Hate Video Games

osted Feb. 25, 2002 -- Racist hate groups are now using video games to promote racist beliefs among the young, the Anti-Defamation League warns.

Among the most recent to become available is Ethnic Cleansing, a CD-ROM-based computer game offered by the National Alliance, the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the United States, according to the ADL.

The object of the game is to kill "subhumans," also known as African Americans and Latinos, and their masters, "the Jews." Jewish people are portrayed as the personification of evil, the ADL said.

"Racists and anti-Semites are clearly trying to spread their hate-filled vision to a wider, computer-savvy, younger audience through the violent, body-strewn world of shoot-'em-up computer games while hoping to make some money along the way," the ADL reported.

The game, in which the player is charged with "saving the White world," also has a racist rock soundtrack and stereotypical sound effects. For example, when Blacks are killed, ape and monkey sounds are heard. Latinos say "I'll take a siesta now!" or "Ay, carumba!" Jewish characters say "Oy vey" when they are killed.

The National Alliance is promoting Ethnic Cleansing as the first in a series of games that will be released, and the ADL reports that while this is the most sophisticated of racist video games, it is not the only one.

Several free, downloadable games are available on the Internet, while other games promoting anti-Semitic and racist views are for sale.

"Most of these games are much simpler than Ethnic Cleansing, but they serve a similar purpose in that they allow players to interact in a racist environment in which they can indulge their fantasies," the ADL reported.