I meant to comment on this BET Article earlier Buy xenical without prescription, , but life has conspired against me. Well, given recent events, it seems like perhaps it's past due.
Couple of things to discuss on this subject. First, Buy discount xenical, how to untangle the meaning of the word "black" as it refers to someone like myself. Second, what is the significance of being a black professional in the game industry. Finally, what is the impact of our racial heritage on the games we make, xenical purchase.
So, Order xenical from us, am I black? Seems like a strange question, I know. If it were 250 years ago, I'd probably be a slave. Part of my African background includes former slaves, free xenical, another part includes free creole Africans. Of course, Order xenical in canada, if you look at me, you may or may not recognize that part of my heritage. If you saw my mother, you'd think you were looking at the wrong person, where to buy xenical, because far beyond the external traits of her brothers and parents, Where to order xenical, her external appearance is that of a white person. But she's not. She's black. Her grandfather built the first brick house in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Her father was a dentist and a civil rights activist. My mother went to an all black segregated school. My mother and father couldn't get married in her home state because interracial marriages were illegal in Arkansas. I can relate many other stories that illustrate the nature of her heritage, but let me just finish this point with this note, xenical cheap, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Xenical pills, [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="My Mother (yes, she's black!)"]
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Yet, cheapest generic xenical online, to be black in America isn't just how obviously one looks black, Buy xenical from india, it's a multitude of factors, but largely divided between how one self-identifies and also how others perceive you. Sure, there are the obvious factors. For example, best price for xenical, I just attended the funeral for my Great Uncle James Elvis Guinn, Cost of xenical, grandson of a former slave and the first black surgeon in Fort Worth Texas. So, yes, I identify with the black community. Yes yes, pharmacy xenical, I listen to hip-hop, Compare xenical prices online, R&B and jazz. And yes I can dance. The same can be said for most of the kids I met in Korea. So enjoying the culture that has it's roots in black culture certainly doesn't make one a black person.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Chaka or "me" as seen by my boy scout troop"]
[/caption]
Another important part of figuring out whether I'm black (or how black I am. :) ) has to do with the way other people perceive me. For example, did I suffer from racism? Absolutely. Let me share a couple of stories, just to illustrate. I got in LOTS of fights in boy scouts. Why? Because some of the older kids in the troop decided to nick name me "chaka." Don't remember who "Chaka" is? See the image from "Land of the Lost" to the left. Now, to be fair, Chaka WAS lighter colored than the other furry ape people. Somehow, I didn't find much consolation in that, buy xenical without prescription.
When I was 16, discount xenical online, an older kid threw a watermellon through the window in our garage with the "N" word carved in it. Not the brightest guy, Buy xenical in canada, he and his accomplice (someone I thought was my friend) were caught by the police as they ran back to the car. Imagine their confusion when they were brought to our front door and my mom answered it. I distinctly remember the sputtering, "B-b-but y-your not black!?"
Ah, teenagers, find xenical online.
Finally, Cheap price xenical, and perhaps the best illustration about how confusing this subject can be for all of us, let me relate an exchange I once had between a police officer and myself. He had stopped my friend for a broken headlight (this is a longer story, ask me about it later), xenical professional, and my friend's drivers license was expired. So he wanted to check mine and have me drive. He took out his flashlight to examine my license. Then he shined it in my face (it was after 1AM). "Son, Xenical sale, " he began in typical Texas trooper fashion, "What nationality are you?" My mind froze. Really? Is he really asking what nationality I am? Or is he trying to ask me that OTHER question? And why would he want to know that? Hmmm...maybe I should just play this one straight.
"American." I responded directly, purchase xenical without prescription.
"No, Buy xenical online, " he said, this time more slowly and with emphasis, "What nationality are you?"
Uh-oh, buy xenical overnight delivery, I thought. Can I play dumb or should I point out the inaccuracy of this question? "Umm...Texan?" I responded quizzically. I mean, Xenical price, we practically are a "Whole nuther country" in these parts. Buy xenical without prescription, He frowned at me. "Just answer the question son, what nationalilty are you?"
I couldn't help it. As politely as I could, I respond. "Sir, I don't think you're asking me the right question. I'm not from Israel or something. I'm an American citizen." Then I waited to find out if I was going to jail.
"Aw hell, never mind, order xenical overnight delivery," he grumped and headed back to run my license. The rest of this story can only be told in person. Xenical overnight delivery, So, yeah, I've dealt with plenty of racism. And racism from people who don't think I'm black ENOUGH. And people who think Italian people aren't white. That was a new one for me, xenical cost.
You see, Buy xenical online without prescription, my father's not black, he's Italian/Sicilian. I'm not all black. And I certainly identify with Italian culture, particularly the cooking! My Italian language skills are poor, cheapest xenical price, but I blame that on my Poppa ;). Sorry Poppa-poppa. Find no rx xenical, I married a white beautiful white woman. But check this out, I didn't KNOW she was white when I met her. Hell if it wasn't for the Internet, I never would have met her, canada xenical, much less dated her. Not because she was white but because she was taller than I am. Not something that I usually considered :). We met on IRC in 1993! Anyway, Buy xenical from us, that's another interesting story about identity and bias.
[caption id="attachment_90" align="alignnone" width="423" caption="Me and Doug"]
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Am I black? Am I white? The real answer? All of the above. I'm as black as Obama is. I'm as white as Obama is. Yes I'm black, but I'm also an American with a rich multiculture heritage that allows me to appreciate the success and struggles of all kinds of people. I understand bias, discrimination. I also greatly appreciate that I have been able to grow up experiencing the generosity and lack of discrimination or hate in the hearts of most Americans. Sure, there were a few bad apples along the way. But there were also the vast majority of people that I've known that don't have the least inclination to be racist. I went to Plano Senior High School, at the time one of the whitest, wealthiest public high schools in the country. I was accepted there. My one black friend was accepted there. Not as a matter of concious approval, just as a state of being, buy xenical without prescription.
What does it mean to be a black game developer? Well, for one thing, xenical for sale, it's a pretty unique experience. I've worked at Origin, Order xenical no prescription, EA, Sony Online, and Codemasters, xenical pharmacy, and of the hundreds of people I've worked with, Buy cheap xenical, I can count the number of black game developers I've gotten to work directly with on one hand. I think it's 3. Indirectly? maybe 5 (counting QA and IT people). Why is that weird? Well, blacks are over-represented as consumers, so why are they under-representedas developers? I can tell you one thing. It's not because of discrimination within game companies. Even more problematic than the gender concern, find discount xenical online, I get almost zero applicants from the African-American and Latin-American communities. I can't put my finger on why, Find xenical without prescription, but I'm certainly aware of it, and as with all communities, I continue to communicate what a great industry it is for anyone to get into. This is something I'll continue to work on, cheap xenical pill, because I honestly don't care if you're black, white, hispanic, asian or what, but when there's a disconnect as obvious as this one, it's worth figuring out.
So, what does it mean in terms of what Heatwave will produce? Well, anyone who knows much about Heatwave Interactive knows that my partner is "Black." Well, guess what, it's not that simple. Like me, Donn is of mixed heritage. We're both of african and Italian/Scilian decent! How about that as a coincidence. Guess what's even more interesting? I didn't even know that about him until we had been talking about starting Heatwave for 3 months! We had been introduced via email by our common (white) associates, and we'd been talking on the phone while I was in England and he was in Philly. So while it wasn't inherent to our working together, it was a very interesting coincidence to discover.
So, what's the real impact? Well, guess what, Donn and I aren't making the games by ourselves. The reality is that our influence will be most noted in the teams that we put together and broadly felt by the topics we choose to address (more on that soon, I hope!). I believe the result will be mainstream, broadly appealing products that reflect our rich American heritage. Fundamentally, I think we have an appreciation for other points of view, and other cultures, and I'm truly excited to see how our backgrounds contribute to games with less typical stereotypes and more intelligent and thoughtful characterization and storyline. I'm up for the challenge. Are you.
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Anthony, in my 10-15 y work experience, I’ve only worked with 3 developers (2 in Austin) plus 1 IT person of African descent. Since there are a much higher percentage of people with Afro-Carib descent here in Canada, it’s surprising that there are so few in the field.
Poverty and discrimination is to blame for the underrepresentation of blacks in the tech world and in other fields. Poverty and discrimination determine the outlook of children , their plans for the future, their pastimes, their attitudes/hopes/dreams.
If a child hasn’t been told that he can do something, the odds are that he won’t try to do it. When a child grows up in a family that has never met financial success, he is not likely to be able to envision it or make the first step towards attaining it.
Here’s something I found on the net : http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=350
”
Census Bureau findings show that among the racial and ethnic groups, black households had the lowest median income in 2007 ($33,916), compared to the median of $54,920 for non-Hispanic white households. The same survey shows that 24.5 percent of blacks were living in poverty compared to 8.2 percent of non-Hispanic whites. ”
Here’s another about discrimination :
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S11/23/70K64/index.xml?section=newsreleases
And another about incarceration rates. http://www.blackcommentator.com/98/98_prisons_1.html
”
Blacks have consistently been found in jail at a rate of at least five times greater than whites during the past couple of decades. In 2002, the jail incarceration rate for blacks was 740 per 100,000 persons, compared to only 147 for whites and 256 for Latinos.
”
I think that with all those challenges, it’s not surprising that there are so few blacks in the tech world.
The tech industry might not be discriminating but I don’t thing that many blacks are getting trained in the field, either independently or at college.
I am really glad to see you leading the way!
Nora, you’re correct, and certainly in general this is the case, it’s just that I would have suspected that, as with athletics and the arts, since video games are such a popular part of black culture, you’d find more representation there (moreso than in tech in general). That’s clearly not the case. I’m certain a lot of it has to do with familial history, economic opportunity and attitude. My mom’s side of the family is full of successful people, doctors, dentists, etc, so race didn’t seem to hold them back, but perhaps I’m benefiting from the exception to the rule.
So, I hope that I can represent to all people that whatever you see someone doing, you could be doing it too. Regardless of your politics, that’s what makes Obama’s rise to the Presidency so remarkable. Y’know, when I was in high school, and even college, I didn’t know you could even make a living making video games! I didn’t know there was any kind of career path. Maybe people don’t realize what a huge industry it has become, and what a great experience it can be, creatively, professionally and culturally.
Hello there Anthony, I want to say what a wonderful job you did in writing this blog of yours. I really enjoyed reading your article and I too have noticed not very many black people in the gaming industry and quite frankly I never knew with 100% certainy that you were black either Anthony.
But at the same time, let me point out something else if I may while it may not be directly related to the gaming industry, I did find it different and a change from what I was used to encountering and that was when a cousin of mine introduced me to a friend of his who was black who made a living professionally designing websites.
Prior to this, I had never met a black person who did this for a living or worked in something technology related. I will say however, that I think this trend of more black entering into the field of technology is beginning to increase.
Anyhow, at the same time, I guess when I talk about something like this I feel a bit odd because with me being white and the other person being black, I feel like I am walking on egg shells while trying to not offend the other person.
For example, when discussing such issues as this, the things someone like myself has to take into consideration is :
1. Will the other person be offended or not?
2. Does he take offense to a white person calling him black or would he much be referred to as being an African American?
3. Will the other person think you think less of them by citing that you were surprised to see a black person working in the technological field?
Anyhow, I know what you mean and I have noticed that there are hardly any black people in the technological field. I sometimes even have questioned is there even black people out there who play games or do they all play sports only?
Anyhow, for a white gaming fanatic it would be cool to see more black people who played video games and online games such as myself because then I would be able to connect with them in some form or fashion.
I would not be able to really connect if all they knew about was sports if you know what I mean.
Hey Jonathan, I can appreciate your hesitation in entering into the conversation, but I think it’s great that you did. Part of dealing with any difficult situation is being willing to engage, and for both parties to look past unintended slights. You never know whether someone prefers the word “black” or “african-american.” African-american is problematic for me because Africa is a huge place with many different cultures and societies. It’s not like some people refer to themselves as European-American, right?
For me, I’m satisfied with American (or Texan), but if you want to talk about the context in which people perceive race, I prefer black over African-American. I know some people don’t share that view. To be precise, I suppose I’m Afro(unknown-origin)-Italian-Creole-Sicilian-Native American(unknown-origin)-Greecian-Albanian-Texan-American. I’m sure there’s more but that’s all my family has dug up at this point. Perhaps I should just settle for American.
Wow, I can’t believe you were so thin!
Chaka huh? Mine was Fu Manchu. Got to love kids!
First let me say how proud I am of you for writing this. You can write, my son! LOL
Second, it’s a touchy subject for everyone that needs to be touched and poked and prodded into the light. Only by conversation can people find common ground. After everyone states their present opinions, the conversations should move on to how to change or improve, if necessary, those opinions. A lot of what we all say is a knee-jerk reactions, comforting no-thought required points of ivew. When you get past that, I’ve found people often have more insightful things to express. Let the conversations commence!
#3 You are, on my side of the family: African, native American (both Baltimore area and Louisiana from two different sides of the family), Irish, English, and French-Spanish(Creole). We’ve got documentation for those. After that???
I truly enjoyed this blog and the subsequent responses. I will have to say from my experience, that I never really saw you as black but as “Tony” when we were growing up. I am about to dig something up that I have told very few people to this day. One day in the 2nd grade, we were playing on the playground. This little boy came up to me and pointed at a little girl and said, “She’s a .” In my young mind, I asked him… “what is that?” I didn’t know what it meant. He responded, “that’s just what she is.” “Go tell her that,” he told me. I did. She started crying. I started crying. I hurt her feelings. She told the teacher and the teacher came to me and asked my what I said with tears rolling down my eyes. She told me that was a very mean word and that I should never use it.
I absolutely hate that word. It makes me cringe. I became friends with that little girl throughout elementary school. We just reconnected on facebook.
The point of my story is… I never saw her as anything different from me until someones bigotry tainted me. I never saw you as anything different from me. That’s why I feel that blacks should not feel any different from anyone else. Yes, sometimes they are stuck with poor socio-economic conditions. That’s why I believe charter schools with vouchers are a good idea. I don’t like affirmative action because its legislated racism. Why judge on a person’s color? Why not judge on their merits?
While in boot camp in the Marine Corps, I saw another form of racism. We had 2 recruits that were from very diverse backgrounds. One was from inner-city Chicago (gang banger) and a another guy from Arkansas (dad was a Grand Dragon in the KKK). He made sure that everyone knew his dad was a Grand Dragon… not very smart when your drill instructors are HUGE 6’2″ black guys. They (DI’s) never said anything about it. The gang banger hated white guys as well. The drill instructors did something very smart… bunked them together. They had to do everything together. Yeah some fights at the beginning… but on graduation day… they were the best of friends. The “grand dragon” father was there at graduation day… You should of seen his eyes when those guys came walking up with their arms over each other shoulders.
We are not white. We are not black, yellow, red, blue… We are Americans. Until everyone can figure that out we will always be a step behind. While I do not agree with his politics, President Obama has proven to everyone who is a naysayer… You can do anything that you put your mind and willpower to… Do not succumb to historical stereotypes… You are the master of your own destiny. Spread the word Anthony… there are very many talented Americans from diverse backgrounds that don’t know you can do what YOU do. Oh what “nationality” are you?
Excellent article! Thank you for sharing the various experiences you have had – both positive and negative – that have shaped your framework. My experience has been similar in that most of it has been positive though with exceptions due to either lack of understanding, ignorance or perhaps plain prejudice. I grew up in Newark, NJ (possibly one of the roughest cities in the country) but had the opportunity to attend one of the best applied math and science high schools in the state. It was extremely diverse with an almost 60% black population. The administration was committed to encouraging black and hispanic students to pursue technical careers and continues to do so. During my undergrad years, unfortunately, what I observed was a completely different story. While the engineering school I attended was also committed to recruiting and admitting black and hispanic candidates and significant resources were poured into that effort, I was one of only three other hispanic female mechanical engineers in a population totaling almost 10K; the stats did not bode much better for our black classmates. Once in the professional industry, I was the only hispanic female engineer (period) working at a power plant design firm. I could not understand the disconnect given my early experience. While I could have derived some comfort or sanity from chalking it all up to lack of access and/or institutionalized racism, I knew that was not the whole story; let me be clear, it is part of the story but not entirely. I am so grateful to my husband because he is able to help me understand at a much deeper level. I was also fortunate that my mother stressed the significance of education; more importantly, she also stressed that even as a female, I could pursue a technical career and be successful (even if I did not always agree with her methodology or psychology – whole ‘nuther’ story). I am not sure however that this exists in majority in either of our communities. I was reminded that it was only 40 to 50 years ago that blacks were still experiencing segregation and allowed to vote for the first time. My in-laws were the first generation of blacks to have access to the educational, economic and other resources that would allow them to pave the way for their children and it still was not a ‘level playing field’ per se for them. This is a critical part of the discussion because it sheds light on the psychological effect that continues to play a role on why so few minorities in the technical arena or even attending college or grad school for that matter (although I see significant improvement). As a parallel, addictive or abusive behavior are cycles that are typically passed on from generation to generation before they are broken. The recovery and healing is long and requires perseverance and patience. And so it is with the psychological effects for the black community and their experience. I do not intend to minimize or trivialize the socio-economic components that also contribute to the problem. From our part, our children will understand and espouse a deep appreciation for their multicultural heritage and the significance of education and hard work. Hopefully, the future of our communities will continue to improve from generation to generation and you’ll have more applicants.
Continuing the Discussion