Colorism in Video Games

    Colorism, or the lack of representation of Black people, is prevalent in media. A section of media that experiences colorism but doesn't garner enough attention is video games.

    Video games are games played electronically by manipulating images produced by a computer program on a display screen. They feature a multitude of games including: action, strategy, sports, adventure, simulation and more topics. 

    A game that possesses a lack of representation of dark skin people is Man of Medan. There are four Black characters; three of the Black characters are light-skinned (non-antagonists), while the other Black character is a pseudo kidnapper/ thief, and he’s the darkest of all three of them. He is made to look scary in the game, while the other three are not.

    Additionally, in Telltale’s The Walking Dead, the main character Clem is black, and she is made to look racially ambiguous. Both of her parents are black, but her mom is a light-skinned mom, and her dad is dark skin. As colorism has taught us, Black men are allowed to be dark-skinned, while Black women are depicted as light-skinned, rather than dark-skinned.

    In conclusion, dark skin women are underrepresented in media, even in video games. Colorism is beginning to change in video games as more dark skin Black characters are being featured more in games.

- Derrian Carter

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Pocinmymedia. (2019, September 03). Black characters and colorism in video games. Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://pocinmymedia.tumblr.com/post/187455022306/black-characters-and-colorism-in-video-games