No Orders at the Window: Unsolicited Life Stories

Reblogged from brashblacknonbeliever

Perfect argument!

thisislostinlace:

yukidama:

ladyatheist:

Why is it so hard to color black and brown characters black and brown?

Look at Aveline

She is a black woman. Why in the world are y’all making her look like a white girl? Do you know how few black women are in video games? It is amazing that we finally, finally have a main protagonist that is a black woman and isn’t hypersexualized or stereotypical in some way. For the first time in God knows how long, black female gamers have someone who looks like them in a game. Why must you take that away from us?

Now let’s take a look at Ratonhnhaké:ton AKA Connor Kenway.

He is quite clearly brown. He is a Native American man and yet most of the fan art has him as either a white man or some offensive stereotype. Once again, he is one of the very few MoC protagonists in a major game series. I just don’t understand the obsessive need to lighten him to the point where he is unrecognizable.

Neither one of these characters is racially ambiguous. There is absolutely no reason to lighten them to the point where they look like the typical white man/woman characters that we’re used to seeing. There are so many other white characters in Assassin’s Creed and the gaming industry as a whole, that if you really want to draw a white character you can easily pick one of them. Why can’t you let us have these two characters?

It’s kinda funny, and by funny I mean sad, how mixed race people IRL are pretty much forced by society to abide by the One Drop bullshit, but now that we get mixed characters who favor their POC heritage people want to make them pasty as fuck and use “WELL THEY’RE PART WHITE” excuse.

I’m sorry but my history degree is screaming right now. Aveline is a free woman of color born from a placage marriage from a French father and a free West African woman. In the year 1765, when the game takes place, the One Drop Rule was in *full effect*. If you were of visible African decent, you did not, in any way shape or form, have the full rights or citizenship as a White person would.

Granted in Louisianan gen de colour would have more rights than outside of the state, but again the One Drop Laws would define your very existence as a person of lesser humanity.

Aveline’s very background as a gen de colour of education and privilege, due to her wealthy father’s recognition of her, she is in a unique position. She be in a society that allows her *certain* freedoms due to his status, but not all freedoms due to her…wait for it

MOTHER’S RACE

and

HER OWN GENDER

neither which can be hid. No matter how much she dresses in men’s clothing or how much people (in and out of the game) want to whitewash her.

She can also see the affect of slavery in her everyday life. She is very aware of her privilege, but uses it to become a better assassin. Her life as a woman of VISIBLE AFRICAN DESCENT is what motivates her to become an assassin. (The minute her father dies, she can get dragged to an auction block and sold. No matter how white one of her parents is, that will not change in her life time which peaks within the year of 1765)

White washing Aveline takes away from her character, L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y. It’s called Liberation because she considers the slaves “her people”.

All of this information is in the official background that was released at the panel. The game isn’t out yet and people are projecting their inability to draw non-white phenotypes or social insecurities are already being projected on to the character. Jesus.

If I see the same happening with Ratonhnhaké/Connor Kenway, I am going to flip a fucking desk. His very specific culture, ethniticy, and race are ESSENTIAL to his character due to the region where his origins take place. Stop taking that away from him by whitewashing. It seems like its lazy artist or Pro-SuperAweseomeGoodPerfect Americans who can’t grow up about why both of these PoC’s pushed into the guild due to Founding Father’s legacy on non white peoples.

tl;dr: Whitewashing Ratonhnhake/Conner or Aveline kills their character entire fucking reason for being in the guild. Ubisoft has made that blatantly obvious. Can’t see it, then get some goddamn glasses. Stop apologizing for lazy artist who always make PoC’s lighter but oddly enough never darker. Aveline’s story takes place when the One Drop Rule was ACTUAL STATE LAW THAT ENCOMPASSED ALL LEVELS OF LIFE in Louisiana.

If you can’t deal, go read Ann Rice’s Feast of Saints if the Louisiana State Constitution is over your head.

We should all praise Ubi for being successful at their historical accuracy.

(Source: brashblacknonbeliever, via caligaes)

No Orders at the Window: Unsolicited Life Stories

Perfect argument!

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