Gaming is no stranger to controversy. There have been so many infamous situations that have caused outrage, such as the "Hot Coffee" situation and pretty much everything regarding "Mortal Kombat."
Over 20 years after its debut, "Mortal Kombat" has once again drawn the ire of the public. But this time, instead of angering parents, the game has angered gamers.
A game like Mortal Kombat is all about over-the-top, gratuitous violence.
Despite this, people who play the game have never had a problem with it. So just what has the game done this time around that has some fans upset?
Introduce a scenario where a black character goes back in time and prevents slavery from happening in America.
Now I'm no moral authority, but to me, this sounds like the right thing to do. What kind of person wouldn't want to prevent the enslavement of Africans? (Well, we all know who wouldn't, but that was just a rhetorical question.)
In "Mortal Kombat 11," the newest game in the series, there is a feature called "ladder mode." In this mode, you play as one character and must defeat every other character in the game. When this is done, you're rewarded with an ending.
The ending that has caused this whole controversy is for the character Jax, a black man with metal arms.
I became aware of this situation when I saw a post on Reddit asking why a video of the ending had so many dislikes. I watched the video and started laughing because I knew exactly why people were upset.
People are claiming that this is "lazy" and "out of character" because the games never mention Jax's race. They also believe that is promoting "white genocide," which is just as real as a unicorn.
"White genocide" is just a term racists use to complain about minorities, specifically black people in this case, existing. It says a lot about someone if they equate saving an entire race from bondage and chains with the killing of another race. If you actually watch the ending, there is zero mention of killing white people.
The only real reason people are upset at the ending is that they are racist.
Like I said earlier, who wouldn't stop slavery? It caused a lot of damage and its effects can still be felt today. If you're wondering why I didn't link any examples, then you can Google them. There are plenty of articles, new and old, which explain the damage slavery has done to America. If it didn't happen, I believe the world, especially Africa, would be in a much better place than it is now.
Another complaint I've seen about this ending is that Jax didn't go around and end all types of slavery.
This is just ridiculous, considering that other characters in the game have similar endings and aren't being criticized. There's one where a character turns Jax and her family into literal gods. I see no one complaining about them not curing cancer or ending world hunger. There's another ending where a character restores her country and people and becomes their leader.
This is pretty similar to Jax's ending, but where are the complaints about not bringing back other extinct countries and their people?
This whole situation reminds me of something that I always ask myself: Why is it whenever black people do anything that involves black people exclusively, other people (you know exactly who I'm talking about) always have to complain and ask about other races?
A Black Student Union? Why isn't there a White Student Union? YouTube's doing a live stream concert that celebrates HBCUs? Why don't they celebrate other cultures too and celebrate diversity? Black History Month? Why isn't there a White History Month? I could go on, sadly enough.
This type of behavior is so annoying and hypocritical because I never see complaints like this when things like Asian Pacific American Heritage Month or Univision exist.
These racists are just proving to the world that not only can they not stand to see black people succeed, but they also can't stand to see black people period.
Everything black upsets them and you know what? Good. Let them type on their keyboards about a fictional black man preventing the slave trade from existing.
It's a shame that people like this have infested the gaming community like a plague.
Do not believe that every gamer is a racist moron just from reading this article. I've interacted with some online and they typically aren't like that.
As game makers start to embrace diversity, I would expect more situations like this to occur. If more of these situations arise, then that must mean that the gaming industry is doing something right.
