Making accurate assumptions about a particular avatar due to the color of their skin in the game is impossible. However, there are always going to be a select few who will make the premature judgements about who somebody is just because of the color of their skin. After changing my avatar, Jordin Myrtle from a white avatar to a colored, African-looking avatar, I was pleasantly surprised that she was not treated any differently from my previously white avatar. Even though I have heard stories about those who were treated differently and had derogatory words used against them, I had none of that. I was surprised with how nice actually all of the avatars were to me. I think that the reason that I was most surprised at the fact that the avatars were just as friendly to me as a white avatar as they were when I was a colored skinned avatar was because I had such a stereotypical mindset going into the whole change. I believed that because of my race that I would have been looked at as inferior, and possibly the victim of racial remarks. However, in Second Life, I believe that there is less discrimination against avatars because this is a world open to everyone to be who they want to be, to be someone or something that they are not and never will be in the real world. That is why the members of Second Life are so useful and friendly because many of the avatars are there for common reasons and to treat others the way they think they should be treated. I interacted with both "men" and "women" avatars and got the same results. 

When I first made my white-skinned avatar I did not know what to expect from the virtual world. I began roaming around Second Life with not many places to visit and not many other avatars to interact with. However, when I did encounter other fellow avatars they were all usually fairly friendly and seemed to be willing to help whenever I told them that I needed help or had any questions. When I decided to change my race to a black avatar, I went to SARAH NERD'S Freebie place. Here, I decided that I wanted to buy a mocha skin and when I went to change skin colors, I accidently attached the whole box to myself. I went around for about twenty minutes with this attached to my right wrist until I met a friend, "Debbie." Debbie is also new to the virtual world and she helped me get the whole box detached from my right wrist and teleported me somewhere new in order to make the skin, actually my skin color. I noticed that Debbie did not even care what color my skin was. We traveled around Second Life together and I was with her when I was white, and then again when I was black and neither time did she judge the color of my avatar's skin. Debbie was extremely helpful and even took me to a new freebie place called Alady Island 2009 where I retrieved free jeans and new hair. 

Each place I visited, I would ask those around me where I could teleport or travel to that would be worthwhile and a place where I could interact with other avatars to see if this pattern of being treated very friendly would be consistent. I was told to then go to the Junkyard Blues Club. Here, I learned how to dance and listen to music and each avatar was more than willing to give me advice and even dance with me. Not a single avatar ignored my questions or spoke to me in a rude manner. I danced with one avatar, "Jim" for about five minutes just so I got used to everything and he was excited to teach me how to dance. Although it could be easy to discriminate against someone because they are of a different color or gender in Second Life, this does not happen as much in the virtual world because everyone seems to be there for a common purpose, not many avatars are going to become a part of the virtual world and sit at their computer and judge what your avatar looks like when in reality, the avatar might not even resemble what the person behind the computer screen looks like. 

There was only one particular time when I felt that an avatar was not as friendly to me when I was black as they were to my white avatar but this could have just been the person. I went up to them about to start conversation and ask if she knew of any worthwhile places to visit in Second Life and that I was new, and she just said one word to me and walked away. This could have been for many reasons but to me, I assumed that this could have potentially had something to do with my race. On the contrary, this was one only negative result that I received the entirety of my experience as a black avatar. 

Overall, even though I was surprised about the fact that  there was not really any particular racial discrimination against me in the Second Life, the reason I thought there would be was because of my stereotypical view that I thought there were be avatars who would treat me differently just because I was black. I am pleasantly surprised by the fact that none of this seemed to happen to me. However, maybe if given more time with more experience, I would run into certain problems with other avatars who look different from me. It was satisfying to realize that in the virtual world, you can be who you want to be and act how you want to act without the worries of being discriminated against or judged just because the color of your skin. 

Link back home  http://fall103.pbworks.com/Meaghan-H%27s-wiki