I take your point that when it comes to historical accuracy the racism depicted is rather tame particularly in the depictions of the Southern US however I wouldn’t say it was underrepresented.
I agree that the perspective we play the story from has a minor effect on the portrayal of racism in the late 19th and early 20th Century America in that being a caucasian character does not make us suddenly immune to the outside world.
America at the time was deeply racist, the mere fact that the Lemoyne Raiders are a faction in game tells you that a lot of the people haven’t forgotten the American Civil War and there is a stronger focus on the Confederacy in game due to location. If we think back to the mission with Lenny at the bar in Valentine you’ll notice Arthur and Lenny have a great time and begin to develop a strong bond of friendship.
If this was historically accurate, Arthur fraternising with an African American man in a friendly manner would not go unnoticed. In fact it would highly likely result in a patron of the saloon taking offence to Lenny’s presence and Arthur’s acceptance of Lenny as an equal. Whilst Lenny would be in a far more dangerous position than Arthur it would not absolve Arthur from insult. He would likely receive a certain amount of abuse from the Valentine residents because of his fraternisation with Lenny alone.
New Hannover is also perhaps not as bad as Lemoyne or even New Austin and West Elizabeth. If Arthur and Lenny went to the bar in Rhodes the entire gang would have likely been run out of town by the Gray’s for merely fraternising with non caucasian American folk and Lenny could have very likely been lynched and Arthur beaten.
In fact the presence of the doctor we aid in Rhodes is a suspension of historical accuracy. Whilst it wouldn’t be completely unheard of for an African American man to achieve such a position in America (the Sheriff in Tumbleweed is indeed based off a real historical figure who attained what would be considered quite a senior role in an Old West town), in the South where Rhodes is set the likelihood of that doctor surviving is not great. Most of the people of that area would have supported the Confederacy and whilst not all would necessarily be racist, the KKK developed a great deal of support in the South. If you see the film ‘The Birth of a Nation’ you will see just how much they glorified the Klan at that time, though be warned that film is a very hard watch because of the racism within it. It would be more likely than not that the doctor we help in game in reality would have been lynched and robbed on the road whether by the Klan or people from Rhodes who objected to the position he had achieved in society. It’s a cruel fact and if I’ve upset anyone then I’m sorry though such an event would be rather common in a place like Lemoyne.
Having said that, this game was not marketed as being historically accurate. At no point did I see Rockstar announce their intention to make Red Dead Redemption 2 a completely historically accurate piece of work. They intended to expand upon their own open world formula and build upon it to make the game world feel more alive, more real but Rockstar have always been a company that use parody and satire to tell their stories. The story itself is the major focus, not the historical time period.
When it comes to creating a story in any medium the fundamental rule is that everything within must serve the story being told. Arthur is the focal point, we are seeing his story and later John’s. In Arthur’s story we aren’t expecting to see racism because his story isn’t about that. Unlike Mafia III where racism plays a major factor both in how the protagonist is treated but also in kickstarting the main elements of the story in the opening act. Sal Marcano sees the African American gangs as vermin that have expended their usefulness, he also employs deeply racist and conservative people in his operations so in that game we are expecting racism to be a major element of the game.
Furthermore Red Dead Redemption 2 is more a love letter to the Western genre of cinema like its two predecessors with its missions being inspired by many many films. It is a romanticism of the Old West and an embellished story where reality is suspended. After all every villain is the hero of their own story and we begin the game believing in Dutch’s ideals, that he is a force for freedom and liberty but as time goes on we see him more and more as the murderous sadist he is. The veil is lifted for Arthur but also the viewer. As the gang falls apart the situation becomes more ugly but rather than seeing the ugliness of the stories world in more detail we instead see the ugliness in the characters around Arthur. It is still however suspending reality for the sake of a good story.
No doubt had Rockstar made a completely historically accurate game, a large portion of players likely wouldn’t want to play it. So yes the depiction of racism in game is tamer than the reality but it isn’t absent. We see racism within the first minutes of the story in how Micah refers to several gang members. Lenny informs us of several instances where he was victimised though it is more apparent when seeing Javier and Charles. A fair few interactions we see between Javier and members in the gang or people during missions refer to Javier in a derogatory manner. Just replay the river boat robbery in Saint Denis and you’ll see his interaction with the security whilst disguised as one. Micah regular insults him and is at one point almost killed by Javier and that’s outside of any mission or cutscene.
Charles is perhaps given the most attention in this regard however but this is largely due to the infringement of the rights of the Native people’s in the area the game occurs which goes on to become a major focal point for the story. Arthur sees a kinship in Rains Fall’s struggle against the American military as does Charles but then Dutch sees it as an opportunity to exploit to get some more money.
We have random encounters in game that deal with racism, the recruiter in Saint Denis, the Klansman in the woods at night. The Lemoyne Raiders.
It is a present theme but as the story is not about that specific theme, at least until later on where it then specifically revolves around the Native people’s and Dutch exploiting them, it is not depicted in the real manner to which it occurred. Why? Because it doesn’t inform Arthur’s story and it’s that story we are playing. We are playing a story about a group of outcasts branded criminals and simply trying to survive against an unstoppable monster called ‘civilisation.’ Yes racism is present as a theme but it isn’t the driving theme of this story. If we played as Lenny or Charles then it would have a far stronger impact on the story but we are playing Arthur’s story instead and his story is about seeing the people he cares for most fall apart.