subjugated them as chattel for nearly three hundred years, then freed them but still subjugated them in numerous other ways, finally gave them some of the same freedoms as everyone else in modern times yet continued to leverage unfair laws and practices against them - all while largely ignoring any of their accomplishments or contributions to art, culture, and science in earnest until about the 1980's.

I get that it appears ornamental to some outside of the country, but it's far more than just a gesture to many here. Besides, it's not a big deal to those of us on the coasts. Just a thing that happens each February. Most of us never give it a second thought.
Excited Lets Go GIF


also not to mention the fact they took our own continent and segregated it, making it friendlier to whites than the natives (cough cough apartheid cough cough)

Personally i don't really care about this whole Xbox black history celebration thing but to dismiss the actual black history month as racist is just ridiculous & insensitive. The truth of the matter is that racism isn't this solved issue since the 1960s, its far more than just that. If it truly were finished for good it simply wouldn't be discussed outside of white supremacist circles, you can even see this in other countries that werent as racist to blacks as america was, its never even brought up in those areas because they never had those issues to begin with.

personally i'd like a latino history month as well because they seem to always be forgotten when it comes to discussions of racism in the west
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and it was exactly the same. For much of my youth, I didn't even know who Rosa Parks was even though I lived in the same city that made her famous.
Was this around the 70's as well? I hope you don't mind me asking, just fascinating is all.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
Mexicans are usually portraited as drug dealer in US, but companies don't fucking care.
You are 100% right, american "diversity" is usually very one note.
That being said, Xbox celebrating this doesn't really seem that out of place. Xbox, despite its attempts to expand will always be very american centric.
It's good to pay attention to things.

Xbox Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Oh look, it's the same avatar with a different logo to celebrate Hispanic heritage month.
HHM-2022_Avatar-Promo-Wire_1080x1080-1-7b323fe923ee0549cc4c.jpg



Grab your Black History Month characters! A white woman, a white disabled man, a white robot person and an old Jamaican stoner. LMAO.
How have you come to the conclusion that the character is 1. Jamaican and 2. A Stoner?
I don't get what's inclusive about the woman on the left but holy shit, nice dump truck.

The wheel chair looks sick tho.

Yep. White able male person is the standard "normal" one but look, we also care about "special" people like women, disabled person, non white person or french. :pie_eyeroll:
They are generic Xbox avatar that they use to show the LOGOs designed for whatever they are celebrating that month.

Same avatars for pride month
4-avatars.jpg


Its like you are not even trying at this point.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and it was exactly the same. For much of my youth, I didn't even know who Rosa Parks was even though I lived in the same city that made her famous.
hey i grew up in alabama too!!! we moved to georgia in 2017, but before that i had lived in alabama, close to birmingham
why do we have so much in common when it comes to living areas
 

Topher

Identifies as young
hey i grew up in alabama too!!! we moved to georgia in 2017, but before that i had lived in alabama, close to birmingham
why do we have so much in common when it comes to living areas

Couple of leaves on the same breath of wind, I guess. lol What part of B'ham did you live in?
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Don't mind at all. Yes, HeisenbergFX4 HeisenbergFX4 and I are around the same age so yeah, in the 70s.
Makes even more sense, just wanted to get clarification so I wasn't assuming. That's wild. Appreciate you.
hey i grew up in alabama too!!! we moved to georgia in 2017, but before that i had lived in alabama, close to birmingham
why do we have so much in common when it comes to living areas
I've been visiting Birmingham the last 2 years for a music fest! I've enjoyed my time there more than I ever thought I would. Also wild to see so many of y'all with something in common like that, haha.

To be back on topic, I know it was brought up previously, but country-wide observations like this don't always feel genuine when advertised by companies, businesses, etc. It's unfortunately common. But, I guess it makes sense when all they want you to do is buy, buy, buy. Who buys it you ask? I guess the few people that are happy to see it, I suppose. But I think the majority don't bother, or just assume it's coming from a place that isn't so genuine.
 
It's good to pay attention to things.

Xbox Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Oh look, it's the same avatar with a different logo to celebrate Hispanic heritage month.
HHM-2022_Avatar-Promo-Wire_1080x1080-1-7b323fe923ee0549cc4c.jpg




How have you come to the conclusion that the character is 1. Jamaican and 2. A Stoner?



They are generic Xbox avatar that they use to show the LOGOs designed for whatever they are celebrating that month.

Same avatars for pride month
4-avatars.jpg


Its like you are not even trying at this point.


It's a joke man lol. It looks like he's wearing a cultural Jamaican hat (which I think is his hair lol) and he has a hippy beard.
 

Lunarorbit

Member
Do wheelchairs have tracks like tanks do? I've seen this design on stuff at Boston dynamics but never on a wheelchair. Oh and also on those bomb defusing robots.

I always heard mafia 3 was good. Has a black Vietnam veteran who does jobs for the mob. I don't know how they handle race relations in the game considering the Italian and Irish mobs were pretty racist.
 

Lunarorbit

Member
They invented tank wheel chairs?


Not as far fetched as you think. Africans legit hate african-americans.
Haha. Fuck I should have read your post first.

I've had lots of friends from Africa and the Caribbean who look down on African Americans. I'm not going to try and explain it as I'm a old white guy but I have anecdotal experience in seeing it too.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
It was better 10 to 20 years ago ill tell you that. It got really bad in the past few years. Peaking in 2020 with the media ratching things up. I don't remember people preaching to end colorblind society back then, as it was to be thr goal.

Now moron people say that's racist. I will never accept that. Treating people as they are as humans rather than making judgments based on appearance of ethnicity is the way to be. There is even corporate firms pushing seminars on how to see race and pander and push guilt for being born rather see people as your fellow countrymen. It's gross and I will always push back.

I also don't like when people want a colorblind society. So maybe I can clear things up with people say that. It's not racist to want a colorblind society first off. Because I don't think when people say that, they are saying it with any ill intent. But a colorblind society in reality is impossible and a stupid thing to want to have.

People like me don't mind that you notice that I'm black. Just don't treat me any differently because of my race, that's all. And bonus points if you actually appreciate things my people have created or made popular. A colorblind society means that you don't ever notice things that happen to certain races over others. And that's not good.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Not as far fetched as you think. Africans legit hate african-americans.

Haha. Fuck I should have read your post first.

I've had lots of friends from Africa and the Caribbean who look down on African Americans. I'm not going to try and explain it as I'm a old white guy but I have anecdotal experience in seeing it too.

The bolded is a lie! It's a lie that constantly gets pushed to divide. Is it true that some Africans don't like African Americans? Yes. But it's not any more than the normal non-Americans not liking Americans in general. There are many white folks from Europe that don't like European-Americans, yet nobody likes to push that narrative (for "certain" reasons).
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Is it better than it was 20 years ago?

Hmmmm.....great question. I would say it is, but slightly. Because social media really really screws up my feels about race relations at this point. 20 years ago, I didn't know that many people's thought on race. Now?......I know too much lol.
 
Just weird from non-US viewpoint.
weird for many in the US too.
used to be funny, and still is, but has also gotten weird considering how many people are taking it super seriously.
A colorblind society means that you don't ever notice things that happen to certain races over others. And that's not good.
nah, colorblind is the way to go - just evaluate the individual, not the color or whatever.
you can be colorblind and still be against segregation/discrimination/racism etc.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
weird for many in the US too.
used to be funny, and still is, but has also gotten weird considering how many people are taking it super seriously.

nah, colorblind is the way to go - just evaluate the individual, not the color or whatever.
you can be colorblind and still be against segregation/discrimination/racism etc.

Then you aren't colorblind. You'd have to recognize my race, if you were to be against racism.
 
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