I just got banned from chat.

The discussion was about all the abuse that has come up lately in the industry and Vinny said that the way it used to be was a bunch of straight white guys and I found it offensive as a straight white guy and I made the comment "Straight white guys are people too"

So is diversity all inclusive as long as you aren't a straight white guy? How is this acceptable? I've never abused anyone, I've never been racist yet I'm lumped into a group with a bunch of people and labeled because of my gender, race and sexual orientation and then have my voice on the chat taken from me because I speak out? I don't see how this is fair and inclusive.

(fart sound)

I don’t know about banning but in my experience this is always the start of a very bad faith argument.

So my immediate sympathy is Low.

Look, I know it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, especially now with the world the way it is, but it's still discrimination and that's usually how it starts.. small where nobody notices and nobody speaks up and when they do, they are dismissed, possibly with fart sounds.

Do you genuinely think you're being oppressed as a straight white guy?

Won't somebody please think of the straight white guys? /s

Everyone is entitled to their feelings, whether right or wrong, but there is also correctly reading the room.

@nextonex: Maybe try reading literally anything about white privilege before you try to make the argument that you, a straight, white man, are being discriminated against. Either this is a completely bad faith argument or you are profoundly uninformed.

Part of growing up is knowing when you don't need to make a comment. This is one of those times.

@nextonex: You won’t need to worry much about people speaking up about white people.

@simmant: White privilege? So me being white makes it ok? Is it ok to use other peoples race as justification for they way they are treated? You don't know me or the life I've led. So it's not OK for me to stand up and call out the same racial, sexual and gender discrimination that I also stand up for and defend for others?

Maybe it wasn't the best timing but I genuinely felt offended and I spoke out and was banned for it.

@nextonex: Boy I'm sure you're fun at parties

@nextonex: Okay, so bad faith argument it is then. But to answer you question. Yes, being white is exactly what makes it okay, being part of the group that has held power for all of modern history and used that power to subjugate and control and dehumanize pretty much every marginalized group makes it okay. Do you have any understanding of the large situation at all? Or are you literally shocked and appalled at the suggestion that the video game industry has long been dominated by straight white men and that many of those straight white men used the power granted to them by their positions to do incredibly shitty things?

Yeah this'll end well.

He can't help being born as he was, to be fair

Still can't tell if this is real.

I feel pretty confident about my initial assessment.

Yep, the discrimination of straight white guys has commenced.

Our days are numbered and before you know it we’ll be expected to empathise with survivors of oppression and abuse.

I really don’t know what’s happened to this world. At this rate I might actually have to think about what I say in order not to upset others. Madness, I tell ya!

As a Straight White Dude, I find it offensive every time someone posts one of these threads and wastes everyone's time. If you think what happened on the Beast Cast was discrimination, systematic racism is going to blow your mind.

Getting banned for that comment alone seems insane, but the instant twitter sideshow that's sprung up in this thread shows exactly why it's done. It's just so much easier to avoid the shit-show entirely.

Save yourself the pain and just don't load up the chat on videos. Giantbomb is just TV now, and that's fine.

Typical ignorance and hypocrisy on display again

Here's the thing: everyone knows that straight white guys are people. The issue at work here is that in our society, the humanity and value of straight white guys is not in question. What gets questioned frequently is the value and personhood of people who are not straight, or white, or men. Men are often more likely to value the opinion of other men than that of a woman--it's one reason that a single woman will tell a man that she is not romantically interested in that she has a boyfriend, rather than outright reject that man's advances. There are many other examples, but that's part of it.

At face value, your comment isn't some terrible thing. Still, you should be aware that comments like that are often employed by those who are not arguing in good faith. The Beastcast wasn't the conversation to interject that comment into. And as others have said, there are lots of resources you could read about this sort of thing.

Coopting a conversation about women who are sharing their stories of abuse and assault by reminding everyone that white men exist isn't good timing to say it politely.

This time and place is about those who have suffered in silence, their stories, and their pain. It's not a time to remind everyone that all of us hurt and suffer from time to time. It's about listening to the pain that far too often lands on the shoulders of people of color, LGBTQ+, and women.

Moderation is discussed through PM and as a group so we'll be reaching out to you.