"Swarthy workers" - Really?

[Barney]

While I understand from the intro to this game that the devs are drawing from Lovecraft for some of their inspiration, is it really necessary to add his casual racism too? I get that "swarthy" as a description of the workers is not quite on the same level as Lovecrafts clanging racism, but it's not that far off.

Not cool in my opnion.

[Trance]

>tumblr
figures.

[Von Genesis]

Postat inițial de Barney:

I'll just leave this here:

http://yoisthisracist.com/post/21915850152/yo-is-the-term-swarthy-racist

I'm out now.

your source for argumentative purposes is a site called "Yo is this racist?"
I'm sure that site is highly credible and maintained by literary scholars.
But let's take the answer Sir Yo gave- "It’s definitely mostly used in a racist sense these days."

a) mostly does not indicate always
b) these days. As in today. 2015. Not in a Lovecraftian backdrop to a video game.

[Smoth]

Yo, get over it, it isn't set in the modern ages.

I am swarthy if I allow myself to tan. Being tan comes from working in the fields. In the past to be tan meant you were a field worker, a member of the lower class. The upper class prided themselves in how pale they were. In the context of the time, it was a classist thing. Which is appropriate considering the narrator was a rich piece of debaucherous swine.

You want to get upset but it isn't something to be upset about, it is authentic dailogue. It is almost throw away as it was part of mention in passing. Many people in the past were bigoted, that was the norm.

[Noxx]

Oh my god, I am so personally offended this game used a word. This is unacceptable and must be changed so I can unclench my politically correct buttocks because I have nothing better to occupy my mind with.

[Garamoth]

Pretty sure they're dark skinned because they're manual workers that work outdoors and get a suntan...

[Satoru]

Postat inițial de Barney:

I'll just leave this here:

http://yoisthisracist.com/post/21915850152/yo-is-the-term-swarthy-racist

I'm out now.

That's not exactly a very authoratative source on what you're trying to prove

[Satoru]

Swarthy was more indicative of being of a lower class. Since upper class people ddint' need to be outdoors. Only 'manual laborers' were swarthy. This had little to do wtih race since 'swarthy pirates' isn't exactly an uncommon term. It was more to do with station.

[FDru]

Everyday I'm astounded at what people will choose to be offended over. I've never even seen that word used in relation to race until literally just now.

[Wraith]

What is the point of that? Who cares if www.yoisthisracist.com thinks it's racist? And not to mention on his page he just asserts it is without giving any reasons. Not to mention he says that "It’s definitely mostly used in a racist sense these days." but I can't recal ever hearing the word used by anybody not a character in a novel from the 1800's or so.

The problem with most claims of racism these days is that people have bought into the notion of subjectivity in communication. What I mean by that is that the meaning of something is determined by the hearer, not the speaker. Because you hear something and say "I feel that this is racist", then suddently it becomes so.
But this makes all communication useless because we can just assign any meaning we want to anything. An intellectually honest way to view communication is to try to understand what the speaker means by a phrase, not what you believe it means.
I doubt the makers of this game are a bunch of racist bigots, which have become more mythological these days than reality. So mabey instead of saying "thats racist" you ought to ask the developers what they mean by the word or look at it in it's context.

Not to mention merely setting something in a historically accurate context of the time (or imagined time) in no way endorses the popular beliefs or behaviors of that time. So when the documentary "Roots" was portraying racism, nobody claims it was endorsing it.

Common sense 101 here people!

[RichRuzz]

Wow, people want to cry and be offended at everything these days.

[Fyre]

I didn't even know 'swarthy' was a racial term. Oo;;
And yeah people are far too sensitive nowadays, jeez.

[D-FENS]

Shut the ♥♥♥♥ up and go yell at the actual racists.

[Aradia Megido]

You're pulling hairs, I am sure that is not what they meant by it. What of it? They used a word to describe a complexion, of I am sure are well paid, taken care of workers. Skin has color, in the english language, we have many words for the same thing.

[arealhumanbean]

Say what?

You're definitely taking things too far, to the point that your obsessive political correctness is nearing the realm of mental illness. I would advise staying away from tumblr, reddit, or whichever is the culprit in your case. Such places tend to take otherwise reasonable people and throw them into various downward spirals, until they become entirely dysfunctional and prone to making ridiculous assumptions.

In this context the desire for "swarthy" workers means ones that are, visably, qualified workers. For example, an old fisherman might be dark skinned and salty, or a farmer burly, tanned, and having calloused hands. This obviously has nothing to do with race, but rather their capability as labourers and the appearance that would result from extensive experience.

The workers in the intro video at the time the word is used are all light skinned, as is everyone else in the intro. That alone should've been enough to let you know what they were referring to their conditioning and not anything to do with race.

[BareNakedSlayer]

It's literally just a descriptor. It makes little sense to call all descriptors of skin tone racist. Also, "Yo Is This Racist" would not be considered by anyone to be a source as to whether something is actually racist. For instance, I have never heard that term used in manner that was meant to cause insult. As a matter of fact, I have heard people use it in a positive way. Hell, my own mother used it to describe a darker complexioned man she was attracted to, which is just like saying she is attracted to a tan or olive skinned or black man. Get over your ♥♥♥♥.