racism, and not just blacks Options

[schmitzzy]

i know that skin color and stuff like that is not a problem but what is a troll wanted to have sex with a dwarf and have a family. si that accepted in this society. and what about homosexuals and other oddities like that. stuff like that how do the people of 2070 feel of that.

--the schmitz

[hobgoblin]

humanis would probably react to the idea kinda like KKK react to mixed color familys today. as for the avarage joe, hard to tell. mostly i guess it would depend on the community and its individuals.

but as always i suspect that its the younger generation that will have the least problems with it.

[Jack Kain]

[hobgoblin]

simple, dwarf on top ;)

that is if dwarf is female, i dont even want to contemplate the other way round...

[yoippari]

Something that seems to get overlooked is still the regional and ethnic background behind the meta. I imagine that some still view the south as rednecks the french as... french, japanese are still fairly japanese, un(der)developed countries would be seen differently than the metroplex. I can't imagine that old prejudices, stereotypes and plain old racism would completely disappear after we developed a few new breeds.

For example a Tir'na'Nog elf is probably seen quite a bit different than an elf from Everett. Probably completely different accents and dialect even with Sperethial.

Re: the OP: You will get every kind of reaction. Those who think it's a little odd but don't have a problem with it. Some will actively encourage inter-meta relationships. Some will stage protests and marches against/for said behavior. Others will ignore it completely. Yet others will choose to ignore it saying it doesn't bother them simply because society says it shouldn't bother them.

In Seattle I most will never know about it and those who do will probably be friends who just accept it.

[hobgoblin]

then you have the really crazy ones that will actively try to kill anyone even considering the possibilities.

if real life people can get themselves to firebomb a medical clinic because they perform abortions, i would say there are no end to what people can get themselves to do.

racism is one of the ways to present the bleak side of SR.

[Jack Kain]

Remember folks the UCAS doesn't hate metahumans they just hate SINless and poor people.

[sunnyside]

yoippari touched on it but I'd like to stress that some cultures still are racist. SR (traditionally) playes up Japanese racism. For one they send their metas to a freaking island. But beyond that they think that Japanese are the best.

Unlike current american racism, which tends to have specific slurs for specific subgroups, the SR japanese tend to just use "gajin" which basiacally means "someone who isn't japanese" to refer to the rest of us. And in their mind the economic dominance of the Japanese in SR is evidence of that.

Remember SR should be a badguy rich environment. Racism helps with that.

[nezumi]

Humanis probably won't care, except to show how depraved metas are. If anything, they'd want to keep the couple alive and relatively safe, because it's simply more evidence that metas will hump anything, but in this case, no real humans are in danger.

I haven't seen a lot about any significant dwarf 'culture'. Some dwarfs I'm sure would find the idea repulsive, some would be okay with it. Dwarfs on the whole have suffered less from racism than say orks or trolls, but still have suffered some. They might see it as marrying down, but acceptable, some might see it as a step in the right direction. So varies individual from individual.

On the ork/troll side (since those groups basically run together), I can imagine that poor fellow getting a LOT of teasing, especially if the troll is male, and especially about his umm.. endowments. I'm sure he'd get some nickname like 'stubby' or 'shorty'. Females might have it a bit easier, and in fact it might get the dwarf some recognition in the ork community (a tiny thing like you managed to tame that crazy woman? Wow.)

Of course, the more disassociated these people are with the ignorant, 'on the street' people, the easier things get. If they're both members of the academic community, for instance, any bigotry is almost certainly going to be very quiet undercurrents coming from individuals. Any company that hired trolls and dwarves is going to have a lax enough policy to let them marry without trouble, unless one of them is also crossing socio-economic lines (a troll janitor marrying a dwarf exec, for instance).

[hobgoblin]

well there is always the militant wing of humanis, alamos 20k (or something like that), right?

[nezumi]

Yeah, but again, Alamos 20k believes in violently fighting for human rights. Troll and dwarf gets hitched, how does that hurt humans? I think both Humanis and Alamos would agree, it's just proof that metahumans are depraved. Humans actually benefit from the arrangement.

If a troll marries a HUMAN, then you get out the crowbars and shotguns.

[hobgoblin]

point well made :)

[Wiseman]

[mfb]

can i just say that the subtitle of this thread is the first belly laugh i've had all week?

[Sterling]

Yeah, the SR universe has pretty much declared that the traditional racism has made way for the new racism. I recall a quote that really summed it up.. "Who cares what that guy's skin color is when that THING over there has hands the size of your head!?"

Now, I use the Humanis as a really easy tool. My player characters are generally decent hardworking folks who disdain wetwork. But for some reason, even the ethical mage comes unhinged when white hoods take the stage. So use Humanis as almost comic relief. They're so scared of change and metahumans that yeah, they'll even harass the dwarf/troll couple because 'they're making a mockery of marriage, which is for, and always will ONLY be for a human couple!!'

Plus any team that has a human in it along with any metas means Humanis will harrass them for being race traitors, because no one likes ork-lovers™, trog-nuzzlers™, dwarf-lickers™, and elf-toadies™.... or some equally ludicrous label.

I run the Humanis as so blinded by hatred they'll often fail to notice the runners are usually very well armed. Plus you have the average human agility+pistols/unarmed versus Shadowrunners, which is pretty one-sided. Or a comely young lad or lass will flirt with a meta runner, lure him to a nice, dark, secluded spot, where six friends with baseball bats will work the poor sod over. That's the blatant racism angle.

The subtle angle is the Johnsons who won't offer top dollar for runs if their least-favorite metatype is on the team. Maybe his daughter ran away with one, his wife was leered at by one, who knows. But contacts and Johnsons and anyone else can (and should) have varying levels of racism as well. The Elf Neighborhood will watch orks and trolls like hawks. The Ork Underground keeps a wary eye on the smoothies. Maybe the fixer who dislikes elves always jacks up that character's prices by 10%, or drops their fenced loot by 10% as well. That's easy racism, as "Gear that meets your needs is harder to come by than Human Samurai Bob over there."

"But we both wanted stock Ruger Super Warhawks!!"

"He asked first, and his seller was trying to offload it quickly. Yours was much harder to come by, and market forces always win. Sorry, chummer. I could always sell it to the local go-gang, if you decide you didn't need it?"

[mfb]

[Jack Kain]

[Sterling]

[mfb]

more force and power than a megacorp? what are you talking about? i haven't described anything near as over-the-top as your typical Red Samurai unit, or the Jaguars, or the Seraphim... the list goes on.

[knasser]

[djinni]

[nezumi]

Some of you guys are really bigoted against racists...

Seriously though, Humanis is a policlub, not a paramilitary gang. What's that mean? Well, you have a bunch of educated people who have seen the sociology studies that clearly show that diversity has a COST, and especially now, that cost has become unbearably high. There is little question that diversity leads to unnecessary conflict, to confusion, to inefficiencies. This is undisputed fact. "Anti-discriminatory" measures are almost always discriminatory, costing bright kids the chance to go to college so that someone who didn't apply himself as well can get in solely based on his bone structure, that people who are not competent for their duties are hired on to meet racial quotas, and the best people are overlooked for promotions in order to keep up the facade of equality. This costs money, jobs and safety. Japan is kicking UCAS' ass in part because Japan can boast a largely homogenous population. This diversity is costing us, with no apparent benefit.

Sure, some people join Humanis because they're feeling left behind or personally threatened, that they're feeling obsolete, but people only need to look at the facts to realize such a position isn't so paranoid after all, when a 4.0 GPA isn't worth as much as being born elf. But not everyone joins because they're racist. Some join because it just makes good economic sense. You think Renraku has pro-troll recruitment policies? Of course not, it costs them money, and when in competition like they are, spending money unnecessarily isn't something you can afford. So it's better to chip a little money into Humanis to allow them to operate how they please then to allow the UCAS to try and enforce laws on them or their subsidiaries that would harm business.

Like most groups of this nature, the majority of Humanis supporters aren't officially members. You can expect that for every one card carrying member, there are 10 people who unofficially support their position, and will work to further those ends quietly in the background.

Portray Humanis like clowns if you want, but you're setting yourself up for a very real surprise. Humanis oriented organizations make more money, have a strong sense of loyalty, and lower crime rate than their competitors. That gives them an edge, an edge they don't mind cutting trouble makers like you in half with.

[mfb]

'zactly.

[Jack Kain]

[djinni]