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[PaxVenire]

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[Iprovidelittlepianos]

I think @Jogre explains why Fallout doesn’t need to and probably shouldn’t portray 50s-style racism in this comment:

I mean absolutely it would be cool to have areas like the Capital Wasteland be majority black, due to the demographics of Washington DC.

I think the problem with the take @Proletären had is that it assumed the same ethnic tensions in the real world translate over to the Fallout world, something that I don't think is a good idea. Like he suggested Black Wastelanders form an underclass of the Capital Wasteland. Now I don't know how an apocalypse would play out IRL, but I kinda don't think this is a good discussion for a Fallout game to have.

I feel like wacky pulp Sci Fi settings aren't the best place to have nuanced discussions of actual discrimination. Like, not only would it create a lot of expectations for the writers to handle it with real nuance that I don't think would come naturally to post-apocalyptic setting writers, but if handled poorly could make a lot of Black and Minority Ethnic players feel uncomfortable with a game that they don't need to feel uncomfortable with. Moreover, even handled well, Fallout is about post-apocalyptic civilisations with Mutants and shit, making a player literally have to confront discrimination they face, in a game that's mostly taking place in a Fantasy world, feels like it'd be dangerous if implemented poorly.

So basically in short: real world representation is a good idea, but having it so players have to face racial discrimination within what's effectively a Fantasy universe kinda feels a little confrontational for no good reason.

That being said, I think it’s best to think of racism in the Fallout universe as analogous to the U.S. post-Civil Rights era of the late 70s and 80s. Racism isn’t considered a polite topic to discuss, most pay lip service to the idea that all men are created equal while still maintaining prejudices against certain groups, and there exists plenty of economic inequality between whites and non-whites.

 

[beans00]

TLDR for someone who isn't autistic?

 

[Iprovidelittlepianos]

TLDR for someone who isn't autistic?

TLDR:

 

[beans00]

TLDR:

I don't like reading essays written by cuckolds

 

[YeeCop]

I was under the impression that the existence of ghouls and super mutants left no room for racial bigotry. Why focus any hatred towards a black/white/yellow man? At least the skin isn't rotting off his face like those zombie ghouls.
I wouldn't dismiss it nonetheless. You read terminal entries of some of the pre-War war hawk patriots (especially in Lonesome Road) and they use that jingoistic anti-communist 50s jargon, and it does hint they might harbor the same period views relating to race.

The Chinese American internment camps were a great example, shockingly implemented first by Bethesda if I recall correctly.

Yes. There were also hippies/leftist activists in pre-War America, as evidenced by Hidden Valley graffiti for example, so there was rightful indignation at events like that happening.

 

[beans00]

Then apparently you lack the brain cells to steer clear of a discussion post in the discussion forum.

 

[Hassknecht]

My guess was usually that the "traditional" racism against Blacks in America was superceded by more against the Chinese. A common enemy unites, a bit like how anti-muslim/Arab sentiments somewhat buried the hatchet after 9/11. "We're all Americans and all in this together against them", that sort of thing.
It still existed, no doubt about it, but with the New Plague, the extreme recession, limited nuclear exchanges since 2054, and the world generally going down the drain for decades, people didn't really have time to bother with old problems. So I think people rather focused on the Chinese, until the Great War itself became the great equalizer and buried even that.