While Magic: The Gathering takes place in fantasy settings, the real world has sometimes reared its ugly head in the game. There are some cards from Magic's early days that players are unconformable with due to racist artwork or themes. Today, Wizards of the Coast has banned seven of those cards from all officially sanctioned Magic: The Gathering play.
The cards that are banned are Invoke Prejudice, Cleanse, Stone-Throwing Devils, Pradesh Gypsies, Jihad, Imprison, and Crusade. Unlike normal Magic bans, these cards were not banned because of their power level or effect on the game's meta. Instead, Wizard's says that its banning cards based on "racist depiction, text, or combination thereof."
The card that has caused the most controversy is Invoke Prejudice, a blue enchantment from 1994. Alongside the questionable name, the card depicts what appear to be heavily armed klansmen. Its ID number is 1488, a number closely associated with white supremacists. The artist, Harold McNeil, actually had ties to Neo-Nazi groups, which makes it hard to argue that the card was an innocent mistake or a bad joke.
In light of the recent protests against police brutality, many gaming companies are re-examining their relationship with gamers of color. In a statement, Wizards of the coast said that not only will the cards be banned, but their art will be removed from the official card index site, and replaced with the following statement:
“We have removed this card image from our database due to its racist depiction, text, or combination thereof. Racism in any form is unacceptable and has no place in our games, nor anywhere else.”
While it's clear that these cards should have never been printed in the first place, the past cannot be changed. Wizards of the Coast is making the right choice by removing these cards, adding their voice to the growing list of game companies that are calling for social justice.