I have no official training in education or game design, but being an avid gamer, I came across a situation in Bioshock Infinite that caught my my attention. What surprised me was not so much the situation itself, but the reaction I had to it. A bit of explanation and the setting. Bioshock Infinite is a game set in 1912, in a floating city called Columbia. Columbia was a technological marvel and a part of America until itsecededin 1900. It is run by a self-proclaimed prophet called Zachary Comstock. Early in the game your character, Booker Dewitt, finds himself at a raffle. Now Booker has recently come to Columbia from the surface, looking to bring a certain woman from Columbia to New York in order to pay a debt.

At this raffle you are handed a baseball with a number on it. Your number is called and you win the prize, the first throw at an interracial couple, who have been brought out on stage to be stoned (with baseballs). This presents to the player-character a problem. You are surrounded by policemen armed with night sticks and you are forced to make a decision; do you throw the ball at the couple and go along with it? Or do you throw it at the announcer and make scene, probably blowing your cover?

In history books,especially high-school ones, we learn aboutracismstemming from the hatred of people of color. What seems to be lacking is a real focus on racism as the status quo. I'll admit, I threw the ball at the couple, considering the dead anyways and not wanting to blow my cover. It was one of the most heart wrenchingdecisionsI've ever made in a video game. It brought to light the reality of racism by peer-pressure. That is something that traditional education has never really been able to teach me.