Hiya! I just saw the QSMP post you made and I have a genuine question! If you can't answer me yourself, it's totally fine, it's just that you seemed to know something about this.
I'm from central Europe, and looking at the mob from the modpack, I never would have guessed that it was offensive in any way whatsoever. To me it just looked like a fantasy creature based on tribes or very very old human history (like uhh.. neanderthals for example). My question is, what part of the mob is offensive? Is it based on something that exists? I'm just really trying to see what I should avoid for future reference. Again, I absolutely mean no harm, this was just my first time hearing about this.
Hello!
So, first up, I want to say that nothing I'm going to go into next should be taken with any sort of malice. It's really really good that when you saw something and didn't understand it and you went to ask questions to understand the topic better! That's wonderful! I am very proud of you for taking that step!
I will also preface this discussion with a general disclaimer that I am white, the reason I've made these posts is because native people who I follow and am friends with were hurt by the really racist portrayal but didn't feel comfortable risking harassment. I am completely fine with risking harassment, and I want my friends' hurt to be acknowledged and addressed. That being said, there's millions upon millions of different indigenous people from all different places and backgrounds. They live all over the world and they are not a single unified voice. My goal here is to just give a rough overview of some of the basics.
That being said, when you say "it just looked like a fantasy creature based on tribes or very very old human history (like uhh.. neanderthals for example)." that's honestly kind of a big part of why this imagery is so racist. Because it is based on tribes. It's a racist conglomerate of indigenous/tribal cultures that all get bundled into an age old racist "savages" trope. These cultures are not dead, they are not gone, they are not primitive or a relic of history, and they deserve the same respect as any other culture.
"savages" and "brutes" are both extremely racist stereotypes of indigenous cultures. Through history it's been used to justify colonization and genocide throughout the world. Nowadays, people often attempt to portray tribes and indigenous cultures as either gone or archaic. Just a thing of history. Ignoring the fact that there are still people that belong to these cultures who deserve to have their histories treated with respect & to not have their cultures and images treated like some sort of monster.
The mobs in question have a stereotypical "tribal" look to them, and they attack players on sight that don't look like them (until you murder them and take their masks). The resemblance was bad enough that the streamers I heard were all calling these "natives". It was very obvious what they were supposed to represent. An idea of native people as primitive savages that player can (and are encouraged to) murder without consequence or feeling bad for their actions.
In fact, in order to be able to trade with or not be attacked by the mobs, you have to murder them to get their masks. It's really bad. You can also murder and enslave their "Chief". Which is. Bad. It's really bad.
Now, just to be clear, Quackity/the other streamers didn't create the mod. However, it should've never been added to the server, and streamers should address the way that they reacted to the mobs. FitMC in particular reacted very racistily and clearly knew what he was mocking when he did.
Overall, this mob is a deeply racist stereotype, and while it's inclusion was probably accidental, it's still very important that Quackity be an adult about it, take responsibility, apologize & set out a plan going forward so this doesn't happen again. That's his job as the owner of the server. FitMC also needs to apologize for the comments that he made and do better in the future, or Quackity needs to remove him from the server because that shit really wasn't okay.
Hopefully that's helpful? It's something that's kinda hard to explain how racist the imagery is because of how bad it is.
If it’s okay, I’d like to add on to try and break it down further/reiterate some points on the “why it’s racist” part. (I am white personally, but I am also autistic, so I understand the need for specifics.)
1. The masks are an amalgamation of real-life native tribes. Think “AI art mashing stolen stuff together”-- that but for tribes.
2. The heirarchy. The mob has a “cheif” to its tribe. This is one of the first things children (or racist depictions) ascribe to being Native American. It’s in the very name; the fact that this chief is depicted as fat, “gross”, and “godlike” should speak for itself in that regard.
3. The weapons. Blowdarts and spears are most commonly associated with South American tribes. They are also seen as “primitive” weapons. They are a massive stereotype in and of themselves in almost every scenario, because of where they come from and how they are depicted.
4. The behavior. The mobs are aggressive and designed to be murdered. This isn’t a “think of your actions” type murder, the way Undertale does things, it’s a “the game will reward you [unique loot drops] for murdering them.” Given the history behind a lot of violence toward Native tribes, this is an instance of dehumanization and colonization. Racism depicts Natives are “violent” and “savages” that “need to be either murdered or saved [converted]”. Thus, is a stereotype.
5. The player expectations. Again with the game rewarding you for murdering them, you are expected to see them as primitive and lesser. You are expected to treat these mobs due to the way they are designed less than villagers, less than piglins. You are not encouraged to think critically about the design, you are encouraged to murder them.
6. Becoming their god. This is colonization at its finest. Colonizers who think they are “better” than Natives and should be worshipped is very akin to slavery, converting, and basically just using people.
All in all, uh. This mod is so chock full of racism that it is, as OP said, very very hard to explain just how racist it is, because it’s hard to know where to even start. I hope I broke it down okay and that this addition was alright!
I just wanna commend both of you for how well you responded to this question, not only by explaining it very well, but also by doing it very politely!
As a Western European, I know how little these kinds of things are talked about, especially since lots of the stereotypes can be found in the cartoons we watch growing up (such as old Disney) and I've learned more about this from online conversations. That's why it's so important to be allowed to say "I understand that this is harmful, but I don't know why, can someone educate me?" so we can spread the word and help people grow.
Well done for (hopefully) helping expand another mind 🙌
