Xbox live racism

I think it's a well-known fact that trash-talking is pretty much a given when you're playing games online. Throwing around a word like "fag" or "nigger" (THAT'S RIGHT I SAID THEM) doesn't necessarily make anyone a racist because, as it has already been said, the people who are saying these words are really just trying to get a rise out of someone online; this is part of how the experience works online.

Plus, they're only only words. They have no power in and of themselves unless people want to really take offense to them personally regardless of the context that they're used in. If words like this are used in a contemptible context and aimed specifically for the purpose of hurting someone because their skin isn't bleached then, yes, it becomes a problem. Will you hear it on the internet during a match? Yes? Will these kids form lynch mobs directly after they log off and coordinate lynchings like they do their squads on COD4? Surely you're joking.

I mean, yes, I understand that it's not okay for people to be parading around throwing racist little hissyfits in real life but, seriously, when was the last time you saw a kid who played Gears of War walking around with a COGS shirt with "SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARYAN" scribbled all over it? It doesn't happen because the vast majority of these little behaviors will disappear as soon as these kids no longer have a vicarious and semi-anonymous way to vent their gaming frustrations.

Jam it back in, in the dark.