Okay, I am going to say it: What's with all the Nazeem hate?
I mean, sure, he is a slightly obnoxious snob. And I am not going to judge any Skyrim player too harshly who decides to pickpocket him.
But when you search for him on YouTube, there is a sheer endless list of videos where players kill him. Is there any other NPC in the game who gets murdered by Skyrim players as often as Nazeem, and so enthusiastically? Outside of the Dark Brotherhood questline, that is - and I am not so sure even about those.
Maybe, just maybe it's because he is the first "uppity black man" the player is likely to encounter who doesn't worship the ground that a scruffy adventurer who just entered town walks upon.
Contemplate this, and maybe don't murder Nazeem on your next playthrough. Just a thought.
#racism
I'm sure it started with a racist twinge. You roll into the first big city of the game, you're still low level with no street cred, and some black guy/Redguard starts talking shit. I'll bang my gavel on that.
But also, once you start dropping anvils on a character, it is hard to stop. That's another (comedically innocent) aspect of the dynamic.
I don't believe the nazeem hate has anything to do with racism.
It's the condescending arrogance, snobby bullshit.
Sure but... How do we know he's not right to act superior? You're an escaped convict with no prospects, and maybe you also just came from a cave full of undead assholes who yelled magic at you. You probably look like shit with all haunted eyes and the smell of giant spider blood, big ass sack of random stuff stolen from graves. If you've got a chip on your shoulder, maybe had a few horns of mead, that's exactly the sort of fellow you'd mouth off at.