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Stereotypes of the Black Male Image in Video Games

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Stereotypes of the Black Male Image in Video Games
by

Christopher Alanye Covington

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media

2009

ABSTRACT
Stereotypes of the Black Male Image in Video Games
by

Christopher Alanye Covington

The aim of the 'study was to content analyze black males in different genres of
popular video games of Microsoft Xbox 2002 and Xbox 360 2008 to demonstrate
whether societal stereotypes of black males also exist in video games. These games were
coded at two different levels, level 1 explored the appearance of Humaniod Male
Characters (HMC) and then to revealed the appearance of Humaniod Black Male
Characters (HBMC). The results revealed 41 of the 285 the games coded, showed 75
cases of HBMCs, and the majority of HBMCs were not stereotyped images which

countered pre-study assumptions.

Copyrighted by
Christopher Alanye Covington
2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to first and foremost thank Wei Peng, my thesis chair, whose
continuous support and guidance made my thesis possible. I am extremely grateful
for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm, support, and immense knowledge, which
taken together, makes her a great advisor. I also wish to thank the other members of
my thesis committee, Carl Taylor and Carrie Heeter for their advice and helpfifl
recommendations throughout this process. I would like to thank my mentors, Nettavia
D. Curry, Judith Brown Clarke, Ph.D., Dr. Lori Post, and graduate student colleagues
Gaston Rampersad, Eric Pearson, Jason Brown and Barbara Skelly, for their advice,
recommendations, and unlimited support. I would also like to thank Terri L. Flowers
and Karlos R. Watson for their help in data collection that made this thesis come to
life. Finally and most importantly, I would like to thank God for my parents, Leroy
Covington and Correna Murphy-Covington, my brothers, Leroy and Joel and my
sisters, Brandi and Cynthera for their continuous support and encouragement in my
personal, academic, and professional experiences. To all of my friends, fraternity
brothers, sorority sisters, and other supporters, thank you for believing and

continuously giving the added support to strive for my goals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................ vi
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND ............................................................ l
Stereotypes ............................................................................... 1
Black Males Stereotypes ............................................................... 2
Stereotypes in Video Games .......................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2: METHODS ...................................................................... 7
Sample7
Unit of Analysis ......................................................................... 7
Categories ............................................................................... 9
Coding .................................................................................. 12
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS ..................................................................... 14
Research Questions ................................................................... 17
CHAPTER 4: DISSCUSSION ................................................................ 20
FOOTNOTES .................................................................................. 26
APENDICIES ................................................................................. 34
Coding Scheme ....................................................................... 34
Genre List .............................................................................. 42
Genres Not Represented ............................................................. 43
REFERENCES ............................................................................... 48

List of Tables

Table 1 Results ........................................................................... 27 & 28
Table 2 Results by year ......................................................................... 29
Table 3 Skin color .............................................................................. 29
Table 4 Clothing ................................................................................ 30
Table 5 Appearance ............................................................................ 31
Table 6 Accessories ............................................................................ 31
Table 7 Headwear .............................................................................. 32
Table 8 Wealth .................................................................................. 32
Table 9 Occupation ............................................................................. 32
Table 10 Demeanor ............................................................................. 33

vi

List of Figures

Figure l BARRET ............................................................................ 44
Figure 2 BALROG ............................................................................ 45
Figure 3 DEEJAY and DUDLEY .......................................................... 46
Figure 4 COLE TRAIN ...................................................................... 47

vii

CHAPTER 1 : BACKGROUND

Stereotypes

The influence of media on the development and maintenance of negative
stereotypes and individual social development in general has been widely studied with
regard to many media sources, such as television (Ruble & Martin, 1998). Only recently
has this work extended to video games (see Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Calvert & Tan,
1994; Dill, Gentile, Richter, & Dill, 2005; Greenfield, 1994). Research on video games
has traditionally focused on the effects of violent video game play on aggressive
behavior, and addressed negative aggressive content of the games (Anderson &
Bushman, 2001; Bensley & Van Eenwyk, 2001; Carnagey & Anderson, 2004). Kafai,
Cook, and Fields (2007), agrees with Nakamura (2001) and others that in Internet and
games, like other forms of media, mirror racial stereotyping found in society.

Some researchers have argued that while individual racial stereotypes have faded
in American society (Devine & Elliot, 1995). Others argue they have merely changed in
their presentation moving from overt to covert forms (Omi & Winant, 1994). Despite the
change in manifestation, stereotypes remain a problem in contemporary society. A
stereotype represents a collection of traits (Rich, 1981), and refers to one group’s
generalized and widely accepted beliefs about the personal attributes of members of
another group (Ashmore & Del Boca, 1981; Dates & Barlow, 1990). Stereotypes reveal a
series of unsubstantiated beliefs about what these groups are, what they are like, and how
they behave (Omi, 1989). Studies suggest stereotypes operate as heuristic cues in social
information processing, providing a basis for quick responses to members of outgroups.

This occurs when individual’s social perceivers cannot, or prefer not to, engage in a more

1

thoughtful or systematic outgroup members (Bodenhausen et a1, 1994). In essence,
people use stereotypes to simplify their lives and thought processes. Although human
mind naturally groups similar experiences, especially early life experiences, categorizes
and then labels them (Grimme & Grimme, 2008).

Quite often, we have stereotypes about persons who are members of groups with
which we have not had firsthand contact (Grobman, 1990). By stereotyping we infer that
a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of
that group have (Stereotyping, 2009). Several socio-cultural forces such as family,
friends, political leaders, and the mass media facilitate the formation, activation, and
maintenance of cultural stereotypes (Hamilton et al., 1994). Television, books, comic
strips, and movies are all abundant sources of stereotyped characters (Grobman, 1990).
The most common denominator in the maintenance of stereotypes is the media through
outlets such as: television, movies, and comics. Stereotyped characters negatively
influence the way we view people in society. Television tends to depict racial groups, and
other minorities similar, in the same manner. More often than not these groups are
stereotyped in a negative way by television. (Shebloski, 2001). Positive stereotypes can
also be found by viewing television. However there are far fewer positive stereotypes

than negative ones (Stereotyping, 2009).

Black Males Stereotypes

The image of black males in America is still a work in progress, transcending
from the past images of slavery, servants, blackfaces, and many other ways and examples
that would show black males in an inferior or negative aspect. While media outlets use

negative statistics to consistently cast black men as the scourge of this country, we must

admit that the statistics do not lie. But a statistic cannot give balance or provide a larger
context to the story. The statistics often do not cover the remarkable advancement many
black men in America have made in the last half century, nor do they report on the
collapse of many white men in the same era (Williams, 2006). Although these
representations have changed they are still negative. Black males are constructed as the
drug dealer, dead-beat, comedian, or thug (Tash, 2007). Historical representations of
African American males were Stepin Fetchit. Stepin Fetchit, shuffling, subservient,
ignorant and eager to please (Grimme & Grimme, 2008). Other negative black male
stereotypes are poor, loud, angry, tough, bitter, hostile, unemployed, and intimidating
(Kawakami & Dovidio, 2001). With this knowledge known about black males in
traditional media forms it brings to thought about how black males appear in new media
such as video and computer games. While the percentage of black characters in video
games is greater than the percentage of black people in the total population, black
characters play stereotypical roles (Monifa, 2002). When black people appeared
proportionate to their numbers, it was in sports games which reinforce stereotypes.
Another stereotype in video games has less to do with numbers but in the construction of
culture, for instance 50 Cent’s Bulletproof (Woollacott, 2009). Black characters were the
most verbally aggressive, they engaged in greater amounts of screaming, taunting,
insulting and assaults (Monifa, 2002). Looking through the history of prominent black
males in America such as, George Washington Carver, Comel West, Huey P. Newton,
and many others positive stereotypes exit as well. Musical, athletic, strong, colorful,
muscular, hmnorous, religious, and rhythmic (Kawakami & Dovidio, 2001); to make

note, but these are hardly stereotypes that are either hardly ever associated with black

males, or over popularly displayed. Based on prior research and review of relevant

literature involving race, ethnicities, other media and video games.

Stereotypes in Video Games

Video games, like other forms of media, have often relied on the use of
stereotypes. The influence of these stereotypes on people’s attitudes warrants attention,
especially considering the lack of positive images of certain groups in media. (Saleem,
2008). The implications of racial diversity and stereotypes in video games have yet to be
fiilly explored (Glaubke et a1, 2001). Although extreme and blatant racial tropes flourish
within video games, those simplistic notions that it is “just a game” or “kid’s
entertainment,” as well as the prominence of colorblind discourses, limit serious inquiry
into their racial content and context (Leonard, 2006). All games have stereotypes, but a
video game is going to pass that message along powerfully (Marriott, 1999). In the
United States, for example, discussions center on the need to cultivate more ethnically
diverse development teams with the aim of creating games that go beyond racially
typecast characters and stereotypical narratives (Chan, 2005). The issues of stereotypes in
video games have become more than a mere “chit—chat” between gamers and possible
non-gamers.

There has been little research on gender portrayals of video game characters,
especially male characters (Dill & Thill, 2007). Marriot (1999), a composer and
computer-game sound designer in San Diego, when interviewed, said “In the 80's and
90's you never saw black characters, If there were black ones, they would get beat up,
really whumped so fast, before they had time to get into character.” Times have not

slightly changed among the visual appearance of black characters, especially playable

black males, with the only exception of athletic games. Some games have characters that
can be correlated with males in reality in which has also had a helping hand in the
building of stereotypes. Video games, at least the ones that have included characters,
have always relied on stereotypes. As computing power increased and the figures became
more fleshed out, that polygon—created flesh was mostly likely white. The result was a
kind of racial stereotyping in which white men were all muscle-bound, violence-prone,
silent types who mostly negotiated obstacles with grenades and machine guns (Marriott,
1999). In Glaubke et al. (2001), nearly every video game hero was white, noting that of
53 heroes, 46 were white (87%). Also, almost all African American males were portrayed
as antagonist. Eight out of ten Afi'ican American males (83%) were cast as competitors in

sports-oriented games.

The notion is, there are many prominent black males in today’s society that can be
modeled after for the use of video game characters from a vast selection of professions,
backgrounds and industries. As it seems, with a plain eye, that very few, are used to
display black males in video games, if any at all. The main focus of this study will be to
examine images of the black males in video games and analyze the portrayal of black
males to ascertain if images align with positive or negative stereotypes. Finally this paper
focuses on the construction and transfer of stereotypes from society to video games. The

following research questions are proposed:

RQl. Are stereotypes of African American males in the real world applied to African

American males in video games?

RQ2: Are black males portrayed negatively in video games?

RQ3: What genre of video games do black males appear in most?

CHAPTER 2: METHODS

Sample

7th Generation entertainment gaming consoles consist of the Wii, Playstation 3,
and Xbox 360. The three exist in heavy competition with each other, and comprise the
biggest console battles of this generation. This paper used the gaming consoles Xbox
2002 and Xbox 360 and their associated 2008 games. The Xbox systems were chosen
based upon the total number of games produced from the first model to its most recent
model, 7th generation console. The number of games that were counted from the first full
year of games that were created and produced for the first generation consoles, and the
number of games that were created and produced in 2008 from the 7th generation. Xbox
and Xbox 360 had the most totaled number of games with Xbox (2002) n=97 and Xbox
360 (2008) n=242 for a total of 339 games. The complied list of games was analyzed at
two levels based upon images provided on the Xbox official site. If there were no images

to correspond with a particular game, the game was noted, but not coded.
Unit of A nalysis

Two main units of analysis were used in this study. These were identified as the
game and the humanoid black characters. The humanoid black character variables were
coded greater detail to later examine stereotypes. Please see Appendix 1 for the complete

coding scheme.

The Game. In Level 1, based on the screen shots provided by the Xbox Official
site, coders analyzed the images and determined if there were any humanoid male

characters in the game. If there were humanoid male characters, coders observed if there

7

were any humanoid black male characters in the same images. If humanoid black male
characters existed, the game then moved to Level 2 coding, all others remained at level 1

coding.

Level 1 coding included the following categories: CoderlD, game year, game
name, game genre, Official Sports Game (OSG), Humanoid Male Character (HMC),
Humanoid Black Male Character (HBMC) and number of Humanoid Black Male
Characters (NHBMC). The game genre is based upon the genres listed on the official
Xbox site genre chooser (http://gamesteamxbox.com/index/general/bv-genre/7/), for a
total of 34 genres. See appendix 2 for the complete list of genres. OSG (official sports
games) are games that have official sports organizations names attached, such as NBA,
NFL, NHL, NCAA, F IF A etc. Humanoid Male Characters (HMC) and Humanoid Black
Male Characters (HBMC) and Number of Humanoid Black Male Characters, were the

major parts of the level one coding.

Humanoid Male Characters. Humanoid male characters are characters that are
male and can be human, supernatural creature, robot, or other male human like figure. A
human was classified as a homosapien with no supernatural features. Supernatural
creature; a non-human that exceeds biological limits and/or possesses supernatural
powers; robot: an electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device or group of devices that
can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks. These types of characters will be
observed through the list of games, and games that have humanoid black characters will

move on to be coded at level 2.

Humanoid Black Male Characters. Are characterized the same as Humaniod
Male Characters with the exception of these characters are black. Black as defined by the
US Census Bureau is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Merriam Webster define black as used in this study is a combination of the US Census
Bureau and Merriam- Webster dictionary, relating to any of various the populations that
have dark skin pigmentation and “typical” or “representative” of the perceived
characteristics of American black culture. Black is any racial group that has affiliation
with Africa who may be of dark to light skin pigmentation that affiliates with American

black culture.

Humanoid Black Male Character Variables are characters that were defined as a
human, animal, or object within a video game, that displayed human-like appearance or
qualities such as speaking, using tools, or making conscious decisions, (Mon, 2007) but
adhered to the definition of black. Each humanoid black character received extended

coding including subcategories.

Categories

The first category is type of character, and coded for human, supernatural
creature, and robot. As Mon (2007) and Beasly and Standley (2002), Point out, characters
should be coded as to their importance in the video games. Therefore the second category
was coded as role of the character, which included four classifications. First, the player
controlled primary character, which was actively manipulated and controlled onscreen by
the video game player. Second, sometimes-controlled primary character, and this

character was actively manipulated and controlled onscreen part of the time; however the

control switched to other characters during the game. It appeared most often in team
sports games, when the player needed to switch control among multiple team members.
The third category, secondary character, immediately tied to or related to the primary
character by either aiding or deterring the primary character from firlfilling their quest.
This character was completely controlled by the game. (Downs et al, 2005). Fourth,
background characters, and those characters were not part of this study. Based upon the
first reliability test, the characters were redefined to, Player-Controlled character, NPC

(Non Player-Controlled) and Unsure. These were the only roles analyzed in this study.

The third category for humanoid black male character variables was skin color.
Due to the variability in complexion, characters were analyzed for blackness on three
levels, obviously black, possibly black, or black but possibly multiracial. Later, this
changed to very dark/dark, very light/light and in between. The fourth category was
clothing, including any garment that is worn in order to enhance, exaggerate, call
attention to, or that may bring negative judgment and appears of inappropriate. (Downs et
al, 2005). Because clothing is complex it was broken into three subcategories: amount of
clothing, kind of clothing, and style of dress. Amount of clothing was coded as: firlly
clothed, minimal clothing (possible PG), partially clothed, and other. Kind of clothing
was coded as: street clothes, sports attire, and fantasy costume. After discussion and
following the initial reliability test, it was decided that uniform, should be added to the
list of kind of clothing. Style of dress was coded as: well dressed this not equal baggy,

(baggy, appearing loose, oversized), or sagging.

The fifth major category was appearance, which broke down to subcategories:

muscles, weight and body markings. The muscles subcategory was coded as unnaturally

10

muscular, normal human muscles, and appears noticeably weak. Weight was coded as
obese, overweight, about average, thin. Body marking, was coded as tattoos, piercings
(being that other than the ordinary ear piercing, ie, nose, lip, etc.), or both and was coded
as yes or no. The hair category breaks down into hair length, hair style, and hair
grooming. Hair length was coded as bald, buzz cut, short, shoulder length, and long. The
hair style was coded as braided/dreads/locks, curly/no dreads or locks, straight, no dreads
or locks, afro appearance, and short, and the hair grooming category was coded as well
groomed or ungroom/wild. After the first reliability test, there were slight modifications
to the hair category. In the hair length, buzz cut was taken out, and hair curl was entered
as, curly, straight, wavy or neither. Hair style was edited to be more straight forward and
simpler to be coded as dreadlocks, braids, ordinary, straight, afro appearance, and
Mohawk.

The sixth major category was accessories, which included jewelry, technological
communication, weapon/armor, and headwear. The headwear was further coded as hat,
du-rag, bandana/scarf, or none, then edited to include head-dressing along with hat/head-
dressing. Jewelry, technological communication, and weapon were coded as yes or no,
but later weapon became coded as weapon/armor. The seventh category was Socio-
Economic Status (SES) which was coded as upper class, middle class, lower class, can
not describe. SES was based upon appearance, stance, and apparent setting. Due to
complications discovered after the first reliability test, SES was changed to Wealth and
coded: seems rich, average, seems poor. The eighth category, occupation, was coded for
government or agency, athlete, fighter, former athlete, criminal, other, or can not

describe. The ninth category, demeanor, was broken down as facial recognition and

11

physical appearance. For facial recognition, Straker (2008) states, “much aggression can
be shown in the face, from disapproving frowns and pursed lips to sneers and full snarls.
The eyes can be used to stare and hold the gaze for long period. They may also squint,
preventing the other person seeing where you are looking,” and there was originally as
aggressive, pleasant, no emotion, and can not describe. Facial demeanor coding changed
to be coded as mostly hostile, mostly friendly or neither hostile or friendly. Straker
(2008) argued for physical appearance changes when someone attacks. They give visual
signal such as clenching of fists, redness in their face, lowering and spreading of the body
for stability and appear ready to strike. They are also likely to give anger signs such as
redness of the face. Being physical is more than being overtly aggressive. Opening
oneself, or lowering defenses are also aggressive positions. Both overt and covert forms
of aggression include not looking at the other person, crotch displays, relaxing the body,
or turning away. Physical was therefore coded as aggressive, pleasantness, no emotion, or
can not describe.

Coding

Coder Training and Reliability. Two coders (not including researcher) were trained for
one hour to two hours prior to receiving the data to be coded for the study. Reliability
testing was conducted using the first 11 games of the Xbox 2002 and Xbox 360 2008 list,
for a total of 22 games from the complete sample of 339 leaving 317 games to be coded
for the study. Several reliability tests were conducted until a reliability level of at least
.80 for every code at level 1 and at least .67 for every code at level 2 was achieved. This
test used 30 games, 15 from the Xbox 2002 list, and 15 from Xbox 360 2008 games taken

from the bottom of the list of games leaving a total of 287 games to be coded for the

12

study . Percentage Agreement and Cohen Kappa was used to calculate the intercoder
reliability. At level 1 the reliabilities for each variable were: game year (.967) game genre
(1.000), OSG (1.000), HMC (.941), HBMC (.941) and NHBMC (.938). At level 2 after
several trials the Percentage Agreement average was .98 and Cohen Kappa average was
.857. Those results were: Game Name (1.000), Game Genre (1.000), Character Num
(1.000), Character Varible (1.000), Role of Character (1.000), Skin Color (1.000),
CLzAmount (1.000) CLzKind (.50), CL:Style (1.000), AP: Muscles (1.000), AP:Weight
(1.000), APzBodyMarkings (1.000), HRzHairLength (1.000), HRzHairCurl (1.000),
HRzHairStyle (1.000), HRzHairGrooming (1.000), AS:Jewlery (1.000), AS:TechComm
(1.000), AS: Headwear (1.000), SES ( 1.000), Occupation (1.000), DM: FaceRec (1.000),
and DM: PhysApp (1.000).

Each coder received a game list of combined games from both the 2002 and 2008
games list giving coders a total of 143 games each. After the coders finished the main
sample, they were given list of 28 games to code for the intercoder reliability. This
particular list was combined of games randomly selected from both of the sample lists of

143, and after those lists were coded, the Percentage Agreement average was .784.

13

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS

Among a total of 285 Xbox and Xbox 360 games, there were 75 cases in which
black males were displayed. This does not represent 76 games, instead it represents 75
black individual males that were in seen in 41 games, with some of those games having

more than black male appear.

Here is how the statistics break down: there were 285 total games. of that, 251
were coded. The discrepancy is due to 18 games (see footnotes) that did not survive the
first level of code analysis. Statistics of the 285 games revealed that of the 285 games,
there were 70 games of Xbox 2002 and 215 games of Xbox 360 2008. Of the 34 game
genres the top 10 genres with the most games were 1) Xbox Live Arcade (60), 2) Sports
(44), 3) Action/Adventure (33), 4) Action (24), 5) First Person Shooter (16), 6)
Racing/Driving (17), 7) Action/Shooter (12), 8) RPG (12), 9) Music/Dance (9), and 10)

Fighting (6).

The sports games (OSG) categories totaled 34 out of the 285 games (11.9%) with
one game making it to level 2. Data coded for the HMC accounted for 226 of the 267
games, or (84.6%). The HMC category had 158 Human Male Characters out of the total
285 games (55.4%). Of the total games that had HMC, 41 contained Human Black Male
Characters (HBMC) (25.9%). Out of those 41 games there were 75 cases where black
males appeared. Examining representations by year reveals an interesting spread. In 2008

there were 61HBMC were on the Xbox 360 whereas in 2002 there were only 14.

Of the 75 Humanoid Black Male Characters, 73 were characterized as actual

Humans, while others were Supernatural Creatures. The role of characters included 13

14

player controlled characters (17.3%), 32 non-player controlled (46.6%), and the rest were
not determined able. Therefore 30 were unsure (40%). The skin color analysis resulted in
40 cases (a majority) classified as very dark/dark (53.3%), 6 were very light/light (8%),
and the other 29 were in between (38.6%). Of the total 75 cases coded for clothing, 10
were partially clothed (13.3%), and two were described as minimal clothed (2%).
Surprisingly, the overwhelming majority, 63 were fully clothed (84%). Coding for the
style of clothing revealed sports attire (1%), and fantasy costume (2%). The most
common was the street clothes that had 60 characters (80%), with uniform coming
second with 12 characters (16%). The style of dress category revealed the sagging had no
characters, baggy, appearing loose, oversized only had 17 characters (22.6%), and
astonishingly the well dressed had the vast majority of 58 characters (77.3%). The
appearance category resulted in the HBMCs having 71 of the characters to seem have
normal human muscles (95%), three were coded as unnaturally muscular (4%), and one
as noticeably weak (1%). Another observation found that 73 were about average weight
(98%), and two were thin (2%). Body markings resulted in 66 having neither (88%),
characters with tattoos, had five (6%), and four with both tattoos and piercings (6%). The
hair category resulted as follows: hair length had 14 bald characters (19%), five with
shoulder length hair (6%) as well as six with long hair (8%), and the majority, 50
HBMCs (67%) wore short styled hair. Observations from hair curl category were 54
HBMCs with neither a straight, curly or wavy hair (72%), three characters had curly (4%)
and the same for wavy hair (4%), and 15 had straight hair (20%). There was a similar
outcome with the hair style; 54 of the characters had ordinary hair (72%), nine characters

were dreadlocks (12%), 11 characters wore afros (15%), one had braids (1%), and no

15

HBMCs had a Mohawks. Surprisingly the hair section showed there were 73 of the 75
HBMCs had well groomed hair (98%), and two having not groomed or wild hair (2%).
The accessories category was simplified to involve yes and no questions with the
exception of a headwear. The jewelry results revealed, 56 of the characters had none
(75%) compared to 19 that did (25%); as for technological communication there were
down to 74 (99%) to 1 (1%) that did not have any; and it was 42 (56%) to 33 (44%) of
the characters that did not have weapons or armor. The headwear revealed, 16 of the
characters wore some sort of hat or headdress (21%), no characters wore du-rags, two of
the characters wore a scarf or bandana (3%), and what was discovered was 57 of the

characters wore nothing at all (76%).

The last four categories were trying to view characteristics that were not as
apparent as the ones discussed/described before. In the Wealth category, 10 percent (8)
seemed rich, and 10 percent (7) seemed poor, but the vast majority of the characters 80
percent (60) appeared to be of an average/middleclass amount of wealth. The Occupation
category was coded based on sole appearance and it showed that the least displayed
occupations were athletes three percent (2) and fighters three percent(2), with criminals
being seven percent (5) coming in third. The majority of the characters fell into the can
not describe 53 % (40) section. Ten characters were placed into the other occupational
value (13%), but the occupation of government or agency 21% (16) came to be the
highest of occupations picked. The demeanor category is probably one of the most
important to this study, and these observations came out to be interesting. The demeanor
of facial recognition was revealed there were only 13 characters that appeared to be

mostly hostile (17%), with nine being mostly friendly (12%). The rest of the characters

16

(53) were placed under neither hostile nor friendly (71%). When it came down to the
physical appearance demeanor, the numbers were almost the opposite. There were 15
characters that could not be described (20%), 16 of the characters had no emotion (21%),
with nine characters showing a pleasant physical appearance (12%). The highest
percentage of the characters fell into the aggressive physical appearance category which
had 35 HBMCs (47%). Out of the entire demeanor category the majority were perceived
as neither hostile nor friendly but their physical appearance showed aggressive body

language. Results tables available in appendix

Research Questions

Research question one asked if stereotypes of black males in the real world
applied to African American males in video games. Analysis revealed that stereotypes
were not that Based upon the observations it shows stereotypes are not, in fact it
would show the majority of black males were seen more positively in there appearance.
This study, showed that the majority of black males were fiilly clothed wearing street
clothes, and were well dressed. In this study street clothes being regular clothing worn
everyday while walking on the street, which could be jeans, sneakers, slacks, button
down shirts, etc. They also appear to be of average body build, not unnaturally muscular
or weak with short hair, no type of hair style, but were well groomed. Also there was no
jewelry or technological communication devices, or head garments. Wealth and
occupation, were viewed as not too rich or not too poor but average, and with the

exception of not being able to tell the occupation, which were non violence jobs.

17

When looking at demeanor it showed a large size of the HBMCs were neither
hostile nor fi'iendly when it pertained to facial recognition, but when physical appearance
was observed majority showed to be aggressive (35), and as a combined of no emotion
( 16) and can not describe (15) the combined was close to the amount that were
aggressive. With this known, it says that they are clothed nicely, the personal up keep
was good, and they were indifferent with emotions in the face, but the physical

appearance would appear aggressive.

The second research question asked were black males portrayed negatively in
video games. From observations in this study, black males are not portrayed negatively.
The way that it was determined if the black males were portrayed as negative or positive,
by list of negative portrayal keys. These keys were selected out of the particular values
out of select categories. Negative Portrayal Keys were criminal or athlete occupation,
baggy or loose, sagging pants in clothing, wild/ ungroomed, hostile and aggressive of
demeanor, du- rag, scarf, in headwear, unnaturally muscular. Of ten keys, in order for the
black males to be viewed negatively, at least 6 of the keys identified to had to be
attributed. Inversely there were Positive Portrayal Keys which were fully clothed, well
dressed, no body markings, well groomed, none for headwear, average wealth,
government agency, or other for occupation, either friendly, or neither, and pleasant or

no emotion

Research question three asked, what genre of video games do black males appear
in the most? This revealed that the majority of the HBMC cases fell into the Action
category with 30 percent (23), and secondary was Action/Adventure with 24 percent (18)

cases. Of the 34 genres, 28 had Humaniod Male Characters (HMC) (82%), of those 28

18

genres. 13 genres did not have not have an HBMC (46%), which leaves 15 genres to have
Humaniod Black Male Characters in this study with. A complete list of genres can be

viewed in the footnotes.

19

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION

This study was originally developed through conversations that surrounded the
experiences of black males in their daily lives. The media was central; television,
comics, movies, and video games as it presented differing portrayals of black males,

which in some cases mirrored personal experiences.

Furthermore, an over arching purpose of this study was to explore the images of
black males in video games. Research examining stereotypes of black males in traditional
forms of media constructed a baseline for future scholarship. This paper adds to this work
through the exploration of stereotypes of black males in video games. The central
question surrounding this study was, does common sense representations portray of black
males presented in the media translate to characters in video games? Additionally do
these representations present counter images to stereotypes and if so, how do they
challenge representations of popular/playable characters? As indicated in the result
section, the majority of black males appeared fully clothed in street clothes but still were
well dressed and well groomed, neither hostile nor friendly as it pertains to facial
recognition demeanor, but in physical appearance demeanor were still aggressive. Below,
I will discuss in greater detail the implications of the results offering analysis, limitations

and future research.

Examining level 1, coding reveals that black males do not comprise a majority of
the players. In fact, they existed in only 40 out of 226 games that did not account for

sports games. For level 2 coding, the numbers were revealed black males totaling 75

20

cases. Within this, 17.5 percent (13 HBMCs) were actually player controlled characters.
However, this does not mean that the total number of characters were main characters
that they were merely playable. This not surprising considering some of the more popular
games have one “token” black male that acts as part of a team or group, but not the main

character.

Examining level 1 coding, it reveals that black males do not comprise a majority
of the players. In fact they existed in only 41 out of 226 games, that did not include
professional or official sports games). For level 2 coding the numbers were slightly
worse with black males totaling 75 cases. Within this, 17.5 percent (13 HBMCs) were
actual player controlled characters. This is important because, it displays that there were
not many characters to have a However, this does not mean that the total number of
characters were the main characters, merely that they were playable. This is not
surprising considering some of the more popular games have one “token” black male that
acts as part of a of the team or group, but not the main character. This is usually the case

in television shows that are not comprised of a majority of black characters.

In the level 1 coding the purpose of the OSG was to exclude games related to real
world sports. In the data some games that were OSG made it through level 2 coding,
because in order for OSG to qualify pass level 2 the criteria was there had to be a black
male not seen during sports action; on the field, on the court, or on the ice. There were
some cases where a game would take place off the field, for example in an office
environment, a night club, or on the streets. It was observed how the black male would be

viewed, considering they were not actually playing in the main context of the game.

21

It is important to notice in this study the majority of the HBMCs were not of the
stereotypical forms. They were well dressed, well groomed, not unnaturally muscular,
and their pants were not sagging or baggy. With the exception of the aggressive
demeanor of their physical appearance, the Humaniod Black Male Characters came out
the opposite of what was assumed. With the understanding this study was based upon
pure images, if it were to be adjusted the HBMC would be more hand selected from
popular video games, genres, and also characters audio or subtitles. Also, what would be
looked for in these adjustments would be just HBMCs that are player controlled or
characters that have a more serious role as a non player controlled character, such as to
evaluate black male images and stereotypes further. Although the writer is thoroughly
pleased with the outcome of the results, the main portion of the HBMCs were characters
that were non player controlled or it could not be described from looking at the images.
These characters are usually not as important as are player controlled characters, but in
this study it hold some weight to the fact that although the are not as important they were

not just modeled after stereotypes.

Outside of sports games, the representation of Afiican Americans drops
precipitously, with many of the remaining characters featured as gangsters and other
street criminals as in Grand Theft Auto and 50 Cent Bulletproof Not coincidentally, the
popularity of sports games is also a primary driver of the masculinity of characters, since
sports titles are game versions of real-world men’s sports leagues or sport commentators
(Madden Football, NCAA Football, NBA live, MVP Baseball, WWE Wrestling).

(William et a1, 2009).

22

One of the major impacts that were planned for this study was to bring to the
forefront what has only been said or speculated. As an avid gamer, exploring the contents
of blogs and opinionated sites, it is clear the writer was not the only party with theses
views. There are characters in the games that have been stereotyped, and these characters
are some of the more popular and recognized black male characters in the gamer world,
characters such as Barret, Cole Train, and Balrog. See Appendices 3-6 for images. Barret
is the only black male character in the Final Fantasy 7, and also is the only character that
has a massive gun attached to his arm. When he speaks in the game, you can usually see
him talking very aggressively and cursing a lot. Cole Train appears in the games Gears of
War 1&2 (GoW), by looking at his images, you think that he looks like the other of the
characters in GoW, except he is the only character not covered on his arms. Morgan
Gray, Senior Producer at Crystal Dynamics had this to say, “Cole Train is basically like
every other effin' black character in a video game. Like here comes the urban stereotype.
Where is this 1990's — not even 2000 — black slang, where does this fit in this futuristic
world that doesn't even take place on Earth? They go really far to do a lot of fictional
justifications for this culture that they've built, and they go right back to this urban
stereotype for the black character. I'm not knocking Epic; the game was fun and
gorgeous. But it's just a lack of thought, right? All it does is reinforce dumb stereotypes
and it sort of reinforces casual racism”. (Ashcraft, 2008). Lastly Balrog, like some other
black males appearing in the Street Fighter Series, (Dudley and Dee Jay) is a boxer, mean
and aggressive looking. Examining his appearance, what is not seen, his back story. The
story reveals his past, being a championship boxer that was banned from the sport for

permanently injuring his opponents and using illegal maneuvers.

23

The impact that needs to eventually be addressed is, these characters could have
any other back story or have been displayed in any other form. They could be modeled
after numerous professions other than athletes, looking or speaking aggressively. In a
previous chapter, it was mentioned there are other many prominent black males could be
explored when displaying the black male image, Muhammad Ali, Benjamin 0. Davis Jr.,
Dr. Ronald McNair, and countless others. The issue which should be addressed by
industry professionals is, if they have the right to form black males how they see fit
within the game context, why not form their characters with back stories of more
prominent black males, instead of the stereotypical black males that are used now.
Although this appears not to be a priority, it is one that is spoken of behind closed doors,

small gatherings, and side conversations

Finally, during these observations it shows there were more black males in video
games in 2008 for the Xbox 360 81.3 %, (61 HBMCs) than there were in 2002 18.6 %,
(14 HBMCs) the full year of games after the birth of Xbox. A suggested idea to expand
on this study, would be to observe compare and contrast other consoles or even PC games
that could be ran through the same series of coding. Another thought would be to
increase the sample size by increasing the range of the years to be examined by the Xbox
franchise from 2001 to the present year. For future research what can be observed is more
in depth connection between either television and video games, movies and video games,
or all three. The overall sample did show black males were underrepresented and the
majority of black males in this study did not identify with the stereotypical black male.

What would be interesting to explore would be what other groups of people opinions are

24

about the black male image with out knowing the results of this study, and then revealing

what was found, to see if their opinion changes.

25

FOOTNOTES
34 instances breakdown
21 games were reported that there were “no screenshots”
6 games were reported that the “screenshots not working
2 games were report that there were “no screenshots available”

1 game that was reported as sports game, there were “no screenshots out side of the
sport”

2 games were reported that they were “missing screenshots”

2 games were reported at PSGs, were “all on field shots”

Dee Jay- Originally was to display as being buff and mean and is a Kickboxer
(http://www.capcom-
unity.com/kramez/blog/2009/ 10/02/the origin of dee iay straight from_creatogames

goddard )

 

Dudley- Originally is British and came from a wealthy family

26

Tables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tablel
Results
Genre # of Games # of Games # of Games % of games that
w/HMC w/HMBC have an HMC
which include an
HBMC
Xbox Live 60 17 2 .117
Arcade
Sports 45 l 1 4 .363
Action/ Adventure 33 25 l 8 .72
Action 24 14 6 .42
First Person l9 8 .5
Shooter l6
Race/Driving 1 7 8 5 .625
Action/ Shooter 1 2 1 0 3 .3
RPG 12 12 1 .083
Music/Dance 9 8 4 .5
Fighting 6 6 1 .16
Extreme Sports 5 5 0
Action/RPG 5 5 0
Adventure 5 3 0
Real Time 5 1 .333
Strategy 3
Shooter 4 3 1 .333
Survival/Horror 4 4 2 .5
*Wrestling 3 3 O

 

 

 

 

 

27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1 Can’t
Platformer 3 0 0
Compilations 2 l 0
Action/Strategy 2 1 O
Action/Stealth 2 2 0
Party 2 1 1 1.0
"Family 1 0 0
Combat Racing 1 1 l 1.0
Card/Casino 1 1 0
Strategy 1 l 0
Puzzle 1 0 0
Flying l 0 0
TBA 0 0 0
Space Sim O O 0
Simulation 0 O 0
Other 0 0 0
MMO 0 0 0
FPS/Space Sim 0 0 0
Total 285 160 39 .243
*All games are OSGs **No Screenshots

28

 

 

Table 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Results by Year
# of Games # of Games/HMC # of Games/HMBC % of games that
have an HMC
which include an
HBMC
2002 70 37 7 .18
2008 215 121 34 .28
Overall 285 158 41 .46
Table 3
Skin Color
Very Dark/Dark Very Light/Light In Between
# of HBMCs 40 6 29
% of HBMCs 53.3 8 38.6

 

 

 

 

 

29

 

 

Table 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clothing
Amount of Fully clothed Minimal Partially clothed Other
Clothing clothing

(possible PG)
# of HBMCs 63 2 10 0
% of HBMCs 84 2 13.3 0
Kind of Street Clothes Sports Attire Uniform Fantasy Costume
Clothing
# of HBMCs 60 l 12 2
% of HBMCs 80 1 16 2
Style of Dress Well dressed Baggy, appearing Sagging

loose, oversized

# of HBMCs 58 17 0
% of HBMCs 77.3 22.6 0

 

 

 

 

 

30

 

 

Table 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance
Muscles Unnaturally Normal human Appears Noticeably
muscular muscles weak

# of HBMCs 3 71 l

% of HBMCs 4 95 1

Weight Obese Overweight About average Thin

# of HBMCs 0 0 73 2

% of HBMCs 0 0 98 2

Body Markings Tattoo(s) Piercing Both None

# of HBMCs 5 0 4 66

% of HBMCs 6 0 6 88

Table 6

Accessories
Jewelry Technology Weapons/ Armor
Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No

# of HBMCs 56/ 19 74/1 42/33

% of HBMCs 75/25 99/1 56/44

 

 

 

 

31

 

 

 

Table 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headwear
Headwear Hat/Type of Du-rag Scarf or None
Headressin bandana
# of HBMCs 16 0 2 57
% of HBMCs 21 0 3 76
Table 8
Wealth
Seems Rich Average Seems Poor

# of HBMCs 8 7 60
% of HBMCs 10 10 80
Table 9
Occupation

Government Athlete Fighter (not Former Criminal Other Can Not

or Agency professional Athlete Describe

)

# of 16 2 2 0 10 40
HBMC
% of 21 3 3 0 I3 53
HBMC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32

 

Table 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demeanor

Facial Recognition Mostly Hostile Mostly Friendly Neither Hostile
nor Friendly

# of HBMCs 13 9 53
% of HBMCs 17 12 71
Physical Aggression Pleasantness No Emotion Can Not
Appearance Describe
# of HBMCs 35 16 15
% of HBMCs 47 12 21 20

 

 

 

 

 

33

 

 

Level 1

Segment variable

APPENDIX 1

Coding Scheme

Genre of Video Games (http://games.teamxbox.com/index/general/by-genre/7/)

Action

Adventure
Card/Casino
Combat Racing
Compilations
Extreme Sports
Family

Fighting

First Person Shooter

. Flying

. FPS/ Space Sim

. MMO

. Music/Dance

. Other

. Party

. Platformer

. Puzzle

. Race/ Driving

. Real Time Strategy
. RPG

. Shooter

. Simulation

. Space Sim

. Sports

. Strategy

. Survival/Horror

. TBA

. Wrestling

. Xbox Live Arcade
. Action/Stealth

. Action/Adventure
. Action/Shooter

. Action/Strategy

. Action/RPG

34

OSG (official sporting game): Sports games that take on the official league name,
NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA, FIF A etc. ie, NBA 2k6. Also for sports games that
may not use official league name, but uses official league teams, ie All Star
Baseball.

PGS does not get coded further at all.

Content of games

Contains Humanoid Male Characters 1) Yes 2) No

Black male character will be identified as such. Black or African American. A
person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Terms such as "Haitian"
or "Negro" can be used in addition to "Black or African American." (U .8 Census, 1997).

The name: If the character has a nlame, and can NOT be identified as foreign.

Based upon atmosphere of the game: If the male figure in question is NOT based in
another cultural surrounding or area, i.e Latin neighbor hood, or middle Eastern territory

Humanoid Black Male Characters 1) Yes 2) No
If Yes, How many (Code each)
Move To Level 2 Coding 1) Yes 2) No

Character variables:

1. Character: defined as a human, animal, or object within a video game that
displayed human-like "appearance or qualities such as speaking, using tools, or
making conscious decisions. (Beasley & Standley, 2002) Only Characters that are
Human or appear to be Human

Type of character:

Revelation: A character’s true type may be concealed or may change, and the true
type is revealed during the segment. Code the true type.

a. Human: A homosapien with no supernatural features.

b. Supernatural creature: A non-human that exceeds biological limits and/or
possesses supernatural powers.

0. Robot: An electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device or group of devices that
can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks.

35

d. Other.

2. Role of character (Downs, E., 2004)

a. Player Controlled (Always-control primary character): Those that a video
game player actively manipulates and controls onscreen all the time.

b. Non Player Controlled characters are those that are immediately tied to or
related to the primary character by either aiding or deterring the primary
character from fulfilling their quest, while are controlled by the game
itself.

c. Unsure: characters are those that can be identified as Player Controlled or
Non Player Controlled based upon the images.

Level 2
Segment variable
Game Name

Game Genre: Based upon list provided.

CHARACTER variables:

Character: defined as a human, animal, or object within a video game that displayed
human~like appearance or qualities such as speaking, using tools, or making conscious
decisions. (Beasley & Standley, 2002) Only Characters that are Human or appear to be
Human

Type of character:

Revelation: A character’s true type may be concealed or may change, and the true
type is revealed during the segment. Code the true type.

. Human: A homosapien with no supematural features.

. Supernatural creature: A non-human that exceeds biological limits and/or
possesses supernatural powers.

3. Robot: An electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device or group of devices that

can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks.

Nu—I

36

4. Other.

Role of character (Downs, E., 2004)

1. Player-Controlled character (Always-control primary character: Those that a
video game player actively manipulates and controls onscreen all the time.)

2. NPC (Sometimes-control primary character: Those that a video game player
actively manipulates and controls onscreen part of the time; and the other the
control switches to other characters.)

3. Unsure
Skin Color:
1. Very Dark/Dark
2. Very Light/Light

3. In Between

CLOTHING variable (Downs, 2004)(Wickham,2007)
Any garment that is worn in order to enhance, exaggerate, call attention, that
may bring negative judgment or appearing of inappropriateness

Amount of Clothing
1. Fully clothed

2. Minimal clothing (possible PG)
3. Partially clothed
4. Other

Kind of Clothing

1. Street Clothes (style of dress you might see on the street)

2. Sports Attire ( uniform/clothing appropriate for sports, such as race driver,
football, wrestler)

37

3. Uniform (army, chef, nurse, etc.)

4. Fantasy Costume (such as cave man, superhero, wizard or alien)

Style of Dress

1. Well dressed ( pants not sagging or low, shirt appears to be clean, neat, or
tucked in pants, suited or business casual)

2. Baggy, appearing loose, oversized

3. Sagging

APPEARANCE
Based upon the look of the character.

Muscles

l. Unnaturally muscular
2. Normal human muscles
3. Appears Noticeably weak

Weight

1. Obese
2. Overweight

3. About average
4. Thin

Body Markings

1. Tattoo(s)

2. Piercing (other than ordinary ear piercing, ie, nose, lip, eye, etc)
3. Both
4. None

HAIR
Hair Length

Bald

Short (no longer than bottom of the ears)

. Medium (Below the ears, but up to shoulder length)
. Long (below the shoulders)

ewwr

38

Hair Curl

1. Curly
2. Straight
3. Wavy
4. Neither
Hair Style
1. Dreadlocks
2. Braids
3. Ordinary
4. Afro appearance
5. Mohawk

Hair Grooming

1. Well Groomed
2. Ungroom/Wild

ACCESSORIES
1. Jewelry
2. Technological Communications

3. Weapon/Armor ( if appears to be holding, wearing, or using a weapon. If appears
to have on some sort of armor or addition protection)

Headwear

1. Hat/Type of Headressin

2. Du-rag
3. Scarf or bandana
4. None

Wealth. Based upon appearance, stance, apparent setting
1. Seems Rich

2. Average

39

3. Seems Poor

OCCUPATION
Based upon character back story and possible appearance
Government or Agency
Athlete
Fighter (not professional )
Former Athlete
Criminal
Other (Hero, Villian, general work, student, laborer etc.)

Can Not Describe

DEMEANOR

Based upon face recognition and physical stance or pose,

Facial Recognition

Much aggression can be shown in the face, from disapproving frowns and pursed lips
to sneers and full snarls. The eyes can be used to stare and hold the gaze for long
period. They may also squint, preventing the other person seeing where you are
looking. (Straker, 2008) Does the character’s facial appearance seem to convey

1. Mostly Hostile

2. Mostly Friendly

3. Neither Hostile nor Friendly
Physical Appearance

When somebody is about to attack, they give visual signal such as clenching of fists
ready to strike and lowering and spreading of the body for stability. They are also likely
to give anger signs such as redness of the face. Exposing oneself to attack is also a form
of aggression. It is saying 'Go on - I dare you. I will still win.‘ It can include not looking
at the other person, crotch displays, relaxing the body, turning away and so on.
(Straker,2008). Does the character’s physical demeanor and body posture seem to convey

1. Aggression

40

Copyrighted by
Christopher Alanye Covington
2009

2. Pleasantness
3. No Emotion

4. Can Not Describe

41

APPENDIX 2

Genre List

Action
Adventure

Card/Casino
Combat Racing
Compilations
Extreme Sports
Family

Fighting

First Person Shooter
Flying

F PS/ Space Sim
MMO
Music/Dance
Other

Party

Platformer
Puzzle

Race/ Driving
Real Time Strategy
RPG

Shooter
Simulation

Space Sim

Sports

Strategy
Survival/Horror
TBA

Wrestling

Xbox Live Arcade
Action/Stealth
Action/Adventure
Action/Shooter
Action/Strategy
Action/RPG

42

TBA

Space Sim
Simulation
Other

MMO
FPS/Space Sim

APPENDIX 3

Genres Not Represented with HBMC

43

FIGURE 1

 

Barret,

Final Fantasy 7

SQUARE nurx.

FIGURE 2

 

Balrog

Street Fighter 2 / Street Fighter 4

 

45

FIGURE 3

 

‘2’»! :-$’.1’l

 

Street Fighter Characters

Dee Jay \ Dudley

 

46

FIGURE 4

 

Cole Train

GearsofWarl&2

 

47

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