Native American Disability Law Center

The Adventure Zone: Graduation had a number of elements that were ... troubling ... to say the least. Reddit user historyresponsibly has said it best:

"The centaur arc, for example, was filled with unflinching colonialist/white savior trope messaging throughout. I'm a historian who focuses on 18th and 19th century colonialism in the United States, where the creators of this podcast live. What I heard in this arc was a pretty typical allegory of a colonial entity making contact with indigenous/extant cultures. The colonizing/intercessory entities are introduced, with their own goal of solving a conflict between the extant cultures they don't understand. The Thundermen, who are the equivalent of college freshmen, openly make mock of the extant cultures, who are also depicted in over the top caricatures. The intercessory entities are able to, through a deus ex machina that also mocks the sincerely held religious beliefs of the extant cultures, solve the conflict in a way that make the extant cultures look subjectively stupid. The Thundermen literally destroyed a precious relic of the extant cultures for their own gain. It is done so in contempt, in front of leadership figures of the native-coded cultures. There are no consequences for these actions, and it was later revealed that this was an inconsequential plot point, and that the fabric of these peoples' sincerely held beliefs are actually a pawn in a game to support the colonizer culture."

[...]

"Elements of this also appeared in the episode "Creative Writing," with the implication that the Firbolg are helpless, weak, and frail without intercession or intervention from the dominant culture. I know that this is Dungeons and Dragons, and I know that this is meant to be a storytelling podcast, but as we saw with representation of characters like Lup, representation matters. Storytelling with empathy, integrity, and compassion matters."

There have been two episodes of The The Adventure Zone Zone since the Centaur arc, and a number of people have attempted to get the issue at least acknowledged by the McElroys, but all attempts seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Ultimately, there's little we can do if the decision of the cast is to simply ignore the criticism and move on to the next campaign. However, The Adventure Zone has always made a strong effort at representation and allyship. This is an issue that made a number of us in the fandom uncomfortable at best, and to see it not be addressed at all is both alarming and worrying. And so, I, for one, will be taking the money that would likely have gone to this year's MaxFunDrive and donating it instead.

More information about Native American Disability Law Center: The Law Center’s mission is to advocate so that the rights of Native Americans with disabilities in the Four Corners are enforced, strengthened and brought in harmony with their communities.