Journalist Accuses Red Dead Redemption 2 Of Being A Racist Game

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Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 launched earlier this year to critical acclaim. Despite worming its way into the hearts of gamers the world over, it seems not everyone was impressed with the latest offering from the devs behind Grand Theft Auto.

Credit: Rockstar Games

PasteMagazine journalist Dia Lacina has openly criticised the game for using “red face” – casting white actors to play the roles of Indigenous or mixed-race characters in the game.

In an article entitled: “Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Redface Proves How Far Games Haven’t Come,” Lacina critiques Rockstar Games for using black actors to play black characters, but not extending the same rights to the character of Charles Smith, who  has a “Black father and a Native mother.”

In the article, which you can read in full here, Lacina writes: “[Rockstar could have cast] literally any Black and/or Indigenous actor in this role, but they didn’t.

“They cast Noshir Dalal, a Japanese and Parsi actor, who claims his being ‘pretty damn ethnically ambiguous‘ as a selling point, and that his “look” covers a wide-range of ethnicities…

“Playing into this ambiguity is what white supremacy in the fiercely competitive space of acting demands of marginalized people.”

Lacina does add that the majority of the non-white characters are played by non-white actors.

Credit: Rockstar Games

Naturally, the internet has a lot to say about her views.

Responding to a post about the article on Reddit, one player writes: “Good lord, does that mean the creators of God of War are racist since Kratos was voiced by a black actor and not a white guy? Get f*cked.”

Credit: Rockstar Games

Another added: “They didn’t play it, they don’t know you can beat up a Racist with the law watching xD”

Over on Twitter, fans are seeing the other side of the coin, and they’re making the most out of attacking racists – something the game doesn’t penalise you for.

Do you think RDR2’s casting is racist?