Member-only story
The Bigoted ‘Trash Talk’ That’s Tolerated in Gaming
An anti-Semitic slur used during a Twitch livestream embodies the casual toxicity found in gaming culture
My very first experience using live voice chat while gaming was at a friend’s house playing Halo. At the time, it felt novel to talk with strangers while playing a simulated war game online. I had a mix of apprehension and curiosity. And though I enjoyed Halo a lot, I wasn’t the best at shooting games. But I gave it a shot anyway.
I put on my friend’s headset, expecting some form of trash talk. I doubt more than a couple of minutes had passed before the person on the other end asked, “Are you Black? You play like a [N-word].”
We all like to think of what we would do, what we would say, if we ever encountered racism. We paint heroic visions in our head, the fiery energy we’d have to tell the person off and make them feel bad about their bigotry. But I didn’t know what to do. I tried to keep my face unfazed, but emotionally I had sunk inward. I don’t think I told my friend what happened. I just lost and told him I didn’t want to play anymore.
That was my first and last experience with live chatting while gaming. Since then, I have had no intention of gaming online with anyone I don’t know personally. It’s also…
