Ninja says it's on parents to teach kids about racism, not him

Over the last few years, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has risen to superstardom in the gaming world. Thanks to his Fortnite content, Ninja quickly became one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. That newfound success was not without controversy, as Ninja’s previous actions and statements have led to some harsh, but fair criticism of his character. In a recent interview, Ninja spoke about the hate speech that’s commonly found in his live chat. Here, he states that it’s on parents to parent their kids, not him.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins sat down with the New York Times for an interview where he talked about the issue surrounding the bigoted behavior in his chat. When the NYT asked him about ways to resolve the issue, Ninja had this to say: "It all comes down to parenting. You want to know who your kid is? Listen to him when he's playing video games when he thinks you're not. Here's another thing: How does a white kid know he has white privilege if his parents never teach him or don’t talk about racism?"

As is popular on the platform, Ninja’s Twitch chat is often riddled with comments that spam racial slurs and other hurtful language. Many believe it’s the streamer’s job, as a role model to youth, to call out the negative behavior and educate their audience on why it's unacceptable. Ninja doesn’t agree. "Is it my job to have this conversation with this kid? No, because the first thing that's going on in my head is, This kid is doing this on purpose to troll me. If someone says a racial slur on someone else's stream, it can potentially get that streamer banned. It's awful, but that's the first thing I think of."

Ninja has found himself in hot water before. Whether it be the use of a racial slur on stream, or comments made about not playing with women a few years back, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has had no shortage of controversy in his rise to becoming a gaming celebrity.