For my final project, better known as the "Big One", I am considering writing about the issue of race in virtual worlds. I decided on this topic when I was assigned an article called "The Skin You're In" by Wagner James Au, and I was shocked at what I read. It was a report about a woman who had changed race for a few days in Second Life, and during that time period she experienced discrimination and offensive slurs in regards to her skin color. Now, although I was initially shocked, I began to realize that this type of behavior may not be out of the ordinary. Personally, I believe that racism is an extremely prevalent issue in the real world. If virtual worlds are supposed to mirror real world situations, then it is only expected that there be racism issues in worlds like Second Life as well. In upcoming weeks, I will actually be experiencing first hand the differences in my life as a white avatar versus a black avatar. I hope to gain firsthand experiences that will help me further my research on this topic. These experiences along with the sources I have listed below should hopefully aid me in writing the best final project in all of Dr. Essid's English 103 classes.

Sources

Au, Wagner James. "New World Notes: THE SKIN YOU'RE IN." Second LIfe: New World Notes. 23 Feb. 2006. Web. 09 Nov. 2009.      <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/02/the_skin_youre_.html>.

Wagner James Au is a significant influence in the Second Life world. This report was the first that I read on this topic; I think that since it was this article that made me interested in the issue of Virtual Worlds and Racism I will be able to draw some information from it to help shape my final project.

Essid, Joe. "The Skin You're In, Too." Richmond Times-Dispatch. 21 Nov. 2008. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. <http://slbeat.mytimesdispatch.com/index.php/slbeat/skin08/>.

This article describes exactly what my class and I will be doing in upcoming weeks. I will draw from my own experiences, but I think that my final project will be more convincing if I use information from previous years as well.

Hodjor, Kofi B. The changing face of race : the role of racial politics in shaping modern America. Trenton: African World, 2007. Print.

This book is solely dedicated to the issue of race in modern America. It was published in the recent past, 2007, and I think it is very important that I relate current real world racism to the virtual world racism I will be soon exploring.

"Social Protection." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. 7-11. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-222738>.

This is another article from a respected Encyclopedia that talks specifically about racism in the real world. While the firsthand experiences I hope to gain in SL will be the "meat and potatoes" of my final project, I think having secondary research will aid significantly in convincing my reader.

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