I've recently been interested in Skyrim and bought it off steam. This is actually part of a project of mine in finding problematic elements in modern games and their effects on society's perception of race.

I am rather late to the party, but nonetheless I gave the game a fair try. What I gradually found throughout the game was frankly, very shocking and subtle in the ways it supports racist ideas and indoctrinating the player in white supremacist culture. This may be downvoted heavily here, but I ask that you consider what I'm saying before you dismiss it.

First, let's start on the racism, the game's mechanics support racism. Right off the bat when you are creating your character, certain races have different, "Stat bonuses", this isn't something new in the RPG genre, but it still shocked me.

The Khajit for example get +5 Lockpicking and +10 sneak, the Argonians also get bonuses in these areas. This is highly problematic since it's basically saying some races are predisposed to crime than others. Imagine if this game took place in our world and gave Africans +5 Lockpicking. This game is sending a message to the player, some races are criminals, and some races are better than others It goes the other way as well, Nords which are Skyrim's equivalent to white people get +5 Speech. That's right, it's perpetuating the myth that white people are, "Well spoken" compared to other races, and also implying they're more intelligent.

Playing the game itself as certain races will have guards and other NPCs make racist comments about your character like, "Dirty rug" or calling you, "Cat" or, "Lizard" It's never addressed that this is wrong, they're never punished for it and you don't have the opportunity to put a stop to it. It is normalizing racist and derogatory comments I don't care if you think it's harmless, it is not. I would feel differently if there was a way you could confront the guards and get them in trouble with the Captain, that would show a consequence for racism.

Additionally, the player has the option of joining the Stormcloaks, who are blatant white supremacists, or in the game Nord supremacists. The fact it gives the player the option to live out a fantasy of joining a racist organization is very problematic. It normalizes white supremacist ideas You can never confront Ulfric on his racism or liberate the oppressed non-Nords and rise up against the Stormcloaks.

The whole aesthetic of the game is very white supremacist, Vikings are idolized in white supremacist culture and the game takes heavy influences from them.

You could dismiss this as just a game, but the media we absorb, including video games affects how we view the world and its people. Video games have even more potential to spread ideas since they put the player right into these situations and immerses them in these ideas. This game is not that old, came out a few years ago and it is still very racist.

Think of how many white supremacists felt validated by this game, and how many people were subconsciously accepting racist ideas. I am curious to see if there's any mods available that edit out the racism, or at least allow the player to confront it and put a stop to it.