# Is this racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076 "2013-09-05T14:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Modevo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Modevo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Modevo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/1 "2013-09-05T14:56:33Z")
So my friend and I were playing Total War Shogun II and I remarked at how some of the soldiers didn’t look Japanese, they looked Caucasian. He said that’s racist. Is it? I mean, I didn’t intend to be derogatory or anything. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/2 "2013-09-05T15:02:00Z")
My gut response is no. Just noting that the the different races look different is not racist. Are you sure your friend wasn’t joking with you? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/3 "2013-09-05T15:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > _ **Total War: Shogun 2** _ is a [strategy video game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_video_game) developed by [The Creative Assembly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creative_Assembly) and published by [Sega](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega). It is part of the _[Total War series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_War_%28series%29)_ and returns to the 16th-century [Japan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan) setting of the first _[Total War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_War_%28series%29)_ game, _[Shogun: Total War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogun:_Total_War)_, after a series of games set mainly in Europe. [Total War: Shogun 2 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_War:_Shogun_2) Since the premise for the game is based in 16th Century Japan, it is a fair comment on your part. Your friend is mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/4 "2013-09-05T15:23:51Z")
[Modding]Moving this thread to IMHO from Great Debates.[/Modding] And no, this doesn’t sound racist. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/5 "2013-09-05T15:55:44Z")
I guess maybe your friend thought you were saying that all Japanese people have to look stereotypically Japanese. Some sort of oblique reference to people who claim other races “all have the same face”. I don’t think that’s what you were saying, but maybe that’s what your friend thought. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/6 "2013-09-05T15:56:04Z")
There’s a Shogun 2 expansion (“Fall of the Samurai” - [Trailer here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3-VkbRSKQ)) which revolves around European influence in Japan. Perhaps that was part of it? Anyway, whether the guys you referenced were depicting Europeans or not, I can’t see how it would be racist to comment on a game’s graphics as you did. I doubt you said “Where’s the buck teeth and slanty eyes at?!” That would have been racist, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/7 "2013-09-05T16:57:59Z")
Saying someone doesn’t look Japanese is not racist. Saying your pieces must be Japanese because they all look alike _might_ be racist–unless they really do look Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/8 "2013-09-05T18:58:37Z")
Ask your friend to define what they mean by Racist. If by racist they mean observing visual characteristics distinguished by race, then yes, your comments are racist (but that is a very narrow literal definition). If by racist they mean assigning derogatory value based on perceived race, then no, your comments are not racist. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/9 "2013-09-05T19:12:19Z")
Not looking at foreign Marines, were you? Shamefur dispray! ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/10 "2013-09-05T19:27:23Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Not looking at foreign Marines, were you? Shamefur dispray! Thanks for making me break down in giggles at remembering that voice clip from the game. I did think the voice clips from the game over-emphasised accent a little bit too much, to the point of being caricatured humor material sometimes. I wondered if maybe the developers thought “this voice isn’t _Japanese_ enough” or something. Then I started wondering about how the Japanese portray English/French/etc accents and if they even bother with accents when they make games about European locales. Which segued into wondering why English-speakers seem to put a lot of emphasis on foreign accents in our media… ---
**Author:** ![LovesBeagles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@LovesBeagles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LovesBeagles)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/11 "2013-09-07T02:56:43Z")
Oh, for heaven’s sake. Some day someone is going to say that the sky is blue and someone is going to say that’s racist. Contrary to what some people think, racism doesn’t come out every time a person opens his/her mouth. Your friend should get a grip and stop looking for offense where none is intended. This PC crap has really gotten out of control. ---
**Author:** ![FAL01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FAL01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FAL01)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/12 "2013-09-08T02:13:46Z")
Nope, it is an observation. Racism is defined as: 1.The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race 2. Prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief People tend to over-react when it comes to discussing other races and classify things as racist that are not. Mostly racist comments are those that are derogative and narrow minded. The observation that the people did not look Asian is not derogative to the Asian race and, as far as I can tell, you did not say it in a malicious context or mean any ill-will. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/13 "2013-09-08T02:28:12Z")
> [@LovesBeagles](#): > > the sky is blue Racist! ---
**Author:** ![LovesBeagles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@LovesBeagles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LovesBeagles)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/14 "2013-09-08T02:51:40Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Racist! See there!!! I knew it!!! I told you so.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-racist/668076/15 "2013-09-08T02:55:50Z")
> [@LovesBeagles](#): > > Oh, for heaven’s sake. Some day someone is going to say that the sky is blue and someone is going to say that’s racist. Is it? I don’t know. I don’t see color.