The company behind Magic: The Gathering is apologizing for racist cards that have been part of the game for decades. Seven cards will be removed from competitive play and from the game’s official card index..
“The events of the past weeks and the ongoing conversation about how we can better support people of color have caused us to examine ourselves, our actions, and our inactions.” Wizards stated. “We appreciate everyone helping us to recognize when we fall short. We should have been better, we can be better, and we will be better.”
The affected cards are Invoke Prejudice, Cleanse, Stone-Throwing Devils, Pradesh Gypsies, Jihad, Imprison, and Crusade.
These cards are banned from all tournament sanctioned play. Their art will be removed from Wizards’s official card index site Gatherer 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.”
With the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd by poilce, video game companies have made statements in support of their Black fans, employees, and communities. Wizards has made a similar statement, but Black and Brown members of the community have criticized the action calling it “an act of gross tokenism” while highlighting instances of racism in Magic’s cards. Notably, the card Invoke Prejudice features art that’s extremely similar to depictions of the KKK while its ID number in the Gatherer database, 1488, is associated with white supremacy groups.
Wizards has apologized stating, “there’s no place for racism in our game, nor anywhere else.”