Here's What Square Enix Says About Deus Ex's "Racist" Character

Exploring the world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution might just be my favorite thing to do in the game, as you never know what you'll find. If you're like me, you've probably already spoken with everyone in Detroit, in which case you've run across Letitia.

Letitia is an NPC who used to serve as an informant for Adam Jensen when he worked for the police. When you find her, she'll offer up some information and tips if you're willing to bribe her with cash. (Or give her four beers and she'll grant you access to a hard-to-hack area nearby.)

While that sounds harmless enough, it's the way she speaks that has prompted some criticism, namely from Time's Evan Narcisse, who wrote a piece calling the character "the worst thing about Deus Ex: Human Revolution."

"Why is this in here? Humor? Any mirth to be had from watching the sequence dissipates about 30 seconds in," Narcisse wrote. "No, the purpose of talking to Letitia is to move the player forward and give some hints about Jensen's backstory. Yet in doing so, you encounter something really ugly. Letitia embodies a strain of racist stereotype that renders black people as less than human, as the worst that society has to offer."

He points out that he doesn't believe developer Eidos Montreal or publisher Square Enix is racist; he just takes issue with the the character's performance.

"The horrible broken English Letitia speaks is so far removed from any actual slang that it renders the character practically extra-terrestrial," he continued. "It's not from an alien planet, though. That slang harkens back to the worst blackface minstrelsy of the last century. Even the voice actor sounds embarrassed at the things she -- even though it sounds like a man, at times -- has to say."

The video above shows off the few minutes you can spend talking to her after finding her searching through a garbage can on the street. However you may feel about the character, Square Enix has publicly denied that it set out to disparage any ethnicity.

"Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fictional story which reflects the diversity of the world's future population by featuring characters of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds," Square Enix said in a statement. "While these characters are meant to portray people living in the year 2027, it has never been our intention to represent any particular ethnic group in a negative light."

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