Inclusivity is a buzzword that supposedly means making sure everyone is welcome. In theory, that’s a good thing, particularly if you’re trying to reach out to as many people as possible.
A lot of awards have tried to be more inclusive, though many do it in stupid ways. The Academy Awards’ recent efforts, for example, have been attacked for mandating that certain people need to be included in order for a film to be considered, which isn’t particularly inclusive.
But it seems an award for roleplaying games, of all things, has managed to take the term “inclusivity” and opted to use that to exclude certain parties.
The CRIT Awards, or Creator Recognition in TTRPG Awards, says they want to recognize excellence in table-top roleplaying games “in a way that is inclusive, diverse, and represents the values of our community.”
Now, based on what those words technically mean, this shouldn’t be an issue. Only, diverse and inclusive means excluding people who think the wrong stuff.
No, I’m not putting words in their mouths. They actually include that in their code of conduct:
1. Inclusivity and Respect
1.1. No Racism: We do not tolerate any form of racism, racial discrimination, or xenophobia. Treat all individuals with respect and fairness, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or cultural background.
1.2. No Homophobia: We embrace diversity and do not condone any homophobic behavior or discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
1.3. No Ableism: We are committed to being accessible and accommodating to all individuals. Avoid ableist attitudes or behaviors and strive to make the CRIT Awards inclusive for people of all abilities.
1.4. No Sexism: Gender-based discrimination, stereotypes, or harassment will not be tolerated. We promote gender equality and a supportive environment for all genders.
1.5. Individuals who identify as Zionists, promote Zionist material, or engage in activities that without a doubt support Zionism are not eligible for nomination.
Now, taking a dump on people who are a different race than you, a different gender than you, or are disabled is all fine and good. These are generally held to be reasonable positions for any organization to have.
But the bit about “Zionism” is a problem.
Zionism, in case you’re unfamiliar, is the belief that the nation of Israel has a right to exist. This is a view held by many Jews for what should be obvious reasons, but also by a lot of non-Jews. It’s essentially a political position in many ways.
And if you hold that political position, you’re ineligible for this award.
Now, in fairness, this looks like just the second year of the awards, which are handed out at GenCon, a massive roleplaying convention. It seems that while GenCon has a history of disinviting guests who they don’t think are inclusive enough—fantasy author Larry Correia being the first to come to mind—they’re just fine playing host to an award that literally prohibits people guilty of WrongThink from being nominated.
Any award wants to be considered special. They want to be valued. Otherwise, no one gives a damn about whether or not they get it.
Yet if you’re actively excluding people simply because they think the wrong thing, what you’re doing is establishing that your award is little more than an opportunity to slap your friends and political allies on the back.
Years ago, I was embroiled in the whole Sad Puppies thing that revolved around the Hugo Awards. Our issue at the time was that the awards didn’t really reflect what people were reading, despite it supposedly being a fan award. What followed was a few years of ugliness with me and others being called every name but “decent human being” or variations thereof.
In the end, the Hugos refused to change, but we’d pointed out what we intended to point out. Yet as bad as things got there, the Hugo Awards never formally included language excluding people for thinking the wrong things. Even that bunch knew better.
This crowd, however, doesn’t.
What bothers me is just how comfortable they are with this. This is on their website, freely available for anyone to see. They’re not trying to hide it. They literally see this as a good thing.
In their mind, though, it is. It excludes all the nasty people they don’t want around.
What gets me, though, is that they think this is inclusivity. That’s where they listed it in their rules, for crying out loud. They actually think this makes things better for everyone.
Yet, interestingly enough, it does tell us a lot about these extreme leftists.
See, for them, inclusivity never means people like you and me if they can help it. It’s not really being inclusive, it’s being exclusive—by excluding people who think the wrong way. Zionism is just a handy code word for making sure the right sort are prohibited.
Note, for example, that every other point quoted above deals with actions. It’s not about whether you’re racist, sexist, or ableist. It’s about whether you discriminate on those grounds in some way.
It’s only the Zionism point that excludes people based on personal beliefs.
That is apparently the line in the sand for these people, and it’s thoroughly disgusting.
I’ve been playing table-top roleplaying games ever since I first got the chance to do so when I was in the Navy. I’d wanted to far earlier but could never find people to play with. Once I got the chance, though, I was hooked. It’s a hobby I’ve watched become more mainstream in recent years and would love to see people be recognized for their efforts in gaming.
But this ain’t it, folks.
This idea that discrimination is only bad if it happens to certain people is an affront to what this nation is supposed to stand for.
However, if this is going to stand, then folks on the extreme end of the bell curve like these organizers shouldn’t be too surprised when they find themselves excluded from stuff in return.
In fact, I’m really hoping that they do, just to understand how idiotic their bigotry actually is.
Edit: It seems that GenCon has decided not to play around with their shenanigans.
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They won't understand it, though, no matter how much it's turned against them.
Marxists are constitutionally incapable of accepting that anything "bad" that happens to them may possibly be due to their own actions, just like every failure of the next Great Plan(tm) is (according to them) due to incompetent execution or active interference by "enemies", not because the Great Plan(tm) from the start stank like a week-old loaded diaper left out in the sun.
Should push come to boog (I'd rather not, but my vote isn't the only one) and they wind up facing execution after failing, I'm pretty sure that they'll be wailing about how it's not "fair" as they're being led to the firing squad.