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Why Are The Gunners Always Black?


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I've pondered this for a long time and finally it's driving me insane. Why are the black guys always the support experts with the light machine guns? Think about it. Games and movies.

[GR] - Support experts are frequently blacks. No other class has blacks very often.

GR2 - One of them is black, and he is a gunner.

GRAW - Marcus Brown. Always thought his name was funny considering his race.

We Were Soldiers - See a black guy in this movie? He'll have an M60.

Rainbow Six Vegas - Your support guy was a black. Oh, they made sure they were politically correct, having a Jap and a black on your team.

YOTM mod - 1st Cav. Gunners are black

Blackhawk Down - Lots of black guys with light machine guns.

<insert game/movie title here> - there'll be a black guy with an M60 or a M240 or a M249 or a rocket launcher.

I think it's strange. Any opinions?

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I almost want to suggest that it started as a pseudo-pro-colour-look-at-us-we-rock thing. Someone looking to get rep++ for giving the black guy the biggest gun.... until he dies. Because you must feature him, but a white guy still needs to lead. Because, white. etc

Actually, check this out:

http://www.arma2.com/arma-2-co-characters/index_en.html

The man with the LMG is not black! They have other roles.

I do not know if they are good characters vs others or not because in ARMA I just ignore that. In ARMA everybody is one of my pawns that need to shut up and not start a big dramafest.

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It's just a stereotype among all other war game/movie stereotypes. Like MF said, it's a lack of imagination; using established conventions as an easy, paint-by-numbers way of characterization. The worst example I ever saw was that awful show Over There about Iraq. You had the no-nonsense, tough as nails Sergeant, the intellectual white guy, and the former black gangbanger on the SAW.

Actually, check this out:

http://www.arma2.com/arma-2-co-characters/index_en.html

The man with the LMG is not black! They have other roles.

What's ironic about this is, although the SAW gunner is not black, the 'Miles' character's nickname is "8-Ball", the go-to nickname for black characters in Vietnam movies.

Edited by 2nd Ranger
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Edit - And all the asian characters work the radios.

Almost true IRL. I was smallest and weakest in our platoon, so I mainly carried my 60lbs pack and the PRC77. All the guys who bragged they can bench press carried ammo boxes or mortar base plates

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Edit - And all the asian characters work the radios.

Almost true IRL. I was smallest and weakest in our platoon, so I mainly carried my 60lbs pack and the PRC77. All the guys who bragged they can bench press carried ammo boxes or mortar base plates

Haha, nice. One of my deployments years ago was as the radio guy, only I had the 117F.

Radios, base plates and AT systems ain't fun to jump, thats for sure. Guess I ruined my own comment. :wacko:

Edited by Sart
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Mr T wasn't a gunner, he usually used a pistol, negating his superhuman strength. :)

The support specialist in Borderlands was also black.

The same sort of question applies to female player characters in games - why are they usually scanty clad? Fan service and all that, put some clothes on love. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, and getting forgetful in my old age seeing I forgot that modern day miniskirts are no more than belts.

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  • 4 months later...

I've pondered this for a long time and finally it's driving me insane. Why are the black guys always the support experts with the light machine guns? Think about it. Games and movies.

[GR] - Support experts are frequently blacks. No other class has blacks very often.

GR2 - One of them is black, and he is a gunner.

GRAW - Marcus Brown. Always thought his name was funny considering his race.

We Were Soldiers - See a black guy in this movie? He'll have an M60.

Rainbow Six Vegas - Your support guy was a black. Oh, they made sure they were politically correct, having a Jap and a black on your team.

YOTM mod - 1st Cav. Gunners are black

Blackhawk Down - Lots of black guys with light machine guns.

<insert game/movie title here> - there'll be a black guy with an M60 or a M240 or a M249 or a rocket launcher.

I think it's strange. Any opinions?

Battlefield series

Black Hawk Down (I count at least two "support" guys who aren't black)

Future Soldier

Oddly enough Call of Duty (with the exception of Griggs)

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

This topics crazy. I think this might be more of a racial issue in real life though. Machine guns are heavy and maybe in a previous wars (vietnam, korea?) the minority got stuck with the ######ty job.

Seems kind of logical and may have survived through the generations as a typical stereo type.

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