The conspiracy theories surrounding the latest Resident Evil installment are more elaborate than any scheme the fictional Umbrella Corporation could have cooked up.

Just when I think I've heard every ridiculous complaint someone can hurl at the video game industry, the critics somehow manage to trump themselves. When the Resident Evil 5 trailer debuted, the only thing gamers could be heard saying was "Man, is that ever cool." Outside the world where people are familiar with the survival horror genre, professional conspiracy theorists kicked into overdrive.

A White man in a military uniform is killing what appear to be Black zombies, or zombie-like beings ala RE4. Well, that tears it! David Duke must surely be leading the design team. I should preface the rest of these comments by pointing out that I'm a lifelong gamer. I'm also a lifelong African-American. O.K., that's not entirely true, I was born Black. I'm not sure when I became African-American, but that's a whole other column.

Does racism still exist? Of course. I see it way too often. Recently I was covering a society function and when I attempted to find my reservation nametag, the lady at the desk  began speaking to me as if I were one of the waitstaff for the event. I couldn't help but recall the Dave Chapelle monologue where he talks about encountering things so racist you can't believe they actually just happened to you.

There was more racial prejudice in that incident that anything I saw in the RE5 trailer. During my 32 years I've experienced enough real racism to be able to distinguish between it and a preposterous digital witch hunt. If game hero Chris Redfield were mowing down the Spanish-speaking cult members from RE4, or a group that looked like white-skinned, fair-haired zombies we wouldn't be having this dialogue. Rather we'd just be listening to another Jack Thompson diatribe and I think we've finally reached the point people stop taking him seriously.

Village Voice writer Bonnie Ruberg lambasted not only the White lead character shooting Black zombies, but compared the zombie contagion metaphor which goes all the way back to the films of George Romero to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. She went even farther saying the game trailer seems to suggest that race itself is a contagion the White protagonist is afraid to catch. Um, seriously, Bonnie?

Sometimes folks, a cigar is just a cigar and a semi-automatic to a zombie's head is just a semi-automatic to a zombie's head. The RE series journeys to exotic locales and this time they appear to be going to Africa or an African-like setting. I don't think anyone at Capcom decided the next game in one of their flagship series should be converted into KKK: The Video Game.

There are millions of African-American gamers. What incentive would Capcom have to make sure none of them buy the game? You don't see companies racing to produce Buckwheat's O-Tay Kart Racing, or Don Imus' College Women's Basketball 2008, do you?