'Magic: The Gathering' Removes Racist Cards From The Game [View all]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2020/06/10/magic-the-gathering-removes-racist-cards-from-the-game/#4e54d1fcd46b
Back in 1994, Magic: The Gathering printed “Invoke Prejudice,” a card that appears to depict a horde of hooded Klansmen. The card’s action, which allows a player to counter creatures of a different mana color, makes the implication even less subtle. Now, the game’s parent company, Wizards of the Coast, is removing the controversial card for good.
As global civil rights activism brings racism to the forefront, Magic: The Gathering is taking a hard look at its own history. Wizards of the Coast began by removing seven cards from play and from Gatherer, its official database.
“There's no place for racism in our game, nor anywhere else,” the company said Wednesday. “The events of the past weeks and the ongoing conversation about how we can better support people of color have caused us to examine ourselves, our actions, and our inactions.”
Wizards of the Coast began by removing “Invoke Prejudice,” “Cleanse,” “Stone-Throwing Devils,” “Pradesh Gypsies,” “Jihad,” “Imprison,” and “Crusade” from the game and from its official database of all Magic cards. But a Wednesday tweet indicates that this is just the beginning.
“We are starting a review of every card we have printed,” the official Twitter account shared. “This first pass isn't meant to be an exhaustive catalogue of every problematic card in Magic’s history, and we will continue to take actions on similar cards in the future.”
Looking at it in context, “Invoke Prejudice” probably should have been removed years ago. Ordered alphabetically and by release date, the card has been assigned the ID 1488 in Gatherer, an unfortunate coincidence which seems to refer to two numbers significant to Nazis and white supremacists. To make matters worse, the card’s artist, Harold McNeill, is known for his references to Nazi imagery.
At the same time, it’s clear that Wizards of the Coast has been making a multi-year effort to promote diverse representation. Today, Magic: The Gathering features gay, lesbian, transgender, and nonbinary characters in its official canon. Hugh McMullen, former Wizards Director of Communications, told me in 2016 that it is important to the game to offer a representation of anyone who might play it.
“Look at a typical Magic set today,” McMullen said, “There are black characters in the world inspired by Greek mythology. We spent a year on worlds inspired by Asian cultures. There are women warriors, women wizards, women sages, and women goblins. Whoever you are, you can see yourself in the game.”
Responses on Twitter indicate that fans see Wizards’ announcement as a step in the right direction, but point out a more glaring problem in Magic: a lack of diversity among the staff. The blog post hints at further progress in its closing remark: “There's much more work to be done as we continue to make our games, communities, and company more inclusive.” I’ve reached out to Wizards of the Coast to see if a spokesperson can clarify further.
Incidentally, I just checked Ebay, and the "Invoke Prejudice" card is currently selling for around $500.
= new reply since forum marked as read
