Great discussion on diversity in pinball, featuring:
Juana Summers (Baltimore Belles + Chimes, IFPA)
Jessica Kent (Belles + Chimes Chicago)
Josh Sharpe (IFPA)
Steven Bowden (Fun With Bonus + Deeproot)
Jack Danger (Deadflip)
Lauren Gray (host)

stream and download: http://www.backboxpinballpodcast.com/diversitypanel
direct MP3 link: https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/c64f0c8e-70ad-4508-aa41-9fb9b327c9f8/049066b5-2682-496b-a84e-27edec38740e.mp3

Episode Info and resources:
About this Episode
Black Lives Matter.

Please join us for a discussion on how we can help make our pinball spaces safe for BIPOC and more diverse . We talk about the announcements from the IFPA, the statements from some of the manufactures and our feelings as players, TD's, content creators and more. I hope that this is the first of may discussions. The members of the panel include Juana Summers, Jessica Kent, Josh Sharpe, Steven Bowden and Jack Danger.

Links
https://www.ifpapinball.com/a-message-from-the-ifpa/
https://sternpinball.com/2020/06/08/message-from-gary-stern/
https://www.twitch.tv/deadflip
https://funwithbonus.com/
https://pinballoriginstories.tumblr.com/

Resources:
https://blacklivesmatter.com/
https://www.naacp.org/
https://www.naacpldf.org/
https://guidetoallyship.com/ - I really like this site as it speaks to what Allyship is. Its a smaller website but I feel that it has some value.

Video
Trevor Noah, the host of the daily show speaks on George Floyd and the protests. If you haven't seen it, please watch: https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/videos/277555376697624/

Books
"So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo
"White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo
“How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi
"Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race" by Beverly Daniel Tatum
"A people's History of the United States" By Howard Zinn

If you like podcasts, and since you're here I guess you do, I'd recommend "Code Switch" from NPR.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch

this is where you mind goes after this discussion? come on, please don't derail

This is an hour long discussion on diversity in pinball. That's the topic.
"What if someone falsely accuses me of saying something racist" is a paranoid sidetrack at best. What if someone accuses you of kicking puppies? It's not relevant to the topic. Dealing with serious accusations about players is something Tournament Directors have to deal with, but not what this topic is about.

let's not feed the trolls, I actually want people to listen to this important podcast about the hobby we all love.

Highly recommend you listen when you get a chance!

and a really good podcast too! I hope everyone takes the time to listen to it.

They also did an episode on the group I cofounded, Pinball Women Ottawa! http://www.backboxpinballpodcast.com/45

Thank you for unlocking the thread, Robin!

OK, now everyone please go and listen to the podcast. The speakers also included a lot of great resources which are linked in the first post.

This is pinside and we have to keep the focus on pinball around here.
If you're looking for any further resources or useful videos, please send me a message and I'll be happy to assist if I can.

thanks Aurich, this is a really thoughtful response to this all and I greatly appreciate it.

I am happy to see the organizations in pinball are starting to realize that pinball has to confront it's past and move into the 21st century. We definitely have a long way to go in comparison to the fighting games community, which was always partially defined by it's internationality.
We're going to start looking towards enshrining these kinds of things into Codes of Conduct, and slowly but surely make pinball a place for everyone.

you can read more here https://www.ifpapinball.com/a-message-from-the-ifpa/
Many leagues are adopting ideas and language from this framework.

Please note, this is not the best place to start airing hypothetical situations and playing "devil's advocate". That can be taken up with tournament directors.

Yes, we know. That's privilege. The harder work is asking why our local pinball groups don't actually reflect the broader populations. We want to address the structural and interpersonal biases that led pinball to be so skewed.

If you would like, send me a private message and we can address all of these things. These are very common sorts of rhetoric tossed out when people start mentioning race and diversity in general.
Alternatively, I would suggest that you could drain this thread if it's too much for you. For some people, having women in pinball was a bridge too far. The world moves forward and some minds will never change, but many many will. c'est la vie.

WTAF

OK so we have one vote for "keep the country club whites only"

see above.

scroll up to address the "let's keep pinball white" comments, for beginners.

the same thing happens whenever we bring up feminism as well.
There's a reason the women's pinball groups are very active but most of those players aren't on pinside.

sometimes it's important to note who is upvoting the eye-popping comments.

I'm not sure what the implication of this question is

I already saw a bunch of people passing around screenshots of it in shock and disgust. Good riddance.

thanks for this! Any chance you have a download link as well? I couldn't find one on the Podbean page.

One even easier example:
When I was younger, same-sex marriage wasn't legal in Canada. It took years of hard work to get that legally changed, and it's something I'm very proud to have been a part of. (years for me, DECADES for others!)
compare and contrast someone growing up that was straight and never had to think twice about their legal right to marriage.

That simple difference of growing up without that looming over your head is such a strident example of what 'privilege' can mean.

you are reducing diversity to a ridiculous strawman. It doesn't even seem like you're in the same ballpark here.
sigh. we don't need some "all lives matter" kind of redirect here, but I guess I'm not clever enough to see what you're actually seeing here and relate to it in any way. Can anyone else help?

If you think this is somehow a war on "white males" or that they are being scapegoated for all ills, I can just point you to the resources in the first post and hope you take some of them in.

Tragically, I think a loud contingent of pinsiders has made it clear they have no interest in those answers.

the initial post is a verbatim copy+paste from a conversation that includes the head of the IFPA.
When schools were desegregated, everyone decried the politics.
When sexual harassment rules were implemented in workplaces, everyone decried the politics.
After a while you have to just understand you might be well behind the status quo. You could have easily drained the thread.

But while you're hear, please take some time to listen to the pinballers who aren't the status quo. Take time to listen to the podcast. (EDIT: podcasts, a second one, on women in pinball, was also post in the thread!)

Pinside should approach the women's leagues with a questionnaire and ask all the members why most of them don't come to pinside.

what about the discussion linked in the first post was "forced diversity"? It is people from diverse backgrounds talking about their love of pinball and experiences in the pinball community.
What do you think is inherent about pinball that makes it intrinsically white?

This is an important aspect of the women's leagues. Lots of times going to regular pinball meetups, women brief each other as to who there has the loose hands, who there makes rape jokes, who there treats women like kids and/or sexpots, etc
The women's leagues are a bit of a reprieve from that, for the most part. (note: not saying women are perfect! but the difference of atmosphere is palpable)

I wish we could highlight this as a key post.

quick Q: are there any parallels with Diversity in Pinball if we contrast to Diversity in Golf?
Golf is another kind of activity that is predominantly well-off people, and it has a much more drastic history of whites-only (and men-only) clubhouses.

I just googled "Diversity in golf" and it seems to be a hot topic there that is being taken seriously at the highest organizations and publications
https://golf.com/news/how-can-golf-do-better-roundtable-discussion/
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/what-golf-can-do-to-embrace-diversity-poeple-of-color
http://wearegolf.org/diversity-task-force/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-golf-pgachamp-diversity/diversity-remains-golfs-biggest-challenge-says-pga-of-america-ceo-idUSKBN1KT2OE
https://www.pgatour.com/tour-insider/2020/06/17/golf-leaders-wrestle-with-how-to-speed-up-diversity-time-of-unrest-joseph-bramlett-tiger-woods-harold-varner.html

I'm not a golf person, so just kind of throwing that out there

My golf Q was just me tossing an idea out there, but I think it lines up with pinball pretty ok in that regard.
Pinball is a pricey hobby, but you can also sometimes find a place to play for a few quarters. BUT, proximity to arcades/barcades correlates with more urban living, which correlates to higher rents, etc.
Likewise with golf, you can absolutely buy a cheap set of clubs and play, but proximity to courses is correlated to wealth, access to courses often requires a car (which correlates to wealth,) etc etc.

but outside of the particulars of golf vs pinball, are there any lessons we can learn from diversity in golf to help promote diversity in pinball?
I'm hoping there are at least some golf-culture types in this thread.
At the very least, I think it's a positive sign that both pinball and golf are having these discussions and putting some of their energy in that direction.

Also, talking about it like this, reminds me of
vs golf marquee (resized).jpg
vs pinball marquee (resized).jpg

We had the other side. Turns out racism is bad, actually.

Why are you constantly trying to portray yourself as some kind of victim? How is that at all useful, except to try and make this conversation about you?

White privilege is still a thing.
Prejudice against people for their size is still a thing.

This leads to what we refer to as "intersectionality".
As a white queer person, I don't get some pass to crack jokes about black people because I endure a lot of bigotry for who I am.

It's a great way to think about the world, as it helps break down all of the assumptions we find ourselves putting into the world. We do a lot of this work in the pinball leagues. Something as simple as: is this venue wheelchair accessible? Does this venue have racist flags on the wall? If we make decision X, are there people being excluded by it?

Growing up in the 80s I remember so much outcry against altered building codes that required ramps and elevators. "Too expensive!" "No one needs them!"
But now decades later we have a world that is MUCH more accessible to people with assisted mobility devices. People that didn't see wheelchairs before now realize it was because their space was physically unwelcoming to people in wheel chairs.

It took years of advocacy and policy from the kind of people American cable news made an industry out of dunking on.

This doesn't mean every venue everywhere is accessible, but it does mean I, as an organizer, an prescient of it, and we take notes of which places are accessible.
That is just one out of a myriad examples of intersectional analysis, and I am so proud of the women's leagues that are making strident waves in regards to this, the influences of which are finally percolating into the larger tournaments and organizations like IFPA.

It's only pointless if you see it as some zero-sum game to be won.

can someone translate?

Gonna print that out and paste it above my monitor

I'll let you all find the best words to use
On the flipside you have to understand that these things grind away at people all their lives, and so a black activist might not always have the energy to handhold white people through their feelings.
LGTBQ people might not always have the energy to handhold straight and cis people.
Justifying your existence can be exhausting. I can't begin to tell you the amount of times I've been told I'm a sinner and a threat to children and families because of my sexuality, and I was always expected to sit there and take that in to respect "both sides".
Now that gay marriage is legal and we've enshrined LGBTQ protections in Canada, that constant anxiety and stress is greatly minimized.

It's not because they don't want you on their side, but that it's exhausting to do this with every person. And that's where allies come in because they can do that outreach easier. Allies have the advantage of being more removed from the rawness that is living day-to-day and bearing the direct impacts of these systems.
And allies help build communities, and community standards evolve, and the status quo shifts to be more inclusive.

You know there is like a hundred years of academic work on black identity in society?
Most universities have a whole department dedicated to it because it's such an important topic. If you want to explore these ideas further there is lots of great reading. I've been recommending Angela Davis and bell hooks a tonne.

For shits and giggles, Google when most of the Confederate statues were put up, and why. It's pretty damning stuff.

On the topic of "structural oppression", this video from biblical scholar Phil Vischer is a must watch.

I don't think there is a way I can respond to this right now that wouldn't rightfully have me moderated.
I feel like you didn't even read a word I said and are only concerned with you being respected.

Sometimes when you're fighting for justice you have to just re-route around people that aren't ready to hear it.
May you have a blessed day.

I don't need everyone to listen to me.
MLK was incredibly unpopular amongst white Americans when he was alive.
People that opposed equal marriage rights fought against the LGBTQ community with every dirty trick they could find.
and yet the fights for justice continue.

Take a look at that video I posted a few posts up to get an idea of how just a specific verdict is never the end of things.

Use this

46gmpf (resized).jpg

I hope everyone realizes Prager U is a laughably bad propaganda outfit that no one takes seriously.

20200627_132227 (resized).jpg

Have you never heard of per capita come on now, this kind of argument gets debunked by kids.

Back on topic, anyone watched the Girls Game documentary?
I'm going to rent it while on vacation
Link: https://vimeo.com/382233363

This article is from 2015
Gaming while black: Casual racism to cautious optimism
https://www.engadget.com/2015-01-16-gaming-while-black-casual-racism-to-cautious-optimism.html
Screenshot_20200627-132843~2 (resized).png
Screenshot_20200627-132902~2 (resized).png

Specific to the video game industry, with perhaps some parallels to pinball
Video Games Owe Black Players More Than Just Talk
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/video-games-owe-black-players-more-than-just-talk

Here is an interesting thread on the Tilt Forums that began in 2016 but also has recent posts in reaction to the IFPA
http://tiltforums.com/t/making-pinball-more-welcoming-aka-pinballsowhite/1827/32

This article has a lot of good insight that could definitely be utilized by pinball manufacturers

Confronting racial bias in video games
https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/21/confronting-racial-bias-in-video-games/

Screenshot_20200627-135018~2 (resized).png

from wikipeda: "much of its early funding came from fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks."
mostly it's about creating a "plausible alternative facts".

But to be fair I don't trust billionaires. They have all that money, and haven't converted their house into a giant pinball arcade? What kind of schemes are they up to????

If you want to know why she's so widely mocked I can DM you. She isn't relevant to this topic so I won't go into it here.

Let's try and get back to the topic at hand here, Diversity and Pinball

note: I'm not a mod, just been modded enough to know better

I would also like to poll BIPOC pinball fans about what they think of pinside and their thoughts on making pinball more inviting.
(BIPOC is Black, Indigenous and People of Color)

We'll never know unless we ask.

It's hard for me to say as it can vary wildly from scene-to-scene. One thing that tends to work really well, and we've even seen it in this thread, is people "calling in" their friends. If people do things or say things that aren't cool, speak to them then. Random woman on pinside says it? Probably they're not going to care. Buddies they play pinball with on the regular? They might listen.

One thing I like about the discussion here is that we all know we each love pinball. No one is just here for trolling. Even the people that downvote every post I make, I know that their passion for pinball is there and have seen it shine in so many other pinside threads. The interpersonal/social aspect of pinball helps move things forward long after people have written me off as some whiner to be ignored.

For larger events, things like Codes of Conduct are super useful. There are a handful of threads from the past years on pinside of people at shows that have acted incredibly inappropriately. A code of conduct helps attendees know that things won't be tolerated, and that there is action that will be taken. Lots of cons have them, and many organizers are making them more prominent, and making the language for inclusive and specific.

I think it's important to underscore that what is "political bullshit" to a lot of people here is people's ACTUAL LIVES to many others.

apropos of nothing, thinking about the lack of diversity at pinside again...

we don't need pinsiders posting their collection of racist memes.

that's a good question, but for the sake of this thread it has to start from the more basic question of "Why does pinside have the reputation it has, and why does it not attract anyone outside a very limited demographic".

If your question is coming from an angle of "how dare you denigrate pinside" after giving a thumbs up to a racist meme, then it's not a conversation we should even bother having because there's 8 pages of people trying to defend pinside's honour already.

If you care more about the latter and not the former, i'm just not interested in coddling people any more.

If you don't understand it and still want to discuss, DM me. This is not a thread for being a devil's advocate about racism.

EDIT: also iirc that kind of discussion is prohibited and the mods kindly asked for us not to have that convo here. I'm still very happy to have it privately though.

please see all the past discussions in this thread (and links provided) about golf for more on that thought

these threads were explicitly banned from being about the history and causes of racism and racial inequity from the getgo.

EDIT: by the mods, not by me. If you want to discuss the history of racial inequity, again, my DMs are open and I'm happy to oblige.

LMAO

it's like the previous 8 pages of this thread never happened.
just amazing.

Ok this thread has run it's course, shut it down. hurt feelings of white men rule the day.

best of luck to everyone on the IFPA Women's Advisory Board!

I look forward to playing pinball with you too, because dammit I love pinball.
But I still hope some day we'll all revisit this with fresh eyes and a willingness to put the work in to examine the structural issues.
Since this site is primarily American, it will perhaps require an American to truly bring the issues forward properly.

As they say around these here parts,
pitter patter lets get at er
peace out girl scout