I imagine it's about 75% laziness 25% PC.

Could you imagine the backlash if people reacted to your Redguard negatively based on his/her race? PC has gone too far.

So the problem seems to be that the Nords don't exhibit the behaviors you expect of racists.Maybe thats because they are not racist.They are certainly nationalist but not racist.

Perception does not equal reality

"Those damn Elves" is a racist remark. You're referring to a race in a derogatory manner, thus, racist.

So if a Nord says "Those damned Nords that support the empire should beaten" Is he now racist against himself?

All the races think they're superior to the others. This is just the normal MO in Tamriel.

What people are looking for is some indication that the Nords are extremist, and for the most part they're not. If they were as racist as they're made out to be in the forum and elsewhere on the internet, they'd have never let the Dunmer settle en masse with such generous terms, or let the strongholds exist peacefully.

The OP found out that the treatment of Argonians in Windhelm is just old fashioned greed, not some fanatical hatred for Argonians. But apparently that's disappointing to some people?

He's being derogatory to that particular group.

It's about context.

The game lore, and story of Skyrim, clearly paints a rift between races, namely the Nords and the Elves, especially the High Elves. Nords have little, if any, love for Elves and High Elves look at Nords as beneath them.

Saying things like "oh great, another Dark Elf," is not a nationalist thing, it's a race issue.


Except you can be a passive-aggressive racist.

Why, exactly, is the Grey Quarter a slum?

This game could use more controversial subjects. Skyrim is a perfect spot for some "back in the kitchen, woman" and "we don't need no stinkin' elves!" bigotry.


Fallout has done these things very well and that's what makes it so deep.

The Dunmer came en masse as penniless refugees, and a couple sources in Windhelm (some of them Dunmer themselves) indicate they're too proud to knuckle down and do menial work to improve their lot. The Nords gave them territory for free, so they probably did set aside a poorer area, but that is still incredibly generous considering the Nords and Dunmer are old enemies and Skyrim didn't owe them anything.

If you're approaching the game with certain assumptions and the game writing indicates the picture is more complicated, then maybe just possibly your assumptions were flawed.

You would have to ask the Dumner why the grey quarter is a slum.

Ask yourself this regarding the Elves.
Do you think Nord dislike is based solely on race or on the actions of elves throughout history?They are judging them by their actions not their race.

And yet, here I am, a single Dark Elf who goes looking for a room at the Inn (and pay for it), and I'm greeted with snide comments and a man who goes around the city telling Dark Elves that they are worthless.


This is how stereotypes are developed. Stereotypes are racially based and linked to actions.

Okay. So what? Like I said upthread, every race thinks it's superior to the others. Dunmer certainly so. If your Dunmer were typical, he'd be sneering right back at them.

If the Nords are so accepting of the Dunmer than why is the first thing i see when entering Winterhold a couple of Nords harassing a Dunmer?

Because certain people are more accepting than others. Why is this a difficult concept to grasp? The Nords helped found the empire and have lived side by side with the other races for ages, fighting occasionally but also cooperating occasionally. They aren't more racist than anyone else. They still generally think themselves superior, but that's par for the course in Tamriel.

According to Brunwulf Free-Winter Ulfric is quick to the aid of Nord communities but does nothing to aid the non-nords in identical situations according toBrunwulf Free-Winter. The Argonians and the Khajiit are not even allowed inside the cities. And one of the people who says the Dunmer are to proud. Made her way out of poverty by being friends with the Thieves Guild.

To be fair the Argonians curb stomped the Dumner when they were down not an ideal group to live together in peace and harmony and to be fair the Dumner were there first.

He aids the Nord community because he has limited forces available ,With the war going on all, and simply doesn't have the resources to help groups that will not help him.

Yes, because the Nords and Dunmer have a long-standing "you go your way, we go ours" agreement. The Dunmer owe no fealty or taxes (though apparently some merchants do pay them), they aren't expected to provide troops for the Stormcloaks or guard, but in return they're not Ulfric's greatest priority when he has a war with the empire going on and Thalmor prowling Skyrim.

A Dunmer farm worker in Windhelm says that his family looks down on him and his sister for working for Nords. Beyin Hlaalu, who owns a farm that employs Nords, says "the way to earn the Nords' respect is through hard work." He's right about that. Sitting around in the New Gnisis Cornerclub swilling skooma and complaining doesn't warrant a lot of respect.

And can you think of no reason why a city that already has a large, restless Dunmer population wouldn't want to add Argonians to that mix? Like, maybe, the fact that the Dunmer enslaved Argonians for centuries and Black Marsh invaded Morrowind after the ancestors of these same Dunmer were fleeing the Vvardenfell disaster.

So when tulius said " You Nords with your bloody sense of honor ", thats racist to then.

And you can't, that's part of the point.

Many people have said they want more racial dialogue options.

I'd love a dialogue choice to tell off the Innkeeper, or threaten her, etc if I am a Dark Elf.

Yet the Dunmer in windhelm talk abou the beast men agronian's as if their worthless....

and please don't bring up the no khajiit's and argonian's in citys. Theres argonians in riften city, and Khajiit Merchants aren't allowed in ANY city, imperial OR stormcloak.

Okay, but people are complaining that the Nords themselves aren't as racist as they assumed they'd be, not just that you don't have racist dialogue as a PC.

Don't bring up a solid point, why?

No one is as racist as lore depicts them to be, and a lot of that has to do with dialogue via the PC and NPCs, as well as game mechanics. Nords are at the forefront because the game takes place in Skyrim, a Nord populated area.

Currently, the only racially charged mechanic in Skyrim is that if you are an Orc you don't have to do a quest to get into Orc strongholds while every other race does.

Things like that would buff immersion if there was a bit of it for every race in various portions of the game.

If I go to the zoo and there are six cages with monkeys lined up and as I walk by the first five throw poop at me I am ducking when I get to the sixth one.

Seems like people have a very stereotyped view of how racism and racists actually work.

I′ve confronted many people with different extreme views, from religious extremists to racists, and really, no one of them start off by insulting people. When it comes to business most people will disregard personal views, white supremacists hire foreigners to fix their houses, they sell merchandise to anyone who wants their business and generally get on with their everyday lives when they aren't involved in some sort of political situation such as a rally, demonstration or protest. Seriously, even the Phelps family act like normal, decent people when they go to the hardware store. So why would people who have never met you in Skyrim immidiately jump on your case for being a foreigner? They have no reason for it until they figure out your agenda, or when they get together with a mob of likeminded and do a sweep through the grey quarters...but Ulfric seems to be supressing any such tendencies.

I noticed you used monkeys instead of say... pandas.

You do realize you used a stereotype just now, right?

Pandas dont have opposable thumbs I doubt they have the poop throwing prowess needed for my story