[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONDEMNING THE ``GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY'' VIDEO GAME: ANTI-HAITIAN 
        RACISM AND STEREOTYPES HAVE NO PLACE IN AMERICAN SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the 
attention of my colleagues, and to condemn in the strongest possible 
terms, a Rockstar Inc. video game entitled ``Grand Theft Auto: Vice 
City.'' This game has no place as an amusement in this country because 
it purports to make ``fun'' using racist and stereotyped images of 
Haitians and Cubans.
  This despicable video game portrays Haitians as ugly criminals and 
lower forms of human life who must be obliterated once and for all. In 
order to win the game, the player--an ex-convict--is hired to recover 
stolen drug money on the streets of Miami. In his pursuit, he faces 
police officers and gangsters from Cuba and Haiti. Armed with a 
machete, knife, gun and baseball bat, the game urges players to ``kill 
the Haitians'' and ``kill the Cubans.''
  What makes this matter even more offensive is that, by its 
immigration policies and pronouncements, the Bush Administration 
fosters a view of Haitian asylum seekers as potential terrorists rather 
than bona-fide refugees.
  It is hard to see how such contemptible acts could be seen as 
``fun,'' for this video game is scandalous and hateful and deeply 
offensive to Haitian and Cuban Americans and every decent American 
concerned about racism and violence in this country.
  I ask this Congress and all people of goodwill to join me in 
condemning this hateful video game and to do everything possible to 
increase public knowledge of it and thereby to limit its acceptance in 
both domestic and foreign markets.
  Mr. Speaker, I represent the largest Haitian constituency in the 
United States, and this video game is demeaning, demoralizing and 
deeply hurtful to hundreds of thousands of hard-working, law-abiding 
Haitian Americans and their families in South Florida and in this 
country. It does not take much to imagine the destructive impact that 
the repulsive images of this game would have on youngsters, whether 
they are Haitian-American, Cuban-American, or not.
  This video game symbolizes the very lowest of our nation's values. It 
is deeply disturbing, not only that the manufacturer would seek to 
profit by the sales of this game, but that people would buy it. I urge 
all my colleagues, and every American, to take a firm stand against 
such commercial trash and to rededicate ourselves to the principles of 
freedom and liberty that such hatred cannot destroy.

                          ____________________