As one of many reasons for xenophobia and racism is the dehumanisation of people who are different, Detroit might help racists step in the shoes of marginalised groups and see how most of them are just victims of racist societies, kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The initial scene with Marcus is pretty powerful to show senseless violence against non-humans. Detroit continues to show how one can become human or become emotionally intelligent instead. Sadly most racists are human…
I think if you want to understand racism, you can’t understand it as the failure to have certain pieces of knowledge. Racists generally aren’t unaware that people experience suffering when they’re held down or held back from their appropriate station in life.
What racists generally believe, if you’re trying to be maximally charitable to the views of racists (ugh), is that human suffering also comes from pushing people into societal roles that are above their station. The individual so pushed suffers, and society suffers for having “the wrong people” in important roles. For instance, that’s the view that held that slavery for Black Americans was good for them.
I think a racist in that strain would play the Detroit game and not be convinced, since the game likely doesn’t address that position at all.
