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Made in us
Hacking Shang Jí






Chicago burbs

The only Black Library books I've read that have any kind of Racial/Ethnic diversity has been ones by Dan Abbnett. Legion for example. The Tallarn book tried a bit even though they were all Lawrence of Arabia looking they tried explaining a culture that was not British. In fact he tried to set them up as being like Sunni's and Shiite's.

While I don't think GW has intentionally done racist things, they have certainly a few poor decisions to make them look that way. For myself it was when they changed Salamanders to have the mutation to make them coal black instead of being a dark skinned human. It smacked of "we don't want them black so lets make them BLACK."

I had already found that they were stereo typing other races like Mongols and Huns with the White Scars and Rough Riders. Admittedly though it's a lot harder to show "Asian" in a mini than African.

I just wish they would try a little harder to not have every one in the BL books white and British.

   
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Hutto, TX

IIRC, race simply doesn't exist. through the eons of breeding everyone is really just the same race. Human. the genetic lines ave got to be pretty much blurred bu the year 40000.

So in regards to the thought of ethnic diversity, there isn't any ethnicities to speak of. they're all human. (unless they're not)




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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Just be glad you don't live in Africa, where they kill and eat white people for mojo.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/death-toll-grows-for-african-albinos-hunted-for-witch-doctors-brews/

In 2009 Mariamu Staford, a Tanzanian woman in her mid-20s, was sleeping in her hut when a group of men broke in and chopped off her arms. In the shadow of the Rwandan genocide and perennial war in Congo, where violence against women has become so common as to be considered a war tactic, Staford’s story is sadly less shocking than it might be.

But Staford wasn’t attacked for tribalism, demoralization or sex. She has albinism, a medical condition in which the body produces little or no pigment that exists in every ethnic group throughout the world. In East Africa albinos’ limbs are highly valued — often fetching thousands of dollars on the black market — by witch doctors who use the bones in potions they sell to those who think they bring prosperity.

Since 2007 in Tanzania, 64 people with albinism have been murdered for their body parts. Fourteen others have been mutilated, including a 13-year-old girl whose right arm was severed as she lay sleeping next to her mother.
   
Made in us
Hellacious Havoc





Kevlar wrote:
Just be glad you don't live in Africa, where they kill and eat white people for mojo.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/death-toll-grows-for-african-albinos-hunted-for-witch-doctors-brews/

In 2009 Mariamu Staford, a Tanzanian woman in her mid-20s, was sleeping in her hut when a group of men broke in and chopped off her arms. In the shadow of the Rwandan genocide and perennial war in Congo, where violence against women has become so common as to be considered a war tactic, Staford’s story is sadly less shocking than it might be.

But Staford wasn’t attacked for tribalism, demoralization or sex. She has albinism, a medical condition in which the body produces little or no pigment that exists in every ethnic group throughout the world. In East Africa albinos’ limbs are highly valued — often fetching thousands of dollars on the black market — by witch doctors who use the bones in potions they sell to those who think they bring prosperity.

Since 2007 in Tanzania, 64 people with albinism have been murdered for their body parts. Fourteen others have been mutilated, including a 13-year-old girl whose right arm was severed as she lay sleeping next to her mother.


That's only albino's, so not exactly a normal white person. Though it certainly sounds interesting.

@Rimmy: Race and Ethnicity aren't the same things.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/27 21:45:02


Spiney Norman wrote:
I would also like to thank all those crazy gamers with too much money to spend that buy hundreds of the same marine models, paint them different colours and pretend they are different armies. You are the heroes upon whose backs the future of GW sales is assured.

 
   
Made in us
Hacking Shang Jí






Chicago burbs

 Rimmy wrote:
IIRC, race simply doesn't exist. through the eons of breeding everyone is really just the same race. Human. the genetic lines ave got to be pretty much blurred bu the year 40000.

So in regards to the thought of ethnic diversity, there isn't any ethnicities to speak of. they're all human. (unless they're not)


After only 10,000 years on a new planet with new food, atmosphere, gravity, radiation, and other environmental factors it's going to change people. Skin can change, eyes, height, weight, etc. This 40,000 years! This is also a universe that mentions mutants a lot too. Some natural and some not. Some have physical mutations and some have mental. There can be worlds where humans used gene therapy in the Dark Age to breath toxic atmospheres or even liquid.

And that's just the physical changes. There's also many cultural changes. Again the only one who has touched on it is Dan Abbnett a few times. Most of the other authors seem to think everyone is white, british, or a stereotype.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/27 22:12:47


   
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Hutto, TX

SaintTom wrote: @Rimmy: Race and Ethnicity aren't the same things.


I am well aware of this. perhaps my stament was not well written.

within the human RACE, the ethnicities we currently know, will have bred themselves out (humerously, think Goo Backs episode of south park) I would imagine by the age of strife ethnicities wouldn't exist and everyone would be the same.

Expanding out into the universe, adding mutations etc etc would certainly change genomes enough to create new and diffeent "races".

However, to apply current ethnic backgrounds of current times, would be futile.

When they say the Salamanders are "black" they mean BLACK. not African or African descent, they mean BLACK. depending on which version of the fluff you go with, it still says black, it doesn't say black-guy. see what i'm saying?

I don't think anyone would be "white" by any stretch in the future by that time. its a recessive genetic trait.

besides, its a game. who cares? more to that point, we're all gamers, who cares about ethnicity now? I certainly don't.

Unless you're elven. or you think you're an elf. then you can die.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 CDK wrote:
 Rimmy wrote:
IIRC, race simply doesn't exist. through the eons of breeding everyone is really just the same race. Human. the genetic lines ave got to be pretty much blurred bu the year 40000.

So in regards to the thought of ethnic diversity, there isn't any ethnicities to speak of. they're all human. (unless they're not)


After only 10,000 years on a new planet with new food, atmosphere, gravity, radiation, and other environmental factors it's going to change people. Skin can change, eyes, height, weight, etc. This 40,000 years! This is also a universe that mentions mutants a lot too. Some natural and some not. Some have physical mutations and some have mental. There can be worlds where humans used gene therapy in the Dark Age to breath toxic atmospheres or even liquid.

And that's just the physical changes. There's also many cultural changes. Again the only one who has touched on it is Dan Abbnett a few times. Most of the other authors seem to think everyone is white, british, or a stereotype.


Can't really argue with that logic. it certainly pushes the boundaries of -ism doesn't it? raceism takes on a WHOLE nother level. Xenophobes. or Xenophiles. depends on how much hentai you watch.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/27 23:01:17





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 Grey Templar wrote:
Technically, the reason Salamanders are coal black is because their geneseed has a flaw that reacts to the radiation on their homeworld, causing their jet black skin.

The actual human population of Nocturne has light skin.


From what I read in the fluff, I understand it them to be black but of course lighter than the salamanders. Maybe its a gene-seed mutation or maybe its not. The emperor is made up of many sorcerers and shaman in the lore. Its possible for one to come out black, maybe we should have Maury do a DNA test to prove it. :-P
   
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maybe this was never ment to be an issue. It's just a games rite?

If i was fighting in 40k would i really care if some was white? - no i would only care if they had a gun!!

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I think if the Imperium of man didn't have Fascist overtones then we wouldn't be discussing this. I've put the definition in for those who don't know what it is. It can be argued that it's not but it's certainly not democratic. It's not like the Emperor was elected.

If there was not these overtones then I don't think the feeling of racism would be there as much. I do think though GW has tried to turn what would be hate towards a human race into hate towards aliens. Since we don't even know if aliens even exist then no feelings are hurt.

fascism |ˈfa sh ˌizəm| (also Fascism)
noun
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
• (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

   
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 Rimmy wrote:
SaintTom wrote: @Rimmy: Race and Ethnicity aren't the same things.


I am well aware of this. perhaps my stament was not well written.

within the human RACE, the ethnicities we currently know, will have bred themselves out (humerously, think Goo Backs episode of south park) I would imagine by the age of strife ethnicities wouldn't exist and everyone would be the same.

Expanding out into the universe, adding mutations etc etc would certainly change genomes enough to create new and diffeent "races".

However, to apply current ethnic backgrounds of current times, would be futile.

When they say the Salamanders are "black" they mean BLACK. not African or African descent, they mean BLACK. depending on which version of the fluff you go with, it still says black, it doesn't say black-guy. see what i'm saying?

I don't think anyone would be "white" by any stretch in the future by that time. its a recessive genetic trait.

besides, its a game. who cares? more to that point, we're all gamers, who cares about ethnicity now? I certainly don't.

Unless you're elven. or you think you're an elf. then you can die.


People are not talking about different races of humans though. We are talking about people of different ethnicity, such as the Vitrians from one of the Gaunts Ghosts books. They are very different in how they operate and in the face that they are all are dark skinned.

Now i know it's hard to grasp, but this is a much bigger difference than that Cadians are white with purple eyes, and Steel legionaries are white and love to wear gas masks like the DKoK like to do.

If you read basically any of the BL books or in most codex's then when they basically describe any people such as the soldiers or whatnot, its usually always white, or just a lil tan.
I mean hell, even the Tallaran's are just British troopers dressed up in desert fatigues.

And I believe people care in that if there are people which are similar to you its much easier to connect with the characters. I partially really loved and got into 40k because of the Salamanders as they were painted before with the dark brown skin. A small blotch of color in what seemed like basically a white/ alien universe.

It's even one reason why most video game characters that people play as (when you don't get a choice) are white, in that most of the players are probably going to be white and its easier for them to care and relate to the person when the outsides are somewhat similar.

What I'm trying to say is that showing off the less (almost never) seen populations of humans wouldn't bring the sky falling in on your precious game.
That said I do believe the recent Fear to Tread does well with this issue.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/09/28 15:33:54


Spiney Norman wrote:
I would also like to thank all those crazy gamers with too much money to spend that buy hundreds of the same marine models, paint them different colours and pretend they are different armies. You are the heroes upon whose backs the future of GW sales is assured.

 
   
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Tunneling Trygon






Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland

First off, Space Marines aren't Caucasian. They're barely human! Even fluff mentions their questionable humanity, it's just that declaring every Space Marine a mutant/xenos would pretty much be suicide, even for the Inquisition. Their ethnicity is 'Space Marine'. Secondly, their skin tone supposedly changes with exposure to radiation, and the Salamanders have a mutation which makes their skin-tone-changy-radiation-protecty Space Marine organ turn it up to 11 all the time (Although, I like them as 'Afro-black' Space Marines rather than 'coal-black with red eyes', but that's just personal preference). It's definitely possible that a black man, given Space Marine treatment, would become white due to... whatever it's called, that organ that changes their skin tone but I can't be bothered to look up. I don't mean Cauasian-coloured, either, I mean alabaster - until exposed to any sort of radiation, in which case, his skin would adapt just enough to protect him - just as a white "Caucasian" man would become far darker in skin tone after being Space Marineified and then exposed to higher radiation levels. Neither man would be their original ethnicity - they'd just be a Space Marine, and whether or not they're even human any more is up for debate.

Thirdly, I love when people talk about worlds. Cadia, Catachan, all that. These aren't towns. It's not the state of Cadia, Cadiasville, in the country of Cadia. It's a god-darn planet. You know what Earth is? A planet. Wait, everyone on Earth is white, and black/Asian/Eastern/etc people are from space? Oh my! Let's think about why ethnicities exist. Black folk are from Africa (mostly), and why is that? Because it's hot and sunny, and the vastly increased amount of melanin (among other things) in their skin protects them from sun rays in ways that the skin of white people does not. It's really that simple. All ethnic groups are due to different conditions, or just being separate for a very long time - ie the Age of Strife. It doesn't matter if the entire population of colonists to World A were white, eventually the environment of World A would change them, and in different ways depending on where they were. I know 40k has a terrible time with representing worlds as more than something akin to a single country, but even so. Catachans aren't black, or white, or whatever. They're <insert Catachan race here>. I'm sure Catachan has countries in it, and that those black guys are from a country or area on the planet where blackness is common due to the environment (or they're descended from someone who is). If the entire human race moved to a planet that had Africa-like conditions across its entire surface, somehow, then we'd all be black, eventually.

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New Hampshire, USA

 Frozen Ocean wrote:
First off, Space Marines aren't Caucasian. They're barely human! Even fluff mentions their questionable humanity, it's just that declaring every Space Marine a mutant/xenos would pretty much be suicide, even for the Inquisition. Their ethnicity is 'Space Marine'. Secondly, their skin tone supposedly changes with exposure to radiation, and the Salamanders have a mutation which makes their skin-tone-changy-radiation-protecty Space Marine organ turn it up to 11 all the time (Although, I like them as 'Afro-black' Space Marines rather than 'coal-black with red eyes', but that's just personal preference). It's definitely possible that a black man, given Space Marine treatment, would become white due to... whatever it's called, that organ that changes their skin tone but I can't be bothered to look up. I don't mean Cauasian-coloured, either, I mean alabaster - until exposed to any sort of radiation, in which case, his skin would adapt just enough to protect him - just as a white "Caucasian" man would become far darker in skin tone after being Space Marineified and then exposed to higher radiation levels. Neither man would be their original ethnicity - they'd just be a Space Marine, and whether or not they're even human any more is up for debate.


So a man with a prostetic leg is a different ethnicity?

You know what Earth is? A planet. Wait, everyone on Earth is white, and black/Asian/Eastern/etc people are from space? Oh my!


The "brown" races are from Earth. Technically the south americans. It's the white/black/asian/indian races that are from space... The Pleiadian cultures.

Let's think about why ethnicities exist. Black folk are from Africa (mostly), and why is that?


Because they came from a different world. Africa is a jungle. With lots of trees and shade. People aren't exposed to sunlight all the time. No more than any other race.

How can you explain a polar bear? Their skin is solid black yet they don't live in Africa, they live in the arctic.

All ethnic groups are due to different conditions


Okay, let's say white man came from the northern areas of the world. Why are they white? To blend in with the snow? Because they live underground 24/7?

If it had anything to do with environment why did man lose all of his body hair in cold environments only to resort to killing animals to wear their protective coats?

Wouldn't white man just "change with his environment" and grow thicker white hides?

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 CDK wrote:
I had already found that they were stereo typing other races like Mongols and Huns with the White Scars and Rough Riders. Admittedly though it's a lot harder to show "Asian" in a mini than African.


Agreed. Out of the different IG regiments in the Codex, I found the Attilans to have the most poorly-written fluff.

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Heck, I have a person of color in each of my IG squads. I even have a commissar done up as Red Skull, without his "human" mask.
I also have some females in my IG army, including a commissar.

 
   
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Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland

 DeffDred wrote:

So a man with a prostetic leg is a different ethnicity?


No. Space Marines are totally changed from whatever they were before. It's less that a man becomes a Space Marine, more like a man is broken down and some of his bits are used to manufacture a Space Marine.

 DeffDred wrote:

Because they came from a different world. Africa is a jungle. With lots of trees and shade. People aren't exposed to sunlight all the time. No more than any other race.


Can't know that. It's not just sunlight, it's other forms of radiation, too. I highly doubt that all of Catachan is exposed to exactly the same level of radiation/sunlight as every other part.

 DeffDred wrote:

How can you explain a polar bear? Their skin is solid black yet they don't live in Africa, they live in the arctic.


Is their external surface black? No, they're white. They're white because their fur is white. Can you explain why a black man has red underneath his skin? Does that mean he needs to blend in to MARS?

 DeffDred wrote:

Okay, let's say white man came from the northern areas of the world. Why are they white? To blend in with the snow? Because they live underground 24/7?

If it had anything to do with environment why did man lose all of his body hair in cold environments only to resort to killing animals to wear their protective coats?


Because adding additional melanin to the skin for absolutely no reason is just a total waste of totally good metabolic energy and resource. When you don't have to put x amount of food into your skin, you need to eat slightly less, you do better at surviving.

 DeffDred wrote:
Wouldn't white man just "change with his environment" and grow thicker white hides?


He did. With technology. Other animals would - dogs moved to Africa that have, in few generations, lost most of their fur to help keep cool - but man adapted using intelligence and technology. More likely is that man would simply not have moved into colder regions without the ability to wear clothes, make fires, etc.

EDIT: Polar bears have black skin because black absorbs heat more effectively. Their white outer surface is composed of hollow transulent tubes that function as insulation. The black underlayer helps keep that heat in.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/01 21:58:42


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Germany

Invisible Jesus wrote:
 Dark Scipio wrote:
Serious:

You decicde which colour your costum chapter or Regiment has.

So dont blame GW, that they created a dominat white skin based game in the 90s (not much from the 80s fluff still exists) when they had nearly 100% white customers.


It seems you have a really hard time understanding English, as we have said numerous times now that this was never about any accusation of racism. Get it? What do I have to do to spell that out? It was a perfectly reasonable question, certainly more reasonable than discussing my little pony space marines...I was just curious. Seriously, why do people jump down your throat on dakka when you ask perfectly reasonable questions? Frustrating to say the least.

As for the person who said this is one of many threads that discuss the same topic and this thread should be locked: Well, I didn't find any. I also happen to have a business to help run so don't have much time to search endlessly through threads. So if you don't like it, don't reply. It's really that simple. You are just wasting your time moaning...Surely, you have something better to do? What's worse is now you've wasted my time having to reply to you. *le sigh*





Or you have a hard time, because you totaly missed my point.


 
   
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Answer, Africa continued on it's present course.

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rickross wrote:
Answer, Africa continued on it's present course.


With a lot of (unwanted) help.

Spiney Norman wrote:
I would also like to thank all those crazy gamers with too much money to spend that buy hundreds of the same marine models, paint them different colours and pretend they are different armies. You are the heroes upon whose backs the future of GW sales is assured.

 
   
Made in fi
Courageous Space Marine Captain






 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 DeffDred wrote:

Okay, let's say white man came from the northern areas of the world. Why are they white? To blend in with the snow? Because they live underground 24/7?

If it had anything to do with environment why did man lose all of his body hair in cold environments only to resort to killing animals to wear their protective coats?


Because adding additional melanin to the skin for absolutely no reason is just a total waste of totally good metabolic energy and resource. When you don't have to put x amount of food into your skin, you need to eat slightly less, you do better at surviving.


It's not only that. If you live in a place where there's not much sunlight, having a lot of melanin is actually detrimental. People need some sunlight for their bodies to synthetise vitamin D. So a dark skinned person living in a place with little sunlight needs to have a diet rich with vitamin D, or they'll develop a deficiency.

And I hope that DeffDred was joking, as what he wrote was utter gibberish.


Oh, and I can't understand why they changed Salamanders from African black to jet black. They used to look good. Now they just look like someone forgot to paint their faces.


This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2012/10/01 23:33:05


   
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There are several problems I see with most of the posts in this topic.

First off: Ethnicity. Ethnicity has nothing to do with appearance; instead it is based on CULTURAL DIFFERENCES. 40k quite frankly acknowledges and has "ethnic diversity" pretty well represented.

Pick two Imperial Guard regiments (or marine chapters) and you will see differences in their fighting styles, dress, etc based upon their cultural heritage. Some of that might be a direct translation from Mongols or Romans or whatever, but the fact is that each of those groups have a culture (and therefore ethnicity) that is represented on the table top.

Quite frankly, Ethnicity can only be self identified.

That aside, let's move on to what the question should have been: Lack of Race diversity in 40k.

This is more interesting because it has been demonstrated that race has no biological or genetic basis. The differences in features such as facial appearance are superficial and are there simply due to slight environmental differences.

Further, those visual differences cross politically created "racial" boundaries and can easily lead to a single person being classified under several different "races". To state it a different way, biologists have yet to come up with a test that allows them to categorize a given sample into a particular "sub species" of humans.

Where does that leave us?

Well, quite frankly I would expect humans that were dropped on a random planet in the IoM to develop interesting differences completely outside of those seen on this planet today. Maybe purple or bright orange skin due to the color/type of the local sun. Maybe their eyes angle a different direction or their noses grow longer or shorter. Maybe the local fauna turns them green or causes them to develop sharper teeth. Even gravity itself would play a part by making them more muscular or willowy; perhaps even taller or shorter than Earth "norm".

Basically, I would expect them to only look superficially the way we do while having almost the exact same genetic makeup.

In closing: paint your toys the way you want.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2012/10/01 23:38:59


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 CDK wrote:
I think if the Imperium of man didn't have Fascist overtones then we wouldn't be discussing this. I've put the definition in for those who don't know what it is. It can be argued that it's not but it's certainly not democratic. It's not like the Emperor was elected.

If there was not these overtones then I don't think the feeling of racism would be there as much. I do think though GW has tried to turn what would be hate towards a human race into hate towards aliens. Since we don't even know if aliens even exist then no feelings are hurt.

fascism |ˈfa sh ˌizəm| (also Fascism)
noun
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
• (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.


In the case of the Imperium the Ethnic/National group = Humans.

So humans are superior to alien races(including mutants that may have been humans many generations ago)

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 Crimson wrote:
 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 DeffDred wrote:

Okay, let's say white man came from the northern areas of the world. Why are they white? To blend in with the snow? Because they live underground 24/7?

If it had anything to do with environment why did man lose all of his body hair in cold environments only to resort to killing animals to wear their protective coats?


Because adding additional melanin to the skin for absolutely no reason is just a total waste of totally good metabolic energy and resource. When you don't have to put x amount of food into your skin, you need to eat slightly less, you do better at surviving.


It's not only that. If you live in a place where there's not much sunlight, having a lot of melanin is actually detrimental. People need some sunlight for their bodies to synthetise vitamin D. So a dark skinned person living in a place with little sunlight needs to have a diet rich with vitamin D, or they'll develop a deficiency.

And I hope that DeffDred was joking, as what he wrote was utter gibberish.


Partially joking. I do believe in the Pleiadian Theory but most of the points I brought up are old debates about racial traits.

I just wanted to see how Dakka would answer them... as the scientific community hasn't yet.

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 DeffDred wrote:

Partially joking. I do believe in the Pleiadian Theory but most of the points I brought up are old debates about racial traits.

I just wanted to see how Dakka would answer them... as the scientific community hasn't yet.


Oh wow! If science has not convinced you that our ancestors were not space aliens, I doubt Dakka will.

Reasons of varying levels of melanin in people developed in different environments is pretty well understood. (Hint: space aliens are not involved, sun and vitamin D are.)


EDIT: But thanks. This was certainly fresh and surprising development in a 40K racial diversity thread.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/02 08:11:50


   
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New Hampshire, USA

 Crimson wrote:
 DeffDred wrote:

Partially joking. I do believe in the Pleiadian Theory but most of the points I brought up are old debates about racial traits.

I just wanted to see how Dakka would answer them... as the scientific community hasn't yet.


Oh wow! If science has not convinced you that our ancestors were not space aliens, I doubt Dakka will.

Reasons of varying levels of melanin in people developed in different environments is pretty well understood. (Hint: space aliens are not involved, sun and vitamin D are.)


EDIT: But thanks. This was certainly fresh and surprising development in a 40K racial diversity thread.


LOL, no, I mean the whole why did man give up his own hair for the fur of animals lol.

Dakka will never convince me of anything.

Khorne Daemons 4000+pts
 
   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut




no, I mean the whole why did man give up his own hair for the fur of animals

to sweat more , this way he was able to run animals he chased to death . also fur was making it harder to cooldown the body and most important the brain part of humanoids.
   
Made in us
Hacking Shang Jí






Chicago burbs

I think people are going off the point though.

The question "Does GW represent different Ethnicity well in their fuff? I think Not. They do some but most of the time they are still White and British. Necromundians are the same as Armaggeddonites, the same as Cadians.

I however do not think it's intentional. I think it's because from the beginning they had gamers that happened to be able to write. Not writers that happened to game. This is mainly the fluff you would find in the codexes and White Dwarf. Later on Black Library came around. Still they had only one from the beginning that was a writer before. Dan Abbnett who wrote comics for years. I think William King was also a writer but not positive of that. They have since then gained a few more.

Now writing is one thing but drawn art is another. As has pointed out they have had non-whites in their art. But only two as far as can be seen. I don't think they have even tried to show non-whites in the figures at all.

I did a search through GW official minis and found NO humans that were painted Non-white. Even the White Scars are white guys with top knots. They look more like Russian Cossacks than Huns or Mongols. Every marine without a helmet is Caucasian. I then looked at IG. Again all white, including the mutant Ogryns and Ratlings, are Caucasian. The Rough Riders again look like white guys with big hats. The Sisters of Battle had not a single Sista!

Now you would think the aliens wouldn't be white. Well again Eldar even Dark Eldar are Caucasian!

Now don't give me this "Because they are British" BS! Brits have many people of both African and Indian decent and they know it. Nor give me "They can be anything under their helmet" BS either. Because there are plenty of figs without helmets they could have painted non-white but didn't.


   
Made in us
Mutating Changebringer





New Hampshire, USA

 CDK wrote:
I did a search through GW official minis and found NO humans that were painted Non-white.


You didn't look hard enough. There are a few non-white models in the IG range.

Khorne Daemons 4000+pts
 
   
Made in ca
Fresh-Faced New User




Basic Anthropology 101
1-Black People (and people native to more equatorial regions and have been present there for long periods of time) have darker skin basically as sunscreen. Melanin is useful for reducing damage done by UV light, but also interferes with the body's ability to make its own Vitamin D. Reduction in melanin capacity required
2-There are comparatively little genetic difference between humans, we breed slowly in small numbers in a manner which is dependent not on releasing as many young as possible into the environment as possible.
3-Related to two, humanity's ability to adapt to different is not genetic, but memetic. When the first homo sapiens migrated into areas where it snowed, they did not spend ten thousand generations evolving fur coats to deal with the drop in temperature. They found some deer, killed them, skinned them and figured out by steps how to make coats, telling their kids this so they did not have to learn this, building on ideas they encountered dealing with cool desert nights or ways to keep the rain off.

Draven has spoken

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/02 16:19:38


 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





 CDK wrote:

Now don't give me this "Because they are British" BS! Brits have many people of both African and Indian decent and they know it. Nor give me "They can be anything under their helmet" BS either. Because there are plenty of figs without helmets they could have painted non-white but didn't.

Most British people are white. And I mean, white-white

Unnessesarily extravegant word of the week award goes to jcress410 for this:

jcress wrote:Seem super off topic to complain about epistemology on a thread about tactics.
 
   
Made in us
Hacking Shang Jí






Chicago burbs

 DeffDred wrote:
 CDK wrote:
I did a search through GW official minis and found NO humans that were painted Non-white.


You didn't look hard enough. There are a few non-white models in the IG range.


Um and this is where? I looked again and if I have to TRY to find them then it's kind of pointless. I don't thin the RR count.

   
 
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