Yesterday, the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, reportedly had some unduly harsh words for immigrants from Haiti and Africa, asking why we would want immigrants from those “shithole countries.” The article from the New York Times has additional details that go far beyond his simple “shithole” comment, although that’s really the brazen focal point here.
Now, being a PlayStation site, we wouldn’t normally be reporting on matters of politics, but the Entertainment Software Association, a group that is “dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish computer and video games”, issued a statement regarding the decidedly racist comments from Mr. Trump.
”America’s greatness is built on our diversity. The president’s repulsive comments undermine the fundamental values of who we are as a country. There is no place in our society for this type of backward thinking, and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” the ESA said in their statement Thursday night.
While it’s not unusual for the ESA to comment on political and public affairs (that’s part of their role in the industry after all), what’s most surprising is they very direct words that they use in this statement. The ESA comes out very strongly against the comments that Mr. Trump made on Thursday, calling them “repulsive” before strongly condemning not just the words themselves, but the backwards thinking that led them to be uttered in the first place.
Just a few weeks ago, the ESA issued a statement about the WHO’s classification of Gaming Addiction as a mental disorder. They’ve also weighed in on the loot box controversy, as well as a number of other recent political moves, like tax reform and the travel ban. You can read all of their statements via press releases on their website.
The ESA was far from the only body that criticized Trump’s remarks on Thursday, with his comments drawing ire from a number of prominent companies and figures.
[Via: Polygon]
