‘It’s-A-Me, Racist,’ Does Super Mario Kart 8 Push White Privilege?

Are Yoshi, Lakitu and Donkey Kong not doing enough to end white privilege? One video game reviewer–having determined that Nintendo’s “Mario Kart 8″ suffers from a lack of black and Latino playable characters–seems to think so. But is that really the case?

[SilentNegotiator]

A lack of racial variety in a video game does not "push white privilege"

Get off Nintendo's nuts already. Not representing a group does not make someone against that group. PC Bulls**t is really getting out of hand, especially in the gaming community.

Mario lives in a FICTIONAL universe. Why does there "need" to be a black/latino/etc race in the mushroom kingdom? I don't think there are even characters truly representing any Asian races and the developers are JAPANESE (simply having Japanese names does not count)! Are they racist against themselves, too? And where should it end? Should there being hundreds of characters to represent every single race of people?

Stop trying to dictate fiction, worthless fascists.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

First time in a long while that I agree with you.

There's really no place in the community for this kind of crap; we've got more important issues to worry about than Mario not getting some new third brother with [insert color here] skin.

[Conzul]

I know! I'm so goddamned tired of this shit that I wanna go kickstart a game with only white dudes who go and save a white princess from an evil black guy.

Maybe put an Asian in there to make it edgy.

Heh, just realized....no wait Gannondorf was green

[TotalSynthesisX]

Very well said.

I'm willing to bet that if Nintendo actually designed a minority character and added it to a game, someone would complain about it being racially insensitive ("His/her skin is too dark/light.") or some bullshit like that.

I'm LITERALLY getting sick to my stomach reading all this crap online about anyone and everyone getting offended by something. Everyone is looking for a handout; something to be offended by so they can reap the benefits of the rectifications. It's selfish and a cancer to society.

/rant

[Why o why]

The last thing I think of when playing most Nintendo games is colour of characters.

Much ado about nothing really. A token gesture would be more of an annoyance personally.

[Eonjay]

Facepalm. Do you realize that this site is the one using race to get hits. The original review to which they are refering is forgetable and would not have gotten traction had they not publicized it as though it is a big deal. It is an oponion. This article actually pours gas on the flames by adding racism an white privilege to the mix... something that wasn't even in the original review.

It is an opinion from one person that has been rebroadcast dozens of times. Let it go. And I see you guys fall for it over and over again.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

to Eonjay // you are so right ! The reviewer CASEY MALONE said nothing about NINTENDO or the game being racist! He just mentioned lack of non white human players in the game. Then he went on to say how great and how much fun the game is! Terrible that the guy who gave his opinion and uploaded the review to N4G is trying to get people heated for clicks like you said,

[LeCreuset]

1) Eonjay is correct. The site critiquing the original observation, and N4G, are the ones trolling you all for hits. The original review says nothing about racism or white privilege. As a reviewer, he commented on being disappointed by the lack of racial diversity in Mario over 30 years, which he said is highlighted when you look at the Mario Kart 8 lineup as Nintendo presents it, on a single screen. He acknowledged it would be "atypical" for Nintendo to do something about that by introducing new (diverse) characters to a Mario Kart game. It was an observation, buried deep in the article, promoted only by the "race baiters" that played you all so well.

2) Are people really arguing against "white privilege" by saying Nintendo is Japanese? Doesn't that make it worse? They're Japanese and their biggest franchises with iconic human characters include Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and F-Zero. This is a Japanese company whose roster of significant humanoids is mainly composed of characters that are more representative of whites than Japanese. This is supposed to be evidence against white privilege? And let's not even get started on the ample evidence of Asians believing they have to conform to white physical characteristics (Anime being a prime example.).

3) I can't believe I'm having to say this: Rosters of white humanoid characters supplemented with animals, non-humanoid aliens, and other creatures does not represent racial diversity.

4) There are a lot of people that seem to be having a harsher reaction to this observation of a lack of racial diversity in Mario than they are to the "race baiter" who played them all like fiddles, N4G for getting in on it, or the comment in this very comment section comparing black people to monkeys.

[mikeslemonade]

pretty sure toad is asian

[KonsoruMasuta]

Pretty sure Toad isn't even human.

[BattleN]

No! KonsoruMasuta is right haha!

[Gazondaily]

He's a mushroom mate...

[saviin]

Yeah and also there is nothing white about Boser with his low riders, elaborate houses an dozen kids.

[Dannycr]

In fact, the game shows representations of a lot of groups: Humans, Goombas, Koopas, Toads, Kongs, Piranha Plants, etc so there's your variety lol ;)

[Supporter]

Totally agree, the world these days and what we (the public opinion) expect of people/businesses in terms of politically correct behavior is just BS.

political correctness is killing culture and diversity, everyone needs to accommodate everyone and not disagree with anyone and include everyone, or they are racist chauvinistic bigoted and or unintelligent. This is really getting out of hand.

SMH @ the world right now.

[MRMagoo123]

There was a thread the other day on MMO-Champion about how there are no black races in the game and they thought it was white privilege lol, they said they should be allowed to make black orcs and what not, some people just take the complete piss.

[Chrischi1988]

I feel humiliated by Mario Kart 8. They say white privelege, but where is the german character? Only Italians and Mustroom people?

/Sarcasm off

Really now, give me a break, the Nintendo hate goes on to a degree, it is not even the slightest bit funny anymore. What else? Where are the Indian characters? Where are the Russian Charakters? Or Asians? So Mario Kart 8 is a racist game^^ That all of these characters are complete fiction and fight a giant evil turtle doesnt count, no...

What else is next? No homosexuals in the next Zelda? Is Zelda now sexist?

[Braid]

I don't think Mario is racist, if anything he's just a big stereotype.

[paulcek]

Stereotype?is there even a stereotype for Italian plumbers?

[JsonHenry]

Lol @ white privilege. It doesn't exist but it is a good tool for racists to try and subjugate someone who is white though.

Political privilege? Yes! Financial privilege? Yes! Privilege based on skin color? NO! It is a term used as a tool to divide and cause infighting by the two I mentioned that actually do have some form of privilege in an effort to maintain their privilege.

[3-4-5]

And by White does this Writer mean "Asian/Italian/Dinosaur/E vil Italian ?

How many "white" characters are even in Mario games ?

[Ck1x]

On top of it, Mario is Italian! Go tell your nearest Italian that they are just white and see what they say...

[King Nezz]

Haha yeah I know what you mean. I asked a few Italians if they considered themselves white, and they looked at me as if I offended them.

[Mr Pumblechook]

Mario & Luigi are technically 'ethnic whites.'

I think this year it is fashionable to bust Nintendo's chops about being anti-gay or anti-ethnic minorities but I don't think they are at all. In the 80s a Japanese man created the character Mario, an Italian-American plumber. As the range of games expanded we learnt he had a brother (also Italian) and a woman he was in love with. Now all Nintendo have done is created games with stories about that small group of people and their non-human friends and enemies. The Mario games were never meant to push an agenda and represent the cosmopolitan world of people. For God's sake Nintendo is a Japanese company and not a single Mario character is Japanese!

Sure for a worldwide franchise if any new characters are introduced it would be welcomed to have characters of colour, however the absence of such in the present game does not indicate racism.

[Jihaad_cpt]

Well Italians are generally a little racist. Ask Mario Balotelli. About playing in the Seria A. So yeah they are "white"

[CrowbaitBob]

You just generalized an entire nationality as being "a little racist" and then essentially stated that their presumed racism is evidence of them being white.

You may not actually be a bigot, but your comment reads like the dictionary definition of bigotry.

[Jihaad_cpt]

@CrowbaitBob

So what exactly do Italians regard themselves as? I know an Italian that I work with and he says he's white, he isn't totally racist but definitely a little. I do apologize I don't mean to say that every single Italian is racist I was a little loose with my wording but if you're not white and you're not black, are they Latin?

[CrowbaitBob]

@Jihaad_cpt

The truth is virtually every nation on earth is populated with people from all over the planet. It's entirely possible to be a second or third generation Italian whose ancestors originated from Africa, Asia, or even the Americas. You may argue that these individuals don't represent ethnic Italians, but who cares? Are we really going to go out of our way to try and find any justification possible to over-generalize groups of people?

One thing I've learned from traveling all over the world is that, no matter where you go, there will always be welcoming, intelligent people that don't take issue with a person's race/religion/gender/whatever. People are people regardless of how tribal we may become from time to time.

[SlavisH2]

yeah they are white. Thats why they were part of axis/nazi's in world war 2. race=/= culture

[Budobear]

I have to say I'm very confused by your statement.
All of the Europiean Countries the Axis invaded were white, the British, US and Ozzie troups that fought against the Naiz's were for the large part white (I know there were more black troops from America but as there weren't that many)
So I'm, a little confused.

[Chrischi1988]

So what are the japanese, are they white, too? So the allies were no whites? What kind of dumb statement is that? And of course, all the roman cultures, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, are all considered white. Also the slavish cultures are considered white.

[SlavisH2]

@CK1x @budobear hitler would have never embraced italy if they weren't white. He looked up to mussolini. THey were part of nazi europe. He even sent troops to help them in battle. He never did that for japan or any other non white country. The article is dumb but to say itialins are not white is not true.

@chrischi there were to parts to world war 2. Asian front and EU front. Nazi never fought side by side with japan in battle.They did fight with italy and even saved mussolini when he was removed from power. I was replying to a statement saying they weren't white. I said they were. YOu got emotional and attack me and said they were, lol.

[Chrischi1988]

Look, I did not disagree, that Italians are white, I just disagreed, that they are white, because they were part of the axis. I know german history pretty well, cuz I live in germany and am german. But that is besides the point. The enemies of the axis were almost all whites, too. That is just what I wanted to say ;)

[King Nezz]

White privilege? Last time I checked, Nintendo was a Japanese company.

[Tyrone_Biggums]

and last time I checked, asians are always trying to be like whites. Video games are an example and also anime where the characters all take on white body anatomy. The question is why aren't there any main characters that are of minorities other than asian.

[D3ATH_DRIV3R_777]

Unfortunately, this the world we live in. idiosyncratic humans! ppl just won't learn how to let this stuff go!

[darkstar18]

wow..there idiots will do anything to draw attention away from how excited everyone is about this game lol..sad and desperate.

[SilentNegotiator]

http://n4g.com/news/1512820...

Stop trying to make this an anti-Nintendo conspiracy theory.

[weekev15]

Its an italian family, sticking a token black guy in there would make it worse. Jeez I cant believe someone thinks this is an issue. Next there will be WWF protests that Mario rides on Yoshis back. Cruelty against dinosaurs. Oh and sexism due to Peach constantly being portrayed as the damsel in distress(although if im Mario Id be pissed at her cos she kicks ass in 3d world. Id be like "whya you noa save a yourself")

[R00bot]

"It's-a-me, Racist," had me chuckling though.

[Moonman]

Thank you @SilentNegotiator. The developers of Mario are Japanese and made Italian brothers as main characters who are heroic "everymen" who saves the princess. It was awesome how Mario gained popularity worldwide. If anything Mario broke the "big muscle guy" hero stereotype. Talk about that...

[wheresmymonkey]

Mario and Luigi aren't Italian, they're American-Italian. They come from Brooklyn. Well originally they were.

Yoshis island seems to suggesst they're actually from the mushroom kingdon.

[Theyellowflash30]

"Its's-a-me, Clickbait Article"

However the writer of this garbage article is needs to learn learn the definition of "racist."

Freaking idiots. Any person of color can use there own Mii if they want to.

[mixelon]

The writer of the article disagreed about it being racist, and was quoting a totally different publication.

Its kind if clever (if lame) using someone else's dumb idea to draw traffic to your own more reasonable opinion.

[BoneBone]

DON'T CLICK ON THIS ARRICLE, PLEASE.

The guy is a click-bait cheap-out.

It's a fantasy game, there is no colour in it. There's no strikingly Japanese characters in it either, so the whole of Japan is offended? And as people mention, you can use a Mii of your creation and skin tone, which is fascinating from a company that's inherently racist and homophobic as Nintendo.

The hell does crap like this get aproved. You just want to shake some people sometimes

[BoneBone]

I've added a report to the report article section (cog icon top right) feel free to click agree to get this rubbish removed for the site.

[alti]

not even going to read this article considering mario is not even white. I can't.

[M-M]

The article title and the reasoning behind it, I'm dying.

[0P-Tigrex]

Get the hell over it! it's a Mario game for christ sake.

[Jdoki]

Ridiculous

[BosSSyndrome]

Play as your damn Mii.

[BattleN]

Smartest reply lol

[DarkLord1003]

Getting crazier every day..

[MasterofMagnetism]

What a load of crap.

[stragomccloud]

Asians pushing white privilege??? I'm sorry, but does anyone else see the irony here?

[Tyrone_Biggums]

you see it in anime all the time

[stragomccloud]

Except that you very rarely do. Most of the characters aren't white. They're Japanese. Japanese people think it's kind of pathetic that so many white people think that anime characters are supposed to be white. It's just ethnocentrism; projecting one's own perception onto other characters.

The characters that are supposed to be white; however, have over exaggerated muscles and very pronounced noses and brow ridges.

[lizard81288]

Bleach has a good mix of races.

[young7yang]

FOR F&*K SAKE ALREADY!....

This generation is so full of pussies!

Who the hell cares.. It's Mario Kart Goddammit..

Would you prefer there B a token Black Mario called Yorio.

And Yes I am black.. Enough with the racial bullshit!... First resident evil now Mario.. This is stretching.

[colonel179]

Complaining about race in a game where the characters are a dinosaur, monkey, turtle, etc? What the hell?

[Swiggins]

Muh Privilege....

This isn't your ordinary every day stupidity...

This is...

Advanced Stupidity!

[wheresmymonkey]

What do you mean white privlidge, The game's incredibly recially diverse, It' beautigul Toads, koopers and humans all competing together on an equal footing for the coverted fire flower cup.

I just, i can't even. I think whoever wrote this needs to really think about their priorities here and see that adding minorities to a game to appease this or that demographic is probabkly more rasist than just going with what makes sense.

[ninjahunter]

"I CANT TURN PEACH BLUE OH MY GOD RACIALLY INSENSITIVE"

[windblowsagain]

Yeah you want to talk about racism, maybe look up king jong un remarks about Obama.

As for video games, it's not needed and never has been.

[WeAreLegion]

Boo!!! Boo, Daily Caller! Boo!!!

[Display]

Jim Goad sums it up..

"Pretend it makes sense that it’s currently considered the pinnacle of virtue to eagerly hand over what you have instead of fighting to keep it. Pretend that all other groups aren’t actually fighting loudly and brazenly and openly in their own self-interest. Pretend that it’s only wrong when white males do it.

Pretend it’s moral—rather than cowardly and spineless—to bend over, grab your ankles, and placidly acquiesce to social shaming and belligerent guilt-tripping.

Pretend that people who whine about white privilege are typically white and far more privileged than most whites. Pretend that they are motivated by a sense of fairness rather than a deep-rooted guilt that they’re projecting onto less privileged whites. Pretend that if their families have been in America since colonial times, they aren’t more likely to have descended from slave owners rather than from white indentured servants. Pretend that the peddlers of the “white privilege” meme are motivated by facts and logic rather than emotion and superstition.

Pretend that only Western civilization—rather than every civilization that has ever existed until, ironically, latter-day Western civilization—is chauvinistic, considers itself the center of the universe, and acts the best it can to advance its own interests whether or not it’s at others’ expense.

Forget all about Hannibal, the Moors, Genghis Khan, and Islamic conquerors. Deny or suppress any evidence that suggests white males merely won a game in which everyone was a willing participant. Go one step further and accuse whatever team wins the World Series this year of cheating.

Pretend the ample successes of white-male civilization had nothing to do with possible genetic privileges that were actually earned through evolutionary struggles under harsh circumstances.

Pretend that all the rage directed at white males is strictly spurred by a thirst for justice rather than a deep-rooted shame that it seemed so easy for white males to subjugate other cultures in the first place.

Pretend that the underprivileged are motivated by compassion rather than envy."

http://takimag.com/article/...

[DVAcme]

This is a joke article, right?

Right??

[voodoochild346]

Pozzle. I'll remember that name the next time an article like this is posted.

[ironfist92]

"lack of black and Latino"

Yes because aside from white, those are the only races in the world. /s

When was the last time there was an indian or a samoan or egyptian or tibetan or south african or brazilian lead protagonist? There's a whole lot more races out than than what you see on the street.

[KingPin]

lmfao the last time there were black people in the game, they were crying racism from the rooftops.

resident evil 5 debacle anyone?

[lizard81288]

There was Lee from the Walking Dead

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Italians were not considered white early in the 20th century in AMERICA! They had their own box to check when they checked their box when taking a census! I would guess it is because a lot of Italians have light dark skin and curly thick hair.

[cfc83]

Maybe the idiot is looking for a job with Bioware.

[Artemidorus]

I find it racist that someone has to change gaming history because he isn't happy over a lack of race/colour.

This whole colour/race thing is going too far people trying to change something because 'they' (who put themselves in the firing line for being different)are not happy.

[Syakinta]

Racial Rant = More Views

[Iltapalanyymi]

>muh privileges.

[Sketchy_Galore]

.....ugh.

[MasterCornholio]

What about the Yanamamo?

I find it offensive that they dont appear in any of Nintendos games.

O.o

This article is just dumb.

[Malice-Flare]

of course they're racists, they race...

[frezhblunts]

Ummm Mario is white and the people making it is Japanese. I think they just had a character in mind and stuck with it, I am sure they are not racist against themselves.

[frezhblunts]

if you think about it you can be any race you want if you can choose your mii character like I have seen

[RedDeadLB]

This title is giving me the shits. No one cares. Not one bit.

[Blues Cowboy]

Oh stop it already. The Tomodachi Life criticisms were validated by Nintendo after that incredibly insulting public statement ("whimsygate"?), but this is stupidity beyond all measure.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Why is this even something to be discussed :/. This is a game played by all races the world over and enjoyed.

People have lost the meaning off what racism was about that's the real problem. Now its just a term thrown about to cause a bit off controversy.

When my grandparents where young they would have still had golliwogs as toys as an option. Would have still been watching TV where the colored people where white people painted black, Hell this was only the UK.

How can something be racist when everyone bar none enjoys it. Even the idiot that did the review enjoyed it just wanted to make silly remarks -_-.

[Edsword]

Yes, Mario and Nintendo hate minorities and gays! Geesh, this is what political correctness breeds, a bunch of idiots looking for all the wrongs in society and none of the good. Why don't we praise Nintendo for still making relevant non violent family games? Instead we attempt to bash them over the head with political correctness.

[SoulSercher620]

What was the author thinking making this article?

[BlackWolf]

Getting hits. Yes, that's the state of video games journalism.

[Reeze]

The PC police need to get their mouths sewn shut to stop them from spewing nonsense like this.

[Picnic]

Considering that Nintendo are Japanese, the Japanese might far more reasonably ask why there are little or no Japanese people in Nintendo games. And the answer? Nintendo seem to see themselves as like a safe, pseudo-Westernised, version of Disney. Even Disney don't see themselves that way- they have had many different cultures represented , especially since The Lion King onwards.

But it's the least of Nintendo's worries. All it is is emblematic of why , despite constant attempts by some (especially young teenagers) to claim Nintendo as their own
cutesy retro-ish brand, Nintendo are not actually cool.
Zelda is not cool, it's a little boy playing at being a hero against pirates and other enemies who, in real life, should / would rightfully kick his arse. The N64 was cool mainly because of Rare, the Gamecube mainly because of the first Metroid Prime game and Capcom's games.

It still can arouse anger to say it but they would have never released something as cutting edge at the time as the Dreamcast which went on to have Jet Set Radio.
You know exactly what you're going to get with them and the people that most appeals to are females, young boys, young family guys trying to paint an ultra conservative image of themselves with their family, and die hard paunching 40 year olds.

Not having other nationalities wouldn't have even been on their agenda. It's like asking a company that only make margarine to make butter. They are so conservative that they will eat themselves in terms of being a major console maker until all they are is in shops selling retro style items. Which is not what the modern videogame industry is about.

But back to the article- they are right to bring it up. Not because it necessarily reveals racism. But because it reveals the smallness of Nintendo's attempts at talking about 'culture'. Instead of creating 'everyman' characters they really create blank and meaninglessly inoffensive characters.

[Cussing]

This kind of stuff blows me away, I mean are there actually people playing this thinking "This game doesn't have any minorities!"? Some people need to grow a pair and get a freaking life.

[thezeldadoth]

what a sad attempt at making a culturally significant article. this is pathetc

[Stapleface]

The users that clicked Approve on this article should have those privileges taken away permanently. They obviously can't tell a relevant news article, from something that should be buried in the trash pit of the internet.

[lizard81288]

Nintendo has the Punch-Out series, so Nintendo has a diverse class from all over the globe

[corvusmd]

So....a videogame character that is potentially very very offensive to Italians is "pushing white privilege"? So then is it "native American privilege" that the Redskins named after them?

The PC police need to die off or get a hobby already.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Is this seriously happening...? Man, 'journalists' sure write about anything these days.

[King_of_Nothing]

Who cares, find something worthwhile to spend your energy on. Being butthurt over stupid Politically correct crap like this only makes everything worse.

[rivencleft]

Oh my god, STFU already about racist bullsh*t, in my opinion most times racism is only prevalent when people keep bringing it up, for no reason. This game will be fun no matter what race you are.

[mopground]

racist writer should be ashamed of him/herself. bloody newage feminists

[Dunban67]

I have not seen any Alutians or Samoans - whats up w that?