We need to talk about hate.
Hate has evolved, and the internet has played a significant role in that evolution. We’ve entered a new era; data-driven bigotry has arrived. It’s a hilarious oxymoron — but it’s here to stay. From the mouths of this new breed, you’ll see ‘uncomfortable truths’ like:
- Transgenderism refutes the natural laws of biology and transmutes human nature.
- Blacks score lower on average on every intelligence test ever devised and are far more likely to show criminal or antisocial personality traits. (Refuted here and here)
- Blacks are genetically predisposed to impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and an inability to think abstractly. They’re less capable of peaceful co-existence and prosperity in Western society. (Refuted here and here)
- Adolescents are experiencing a new phenomenon called “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), in which they are motivated to become transgender by “social contagion.” (Refuted here)
Does any of that piss you off? I hope so. For most people reading this, it should elicit a gut-level reaction — an impulse to push warped ideas and twisted statistics back into the darkness and obscurity that birthed them.
All of the above are misguided and well refuted, but in a world in which we rarely read beyond the headline, they’re the exact ammo needed to push an agenda under the guise of ‘What THEY don’t want you to know.”
Unfortunately, this barely scratches the surface of what’s being shared within some of these small ‘underground’ gaming communities. Those that share these beliefs have a near-infinite supply of junk science.
How it impacts us.
My startup, Metafy, takes the best players in the world and brings them on platform for 1:1 coaching. A part of my job includes finding those players and convincing them to create an account. When thinking about games like Fortnite and Valorant, I knew we wanted to have someone on the platform that was an expert on improving one’s aim.
I found that expert. Aimer7 is a popular figurehead in the aiming community. He’s gone as far as writing a 14-page handbook on improving aim that he distributes freely.
He’s coached players such as Psalm, who finished 2nd in the Fortnite World Cup. The startup, Novos.gg, even partnered with him to create The Ultimate Fortnite Aiming Routine. Aimer7 is precisely the caliber of players we want on Metafy. So, I decided to reach out. He links to his Discord from his Twitter bio, which seemed like the best way to have a conversation.
Before I continue, there’s something you should know about the gaming community. Within its murky depths are a particular species of scum floating about with just enough toxic energy to ruin anything they’re a part of.
Aimer7’s Discord is disproportionately comprised of these specific individuals. It’s kind of like the Island of Misfit Toys from that old stop motion Rudolph movie. Except instead of wanting to find love and acceptance, they mostly just hate blacks and gays.
Here are a few greatest hits from him and his community.
Yikes.
As a b̶l̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ decent human, it’s evident to me that there’s no place on our platform for people like this — regardless of talent.
The degenerate viewpoints shown above aren’t as uncommon as you might think. My initial reaction to this was an urgency to smear them and shut down the discussion in any way I could. That’s how I was taught about racism and bigotry when I was growing up. A taboo subject, not to be discussed — only to be censored.
That doesn’t work anymore.
For the young gamers today, there isn’t so much of a turning of the gut when reading the stats or Discord posts above. For them, three things above all else make them light their keyboards ablaze:
- Censorship
- Hypocrisy
- Misuse of memes by businesses
In their eyes, bigotry may be wrong, but censorship is worse. The generations that follow us are growing up in humanity’s first era of information transparency. The more you forbid them from looking into something, the more compelled they are to do it.
You better believe the dregs of society are taking advantage.
Deplatforming people like this makes sense to me, but it’s not enough to pretend they weren’t there, like a cockroach at a dinner party. It’s imperative we start talking about why these viewpoints are misguided.
- It shouldn’t be hard to be black in gaming.
- It shouldn’t be hard to be female in gaming.
- It shouldn’t be hard to be LGBTQ in gaming.
It shouldn’t be this hard. Period.
The temptation of the forbidden
When you tell someone “Hey, don’t look at this” you know what it makes them want to do? Look directly at it. When you tell a kid that porn is only for adults, the curiosity will eat them alive.
I tell you all of this because a similar scenario is playing out for an entire generation curious about race and LGBTQ issues. If you don’t talk to them honestly and address the uncomfortable bits, someone else fucking will.
The internet is an ever-expanding sea of knowledge, and video games are quickly becoming the social hub for young people. It should be of no surprise that sometimes racists, bigots, misogynists, anti-vaxxers, conspiracists wash ashore armed with convincing ‘facts.’ Pretending they don’t exist and hoping they’ll simply go away isn’t just misguided… it’s foolish.
We need to be prepared to counter the compelling non-sense with facts of our own while realizing that they have grown weirdly good at this — a side-effect of spending most of their free time arguing on the internet.
We’re sending the wrong message.
“But debating them is treating their position like it’s mainstream and legitimate!”
Sorry pal, but a shocking amount of the country already considers these positions mainstream and legitimate. Things have improved, yes, but we have a long way to go.
- 65% percent of whites don’t support the “Black Lives Matter” movement, and three quarters think blacks are treated fairly in the workplace or when applying for loans.
- 47% of Americans think LGBT should not be accepted by society, and over half of Republicans (51%) believe America has gone too far in accepting trans people.
- The majority of Americans don’t think that holding negative views of blacks, Muslims, or immigrants makes someone “a bad person.”
- In movies, trans characters are tormented relentlessly. The Danish Girl, Dallas Buyers Club, and Boys Don’t Cry all feature trans characters who exist only to suffer until they meet agonizing deaths. Their actors got Academy Awards, which helps to explain the persistence of this trope.
Those included in the percentages above likely don’t consider themselves bigoted or racist. Our actions as a society say more than the platitudes we dole out. Our notions of all people being created equal are accepted with a nod and a wink. This leads to a generation of children and young adults who only express their real opinions behind a mask of digital anonymity.
We can rise above.
In the course of their well-researched, unbiased analysis, 100 percent of those sharing hate and ‘uncomfortable truths’ discover, in a shocking coincidence, the race and sexual orientation they happen to be a member of is the way it should be. Crazy, right? The fact of the matter is, prejudice against people who look and sound different from us is hardwired into the human brain. It’s a remnant of what used to keep us alive, a tribal instinct. Prejudice is far from the bold, analytical choice; it’s the animal default.
As a people, this is among our most significant flaws, genetic or otherwise. A predisposition to favor tribalism over a world in which everyone has an equal chance to contribute for the greater good of our species.
It’s hypothesized that rape among primitive humans was employed when men could not compete for resources and status necessary to attract and reproduce successfully with desirable mates. We’ve progressed beyond that. Now, those who can’t compete just say the n-word on Discord. I think we can move beyond that one too.
Taking action.
Metafy will always take a firm, and vocal, stance against hate. It’s not enough for us to silently stop shitty people from making money on our platform. When we pretend they don’t exist and push them underground, they thrive. There’s no sidestepping here, this is why these people are not, and will not, be on our platform. Additionally, we’ll be taking continued action to ensure that female and underrepresented gamers are safe on our platform.
It takes more than words to make a difference, and I’ve been throwing out a whole lot of words. So let’s talk about what Metafy will be doing to make an actual difference. In the coming weeks, we’ll be adding platform integrations to allow our coaches to automatically donate a % of their income to a charity of their choice, among which will be charities supporting Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. We’ll match the percentage donated from our own cut, if they donate 100% so too will we.
There’s good chance feedback on this article will cost a few points on my “faith in humanity” scale, and I’m sure there will be a varying degree of backlash. I expect to be harassed and insulted by Aimer7 and his Discord community. Maybe we’ll even lose supporters, coaches, or investors. To them, I say good riddance. Apathy is worse than hate — I’ll take that risk. When we dodge the hard discussions, we stand in the way of progression.
As a community, gaming is home to millions of users. For many, it’s an integral part of their social life as a whole. We need to start talking, really talking, about the things that make us uncomfortable. Sweeping things under the rug isn’t conducive to progression; it’s a catalyst for implosion.
Education has done more for humanity than oppression and censorship ever has. I don’t see why that shouldn’t remain true when it comes to culture today. Hate has evolved, so too must our method of dealing with it.
It’s time for difficult conversations.
