Haitians Denounce GTA: Vice City (PC)

Haitian residents of New York gathered at City Hall to protest the game and Rockstar...

by James Brightman on Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Yes, Grand Theft Auto is in the news again -- and not in a positive way. Apparently after viewing Arnold Diaz's CBS 2 "Shame On You" segment, advocates and activists for New York's Haitian community were outraged by the anti-Haitian sentiment found in certain parts of Rockstar Games' GTA: Vice City, and gathered outside City Hall to protest the game as well as its makers, Rockstar.

The Haitian Centers Council and Haitian Americans for Human Rights claim that both Rockstar Games and parent company Take 2 Interactive have portrayed all Haitians as evil drug dealers, and that these companies "advocate the killing of Haitians as entertainment."

In particular, a few lines of dialogue from Vice City were cited: "I hate these Haitians. We'll take them out, we'll take these Haitians down" and "Stinking nest of Haitians. We gonna kill them all. Kill all the Haitians."

Dr. Henry Frank, Director of the Haitian Centers Council, was in disbelief and was angered when shown this clip. "To kill the Haitians like beasts, like nothing, you are attacking our self-esteem, our respect and everything that we have."

Frank then added: "You don't know where you are going to get some crazy mind who will apply exactly what they have seen on the game."

CBS 2 could not reach Rockstar Games or its president, Sam Houser, for comment. At the end of the segment, they inducted both into the CBS2 "Hall Of Shame" for "cashing in on racism and violence."

Furthermore, according to Newsday.com, Haitian organizations will today announce what actions they plan to take against Rockstar Games and Take 2 Interactive.

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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
  • GenreAction
  • Release Date05/12/2003
  • PublisherRockstar Games
  • DeveloperRockstar North
  • ESRBM - Mature