Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

The American history that most of us are familiar with is one that paints a picture of segregated ethnic groups, depicting Whites as slave owners, Africans as slaves, and Native Americans as tribe members. In most of our minds, all three groups were separate and played a very specific and hierarchical role in history. Yet, before North America was widely colonized, distinct segregation did not exist, and the interaction between Africans and Native Americans was somewhat frequent. Enslaved Africans escaped to Native American tribes (some tribes even hosted stops on the Underground Railroad), some Native Americans were enslaved by Europeans alongside Africans, and some Native Americans had African slaves. Often times, the two groups worked alongside each other, lived together, and shared recipes, myths, legends, and herbal remedies. Africans and Native Americans intermarried and had children. In fact, relations were so frequent that when a census was taken in the early 1800s, 10% of the Cherokee Nation was of African descent; 100 years later, this number increased to 50%.

Leslie Ann Berg, “Down Blige Road: Where There’s No Place Like Home,” Richmond Hill Reflections, (Volume 10, Number 4, September, 2014). 60. http://www.richmondhillreflectionsmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RelectionsVol10No4.pdf.

Race-Based Fantasy Realm: Essentialism in the World of Warcraft

Posted in Articles, Literary/Artistic Criticism, Media Archive on 2012-08-22 16:01Z by Steven

Race-Based Fantasy Realm: Essentialism in the World of Warcraft

Games and Culture
Volume 7, Number 1 (January 2012)
pages 48-71
DOI: 10.1177/1555412012440308

Melissa J. Monson
Metropolitan State College of Denver, Denver, Colorado

This article explores issues of racial essentialism and ethnicity in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The fantasy world of Azeroth mirrors elements of real-world race-based societies where culture is thought to be immutably linked to race. The notion of biological essentialism is reinforced throughout the gamescape. Race plays a primary role in the social and political organization of Azeroth. Among other things, race determines alliances, language, intellect, temperament, occupation, strength, and technological aptitude. The cultural representation of the respective racial groups in WoW draws upon stereotypical imagery from real-world ethnic groups (e.g., American Indian, Irish/Scottish, Asian, African, etc.).

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: Games and Culture, Melissa J. Monson, Melissa Monson

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Mixed Race Studies

Race-Based Fantasy Realm: Essentialism in the World of Warcraft

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