Slay

Through Kiera’s story, Morris explores the difficulties of Navigating Physical and Virtual Spaces Impacted by Racism and Exclusion, specifically for Black people. Simply sharing the same physical space with white people makes Kiera feel pressured to modify her behavior around them. For example, she employs strategies like code-switching at her white-majority school. Kiera’s classmates exacerbate her feelings of being an outsider by treating her like “the Black authority in the room” (175), such as when Harper asks her about locs instead of conducting her own research. In addition, discrimination impacts Kiera’s relationships with other Black characters. For example, Malcolm subscribes to a form of internalized racism called respectability politics, which Kiera defines as “that BS about some Black people being worthier of respect than others based on education, occupation, or intellectualism” (316). For much of the novel, Kiera tries to meet Malcolm’s elitist standards. She goes along with his plan to apply to neighboring historically Black colleges and hides her misgivings about whether this is the path she wants for her future. In the physical spaces she inhabits on a daily basis, Kiera curates her behavior because of others’ narrow views of Blackness.

Much of the novel focuses on gaming and the way that it can either include or exclude people of color. The anonymity online games offer players can be liberating, but some abuse this freedom by engaging in racist behavior. Kiera becomes the target of racial slurs while playing a character with dark skin in a mainstream game. Even after she changes her character and plays as an elven princess with snow-white skin” to make herself less of a target (97), she overhears racist threats towards other players. Very young children also face harassment in mainstream games. In his interview about SLAY, Dr. Abbott observes,

Sometimes I watch my little nephews play Legacy of Planets, and the number of times I hear expletives hurled at them would make you sick. The number of times I hear the N word aimed at them—they’re six and eight years old—should make you angry. I think what we’re missing is the understanding that the world of online gaming is naturally cruel, naturally dog-eat-dog, very exclusive, and in some cases, hostile toward people of color (129).

Dr. Abbott’s statement illustrates the widespread problem of discrimination, but his description of online gaming as “naturally cruel” overlooks the possibility of building supportive, affirming communities like the one Kiera creates (129). The mainstream virtual spaces where young people of color like Kiera and Dr. Abbott’s nephews play are impacted by the discrimination found in the real world.

SLAY represents Kiera’s response to the racism and exclusion she faces in physical and digital spaces. Her virtual world is a sanctuary from the overt racism and slurs hurled in mainstream games as well as from the growing exhaustion of modifying her behavior in the real world based on the expectations others place on her because of her race. Morris uses Kiera’s game to explore the ethics of creating spaces exclusively for marginalized groups. When Harper accuses SLAY of racism, she asks, “Haven’t we all been working toward desegregation for decades now? Haven’t we already determined that separate is not equal?” (110). Harper’s questions demonstrate the logical fallacy of false equivalence comparing segregation—a form of institutionalized racism that systemically limited Black Americans’ opportunities from housing to education to employment—to an independent video game created by and for Black players. Likewise, Annette Coleman’s assessment that Kiera could face a discrimination lawsuit demonstrates the double standard placed on people of color living in a world where white-dominated physical spaces and industries seem to exist with impunity. While Kiera takes the criticism and threat of legal retribution seriously, the gravest threat her game faces is Dred’s infiltration. Malcolm violates the safety of the digital sanctuary Kiera has built by playing the part of a white supremacist and terrorizing Emerald, which Steph describes as “ironically the most white-boy troll shit I’ve ever seen” (295). The overwhelming support of the SLAYers who log on to watch Emerald duel Dred and the hundreds of thousands of new players who join the game prove that SLAY speaks to Black gamers’ need for safety and acceptance. At the end of the novel, Maurice Belrose’s business partnership offers Kiera a way to protect herself and her virtual community from legal challenges. Morris’s novel argues that, as long as virtual and physical spaces bear the impact of racism and exclusion, marginalized groups will continue to create safe spaces for themselves, and they should not be penalized for doing so.