Halo 4 Racism

Halo 4 is a game where a man in a green space suit shoots hundreds of aliens in their faces. It’s also racist. The game takes place in the far-flung future where nations don’t really matter, and race itself has become sort of a moot point. Previously in the series, black character were featured prominently, much like Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the Avengers. I don’t recall any black characters in Halo 4, unless they were nameless guards on the Infinity. Your multiplayer Spartan is, of course, raceless, as he or she is all decked out in head-to-toe armour. For all you know, there could be a swirling mass of gas in there where skin should be, ala Legion of Superheroes.

The sore point with Halo 4 is that is finally reveals Master Chief’s face (he’s white). This only occurs when you beat the game on Legendary, but you see him as a child beforehand. The reason this is racist isn’t because he’s white, it’s because the game clearly states that Master Chief is the most perfect and highly evolved human being to ever live. The proverbial, “Chosen One.” Master Chief is quite literally, the Master Race. And he’s white.

There’s a bizarre scene in the game where he’s transformed into his ultimate form. Millions of years of evolution go past in the blink of an eye under his armour. He could have emerged from his helmet as a beam of light. Instead, he’s a white guy, which statistics show is actually in decline.

That kind of drops the ball. On the one hand, you want the game to be relatable to it’s audience, and for people to identify with him. On the other hand, you’re being completely un-imaginitive and callous. By comparison, Spider-Man 2099, featuring a half-Irish, half-Mexican protagonist is more advanced. We’re a global village now. My own kids are 1/4 Japanese, and the sure as hell didn’t get that from me. I might even be 1/16 Native American, (or Injun as the 16th of me was called back then). I’m at least 50% Scottish and the rest is mostly English. When I’m the whitest man alive and I’m still confused about 1/8th or more of my racial heritage, what chance do our children have? We’re not living in the age of Serfdom anymore where you could expect to live and die in the same village. These days, six months isn’t the travel time between coasts on the Atlantic Ocean, it the time it would take you to reach Mars.

Eventually, race won’t matter. Some people will have lighter skin, and others will have darker skin. That won’t make them, “White,” and, “Black.” We’ll be like litters of puppies where one has black fur and the other has brown fur with white spots, and another is white altogether. Who the hell cares? We’re all adorable puppies.

Look at the last two minutes of Halo 4. Whitey’s everywhere. It’s a White World, Charlie Brown.