Is there racial descrimination in chess.com app visuals?

Everyday I play the app and see the images representing other players that flash up.

It occurs to me that they really don't represent the ethnicity of players that I actually play with (in particular Asian and African ethnicities are under-represented).  It seems far more white than the reality. 

If that's the case, it raises the question of why Chess.com would choose to misrepresent the user base with such a racial bias? 

I'm not suggesting this is an act of purposeful racism - But I do think it's a valid question to raise.   

If the proportions of ethnicity are reflective of the reality of the user base then I'm happy to be corrected.  

I know that marketing representations do not often represent reality.  But then if a more white user based is considered (albeit unconsciously) preferable for marketing purposes, then that seems a bit off to me. So I wanted to raise it....

To be clear, I'm not accusing Chess.com of active racism. 

When do you see these? When I open the app, the only pictures I see are the player avatars in the list of my games. Presumably chess.com is not responsible for the avatar choices.

Other places to see pictures are in news articles, which reflect the top players (and their ethnicity) or other chess related news. Is that where you suggest bias?

You said you were talking about the app. Are you talking about the testimonials on the website membership page, which are not visible in the app? You might have a point about that page but I think most people see that page very rarely.

Sorry not to have been clear, I mean when I am waiting for a player to be assigned in a live game, I get a series of avatar-like images that quickly appear on the screen (it's the same images of people each time, so it's clearly pre-determined). 

A decision was made about which images to include and it's that decision that I'm asking about.  

I'm suggesting it's unconciously racially descriminatory.  If someone consciously said 'let's have less asians or black people on there than we actually have in reality, because that's the type of user base we want to attract and look like' - then I would say it is actively racist....

I'm not trying to kick off for the sake of it.  I love chess.com and just thought it better to share my reaction to see what others thought rather than keep quiet....

Yes, the site should offer a "Politically Correct" option for those who care about this kind of stuff...

(sarcasm, if you couldn't figure it out)

@Stuzzicadenti - it's that bias that I'm seeing reflected in the selection of images.  As a liberal who'd like to see less racial descrimination, I'd rather chess.com think it through and balance the imagery (or justify their current selection)....

It's easy for people to dismiss my observation as pointless political correctness. But if you care about racial equality (which I can see some don't) then it is important.  

If you think you care about racial equality and can't see why what I'm saying is important then it's worth thinking harder.  

If you don't care, or are clinically insane - then I appreciate you'll dismiss what I'm saying and won't appreciate the point behind it. 

Which of these was your Jesus Christ? Perhaps you liked him least.

NKT73 wrote:

P.S.  To be up front:  Vietnamese (Asian) first, White (Caucasian) second, Mexican (Spanish) third, and last Black (Negro).  However my grandma just passed away and told me even in her ghosts to love all people so I hope you remember her name:  Vu Thi Cau.

Just remember the Vatican.

kaynight wrote:

Cannot even pronounce it, never mind remember it.

hungrykicks has a very valid point here.

Congrats to you, NKT, you have came back crazier than ever.

I think all news anchors on TV should be just as ugly as the general population. Fair is fair...

Yes , and chess is inheritantly biased game....thats why White  always move first.

@stuzzicadenti - no doubt you are right.  And if it was a considered decision, that was probably the logic behind it. 

I for one would do not think maximising revenue justifies the decision.  And actually I love the ethinc diversity of the experience of chess.com. 

If I came to that same conclusion on the rationale behind the choice of user imagery and if I were South East Asian / Middle-Eastern / African - I would probably also feel disenfranchised. 

I want to see bunnies!

@ Escherehcse - I don't think 'ugliness and race' are valid parallels to draw.  Nor is 'news anchors' and 'chess.com' user representation....

I do think news anchors should reflect ethnic diversity of that country incidentally....

Is not considering racism,racism?

Right, so I'm only 17 years old, and therefore perhaps I have little room to talk, but when others call our generation that of the "precious little snowflakes made of unicorn tears", lodging this kind of complaint is precisely what they're talking about.

Every young generation has to listen to the same nonsense, just don't care about it.

Just like chronic pain is no longer recognized

kaynight wrote:

If everyone was British, there would be no problem.😍

This thread must be locked, it's bad publicity for Chess.com

False.