Although the gaming community might seem overly competitive and hostile from the outside at times, especially in professional competitive fighting circles, tragedy has the power to dissolve those tensions and bring gamers together to support their own. Now, it is the death of Tekken player Henry "TheBadGuY" Tapia that has done just that, uniting even the biggest rivals to help Tapia's family and reach out to his friends.
Tapia was a prominent member of the Tekken scene in the United States, playing competitively, but also loved as a friend of the community. Tekken has brought people together from all over the world, forming friendships over fighting games. Most fighting game communities are welcoming of new players, even though these types of games are hard to get into as it requires a lot of practice and perseverance, which can be daunting to newcomers. As a respected member of the Boston Tekken community, many have come together to mourn the loss of the 35-year-old man, as well as the circumstances in which he died. Tapia was a victim of not only road rage, but a racism-fueled act of violence. He is survived by his partner and three children.
The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon, where Tapia and another man got caught up in an altercation in Belmont where racial slurs were hurled at Tapia, after which the aggressor hit Tapia with his pick-up truck. A close friend to Tapia, Nick DeJesus (via Twitter), reported that Tapia was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Another member of the Boston Tekken scene, Danny "StillElectric" Garcia, as well as some others, have created a GoFundMe to raise money for the funeral and any other costs for Tapia's family. Tournament organizer Trace Complete has a weekly tournament series, Iron Fist Friday, but this week it is using the event to promote the fundraiser and honor Tapia by foregoing a pot and instead asking participants to donate a suggested amount of $5 to the GoFundMe. Already over triple the amount of the goal has been reached, with $35,000 being raised from 500 donors. This GoFundMe will be active until February 3rd.
This is unfortunately not the first time that the gaming community has had to deal with racial prejudice. The Black Lives Matter protests that erupted last year were supported by many gamers, including the Animal Crossing community which brought many players together in a discussion on its official Discord. Even the giants of the gaming world were in on it, as Sony and Microsoft showed their support in a rare unified stance.
It is appalling that racial injustice still floods all communities, gaming and others. If people choose to look away and leave this kind of hatred to go on, it will lead to more deaths of friends, family, and fathers. The Tekken community should be proud of its quick action to support Tapia's family, and condolences go out to them.