Orb Dismissed from Evil Geniuses Broadcasts - Page 18

On March 09 2012 13:13 Luepert wrote:
Idra calls people faggots while officailly representing EG
Idra gets the largest fanbase in all of starcraft 2
Idra gets paid lots of money by EG.

Orb calls people niggers while on his own personal time
Orb has few fans
Orb gets fired by EG.

On March 09 2012 13:16 Zorkmid wrote:

If he had come clean about it, I'm sure that he might have gotten a second chance. His lies killed him.

On March 09 2012 13:13 Oreo7 wrote:


Garfield tweeted Idra hears from him every time he says it, and that if we've heard idra say it recently to let Garfield know.

On March 09 2012 12:42 ottersareneat wrote:

My undergraduate degree is in Black Studies, Sociology, and Social Justice. And, while I'll never claim to understand what life is like from the perspective of anyone other than a straight, White guy, I'd like to think that I have a pretty solid academic understanding of how race and racism function in contemporary society. My own credentials aside, I think it's really important to point out that racism today is not what it once was; not in the sense that it is any less widespread, or that it has any less of an impact on people's lives, but rather, in the sense that it functions very differently today compared to how it functioned twenty, thirty, forty, or more, years ago.

Take, for example, the term "racist," which I think is a rather antiquated word, and one that's been injected with so much hyperbolic meaning and stigma over the years that it is now almost entirely devoid of any actual, useful meaning. Traditionally, using the term "racist" in describing a person, action, or statement implies intent, or belief in a racial hierarchy, or belief in the superiority of one race over another. These are the objective criteria standardly utilized in labeling something or someone as being "racist."

But at this point in time, in contemporary society, there are relatively few people (especially compared to how things were in the mid-to-late 20th century) who actually believe in the aforementioned kinds of objectively-racist systems of thought. Aside from White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis (who still very much exist, don't get me wrong), and other extreme examples, most people in our age group just don't believe in that kind of racism. I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that most of the people reading this post were taught that racism is bad, that racial equality is good, and that you shouldn't be racist. The fact is that these days, most people don't think they're racists, and don't want to be identified as being, or doing something racist. And yet, racism still occurs, and we all still say and do things to perpetuate it, whether consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally. There's a great book about this sociological issue called "Racism without Racists," and if this kind of subject matter interests you, you'd be wise to check it out.

Anyway, the bottom line is that, despite this change in how we view racism, it's still everywhere. It's still incredibly powerful, and it pervades most - if not all - aspects of our society. It's just, for the most part, much more covert than it was fifty years ago. Nowadays, it usually takes the form of stereotypes and institutional policies, rather than racial slurs and violence. And correspondingly, in my opinion, it has become far too complex to be accurately described by the term "racist." We've all witnessed arguments about whether a particular joke someone made was "racist," or "offensive," or "insensitive." The question I always ask is, are any of these adjectives really accurate or appropriate? I don't think we've developed a functional verbal toolset to appropriately discuss contemporary, covert racism. With this in mind, I try to entirely avoid labeling people as "racist," and I define something as being "racist" only if it plays a functional role in perpetuating racism (for example, I'll call a joke a "racist" joke if it plays on stereotypes, because stereotypes function as the foundational pillars of race and racism).

Now, moving on to points more relevant to the happenings of the past several days, let me be clear: it is my personal opinion that n----- is the ugliest, most repulsive word in the American-English vocabulary. I have never said it, typed it, or written it. If it's used in my presence, I immediately speak up and demand that it not be used again in my presence, regardless of context or circumstances (and for the record, I am equally sensitive about who can and can't say n---a, but that's a different discussion entirely). There are many valid reasons to find the word n----- offensive and repulsive, but for me, the overarching reason is that there is no other word that so efficiently and effectively captures such extreme human injustice and inequality. There is an inherent power dynamic/discrepancy contained within the act of saying the word n-----, and its use sets its subject apart from its object to a greater extent than any other word we have is able to. As such, if you prescribe to my contemporary definition of racism outlined above, there is no more racist word in existence than n-----. By its very nature, it is the essence of absolute racism, in its most extreme form, encapsulated in a noun. In my opinion, with few exceptions, it doesn't matter who says it, to whom, in what context. It's a racist word. If it has a subject and an object, I find its use to be inexcusable - again, with very few exceptions.

However, almost ten years later, as I also mentioned at the beginning of this (very long) post, I've never been prouder to be a part of the StarCraft community (or of any gaming community) than I am at this very moment. And I feel this way because, despite the fact that you guys have been peppering my sponsors with complaints*, your outrage shows me that we do have a set of core values (one of which is that racism isn't acceptable), and we expect our icons and celebrities to share those values; otherwise, they won't be our icons and celebrities any longer.

On March 09 2012 13:14 Corrosive wrote:

Huk has never called anyone "nigger" as an insult and i believe EG managment has made huk delete tweets like that.

On March 09 2012 13:12 Rorschach wrote:


I hate to jump on your bandwagon but I think anyone who disagrees with the way EG handled this and their hypocrisy should do exactly what the vicious minority did that got this started.
Lets contact the sponsors and let them know how we feel about EG poor decision making.....

On March 09 2012 13:16 Husky wrote:
I'm torn on this.

I've met orb and he's a really nice and awesome person.

On one hand, I personally dont swear a lot or make racial/sexual orientation slurs like some of the other casters do. I try to represent any company I'm working for as best I can. For my personal image I feel best being more 'family friendly'.

On the other hand, is it really a big surprise to EG that orb has done this stuff in the past? An honest question, did they know about this behavior or are they responding now because people are having an uproar about it. I guess theres no way to know for sure as it is pretty simple to say 'we didnt know until now'.

I personally think SC2 would be extremely boring without the intense opinions of Totalbiscuit, without the hilarious live streams of Destiny, without the stand-up comedy style Day9 performances, without Incontrol being drunk off his ass at the Blizzcon TL after party before SC2 was even out etc etc.

While I think its completely up to EG to hire and fire whoever they want (welcome to running a business), I sure dont think someone should be flamed incessantly for this kind of behavior. Its just their personality and is who they are.

Then again, I'm the type of person that if there is someone in my life that really bugs me, rubs me the wrong way or drives me crazy I just separate myself from them and do not involve myself with them in any way. I have always felt like that is the less self-righteous and mature thing to do.

On March 09 2012 13:09 Tektos wrote:
If you don't empower such a word with responses like this then the word loses value and stops causing so much offense.

I learned a lot about this through the differences in Australian and American culture over the past 15 years. The words cunt and bastard are probably the two biggest examples. Here in Australia such terms are treated with such lax that they are even sometimes used as terms of endearment (much like how black people sometimes use the word nigga amongst themselves) and as a result are view by their context and not the word itself.

EG here has completely overreacted solely on the word used and as a result severely damaged the career of an individual who is better at his job than almost anyone out there.


I am extremely disappointed in EG for this response and will no longer be supporting them or their sponsors.



Political correctness gone wrong.

On March 09 2012 13:17 tomatriedes wrote:


So Idra gets a talking to for using a bad word while Orb gets instafired and has a bunch of self-righteous nerds writing to EG's sponsors? Seems fair.

On March 09 2012 13:16 Gamegene wrote:


trust me orb will still be around in esports, not streaming on afreeca.