Racism in Strixhaven

Alan Marling
1 min readApr 2, 2021

Amidst a wave of hatred against Asians in the USA, Wizards of the Coast will release harmful Asian stereotypes in the Magic card set of Strixhaven. While tweeting support for the Asian community, the company reinforced the myth of the model minority and strengthened white supremacy. Racism is a tool used by the powerful to pit us against each other, and the fantasy that Asians always succeed because of their hard work is a bludgeon wielded against other people of color.

For deeper understanding on these issues, read the posts by Michelle Rapp and Daniel Kwan.

Now, we cannot know that Head of Story at Wizards of the Coast Nic Kelman was the source of this racism. However, he is one of the last people I would expect to safeguard against it. He began his novel Girls with a lengthy sex scene with the stereotype of an Asian prostitute. Only, in this case it was even worse because she was sixteen or younger, in a book that glorified sex with girls under eighteen.

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Alan Marling

Past writer of card names and flavor text for Wizards of the Coast and current member of SFWA. Projection activist.