The journey to fight for a safe space within the gaming community

BY SYDNEY WALCOTT

Online gaming and streaming are supposed to be a fun space for gamers and streamers to enjoy playing the games they love, achieve great opportunities from them, and connect with others alike. However, prevalent racism and other toxic issues within the online gaming community have made the community an unsafe space for those who only want to have fun, and many are calling for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to address these toxic issues.

Melanin Gamers is a gaming community founded by Annabel Ashalley-Anthony, with 4,000 registered members. It is also a change-maker organization established to address the need for more diversity and representation in the video game industry.

Ashalley-Anthony has witnessed a handful of issues within the industry. Along with racism, some of the other problems include bullying and trolls making discriminatory comments towards other gamers based on their gender, orientation, or general cruelty. For Ashalley-Anthony, it’s extreme in her experience, as people can see what she looks like due to her having her camera on – which leads to these trolls making unwanted comments to her regarding her race and gender.

Although it tends to come as a surprise to some about these issues, recognizing that there is a problem is the first step. A few methods Ashalley-Anthony uses to tackle these issues is through organizing workshops and panel talks. She also launched The Watch with Leo Burnett, a campaign designed to eliminate racism within the video gaming world. The Watch’s purpose is to teach organizations to call out the serious issues within the community, have transparency on how and when to tackle these problems and educate individuals to take accountability for how they treat others online.

“Eliminating it is obviously the goal, but teaching the lessons is the first step,” said Ashalley-Anthony, who said that making people aware, as many enter these gaming spaces unaware of the discrimination occurring. Ashalley-Anthony said it would be beneficial and game-changing for the ERSB to encompass the online aspect of what happens when people play these games. It will also be good for organizations to understand the type of culture their games create.

While Ashalley-Anthony is grateful to see her projects receive embracement, having her work embraced by the ERSB is the ultimate goal. Gamers and streamers enjoy doing what they love. However, everyone deserves to play in a gaming space that is safe and free of any toxicity.

Ashalley-Anthony also created a petition to help bring more awareness to what needs to change within the gaming community. Click here to sign the petition.