One of the races from Spelljammer: Adventures in Space has some fans drawing parallels to historical racism.
Spelljammer's version of the Player's Handbook, the Astral Adventurer's Guide, features some new background information about the Hazodee's origin that raised concerns among fans. The adaptation of the classic setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition features the inclusion of one of D&D's more controversial races: the Hadozee. Polygon reported that many fans find the reintroduction of the Hadozee to be in poor taste, as several claimed aspects of the group appear to mirror real-world historical racism.
In previous editions of the game that included the Hadozee, going back to D&D 2E, they were a people without an origin. Their society didn't place heavy value on history, so their cultural memory focused only on their current existence as sailors, whether that be of the stars or the sea. They were described as giving little consideration to ethics and morals and looking forward to their shipboard tasks and chores. In the D&D 5E edition of Spelljammer, their origin was entirely changed to now have a definitive backstory. The passage in Astral Adventurer's Guide describes how the Hadozee were once just animals until an unnamed wizard traveled to their planet and enslaved them. He used an experimental elixir to alter them mentally and physically into an intelligent army with the intent of selling them to the highest bidder.
Fans argued that a race of sapient apes who were granted intelligence by an outsider who enslaved them, experimented on them and intended to sell them hits too many racist notes. Many players felt that the new origin of Hadozee mirrors the historical "Black experience" during the transatlantic slave trade. Even the elevating to sapience by an outside force has been compared by fans to many racist myths, as well as the white and colonial savior archetypes.
Wizards of the Coast has a reputation for encouraging diversity and inclusion within its games and for acknowledging such mistakes made in the past. It began including a content warning for some of its older Dungeons & Dragons works, recognizing the ethnic, racial and gender prejudice sometimes present in the books, and it banned the use of racist cards in Magic: The Gathering. Earlier this year, it organized a company-wide walkout to protest its parent company, Hasbro, for a "lackluster" response to the controversial Roe v Wade ruling.
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space released Aug. 16, 2022, in North America, and includes the ability to create Hadozee NPCs and player characters. Wizards of the Coast has yet to officially respond to any of the criticisms regarding the new version of the race.
Source: Polygon