Magic the Gathering chooses to be less racist

Wizards of the Coast has banned seven cards with racist imagery, names, or details and removed them fully from the official online database. In the announcement, the publisher apologized for insensitivity and not being aware of the problematic parts of the cards. The seven card being excised are Invoke Prejudice, Cleanse, Stone-Throwing Devils, Pradesh Gypsies, Jihad, Imprison, and Crusade.

“The events of the past weeks and the ongoing conversation about how we can better support people of color have caused us to examine ourselves, our actions, and our inactions. We appreciate everyone helping us to recognize when we fall short. We should have been better, we can be better, and we will be better.”

Banning cards from competitive play is done all the time, but the removal of the cards from the database is unusual and speaks to the seriousness of the action. As an example, one of the banned cards, Invoke Prejudice, wasn’t just banned and removed, the card ID number has been changed from its original 1488, due to that number’s association with white supremacist iconography.