[Poll] Enforcing Theme

[Pixie]

For the folks who legitimately want the bullying to be part of their RP as "inferior" races (and I definitely get why that would be!): Significant and open pushback simply for being Hillish or Charali is probably always going to be pretty rare. Based on experience, doing things that are brazenly savage and uncivilized is way more likely to get a response out of people, even the second type of bigot described above. Don't mosey in and wait for somebody to be mad that you're Hillish or Charali; mosey in covered in blood after a hunt, stinking to high heaven, and sit down riiight next to a gentryman in his best silks. Drag a gutted corpse you haven't skinned yet into the Queen's and start skinning it on the bar. Speak your native tongue in front of the nobility. Criticize Lithmorran architecture for not having smoke holes in the top. Somebody's injured fighting a demon? Slap a plaster of dung onto their wound. Being proactive about your savage nature will get reactions out of people, whereas just being an inferior race usually won't. As Dice mentioned, Davites -want- to see Hillish and Charali folk become civilized; it's their job to shepherd the lesser folk. If your behavior is civilized, there's little to have an issue with.

[Geras]

I wonder to what extent this is an anachronism? IE, would the average Londoner in 1200 AD have had much of a concept of Englishness, and a concept of people being different than that? I mean beyond "tribal" / feudal loyalities. I'm reminded of how the first ruler of the Anglo-Saxon Wessex was named Cedric, and the third ruler was named Cealwin. These are both Welsh names.

[Kinaed]

I don't have a lot of knowledge to suppose, Geras. When I think of racism, I think of what I see in modern times, though I'd heartily believe people could have been worse/more brutal historically.

I personally think racism sits within both the privileged and the non-privileged group. (See Taunya's comment about her character just getting suspicious of non-Charali that are immediately nice to her.) I think it's partly human social behaviour to organize ourselves into groups we identify with, which is just fertile soil for racism to grow.

I agree with Dragon - it's legit rare for people to actually be rude/races to someone else's face. How often do you hear people direct racist slurs to the face of someone of that race? Far, far more likely, the racist folk simply speak in those terms to their own social circles about the outsider. And, even though everyone is polite, statistics prove that people of various races are categorically disadvantaged and under-represented in any place where power concentrates, even if people aren't calling them swear words. So sure, no one is offensive to that Charali - but they're not going to let the Charali become their guildleader, for example.

Whilst I agree with Dragon's post, I personally make an effort to display that my character is racist, and that it's an RP mechanism rather than my being rude OOCly. So, for example, I might emote something like:

Kinaed sends a suspicious sidelong glance at /Remy, completely characteristic of a Lithmorran sizing up a Charali, then purposefully tears her gaze away before she can be caught out as rude. A bit too brightly, she says to /Azarial as a blush creeps up her collar, "So... seen any good movies lately?" She shifts uncomfortably, turning away from /Remy, but only obliquely so as not to let him completely out of her sight where she would have to trust her back to him.

And thus, with something like that, it's not ignoring someone either ICly or OOCly. It's not OOCly rude at all as it it gives hooks to my Charali RP partner if they want to take them. It acknowledges the theme without discounting the Charali, takes the responsibility for owning my character's flaws, and, even if it's ICly questionable, isn't actually an anti-social action that would generally invite derision.

[Pixie]

I can't find the post by Dragon that's being referred to.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

I can't find the post by Dragon that's being referred to.

Did you eat it? YOU ATE IT DIDN'T YOU AARRGGGHHH.

But really though where'd it gooo.

[Applesauce]

Agreed with Pixie and Kinaed, I think TI racism is generally assumed to be a more systemic modern form of racism than just shouting "I HATE YOUR STUPID HORSEFACE" every time you see a ginger. If you act especially brutish, then yeah you should be treated as such. Otherwise, racism would be more subtle or institutional.

Maybe I'm hiring people to run some errands for me, but I won't hire those unreliable Charali or Hillmen - the first is as likely to ride off with my money as put it to proper use, and the latter's probably too dumb to understand my instructions in the first place. If someone asks why I don't hire Charali or Hillmen, I'd explain it as such; not out of anger or specific hatred, but just natural fact. I don't have to HATE Charali to know that if one's in my shop, he'd better show some coin before touching any merchandise. Similarly, when my character loans money to people, locals get lower interest rates than foreigners, and Charali/Hillmen get even higher rates and more scrutiny when it comes to background checks. That's documented in official loan paperwork, it's not even just a personal bias.

Reeves could ask people wearing lots of pelts and bone jewelry to stop and display what's in their backpack before leaving a crowded party. Nothing personal, they just "fit a profile." Random checks on the street or in pubs, no problem, just trying to keep Lithmore safe. Convicted of a minor crime? Maybe Lithmorrans get a fine, but savages only understand the whip.

Systemic racism can also mean you're racist even when you're trying to be the GOOD guy. Backhanded compliments such as "You are so (well-spoken, well-dressed, smart, organized, etc.)" imply their race/whatever is assumed NOT to be that thing.