A post was made last night in the Judge Academy Discord server sharing a racist alteration of a Magic Card. Regrettably, a number of people engaged with this content positively before its problematic nature was pointed out. We were made aware of the issue early this afternoon, at which point the original post had already been removed. Our admins removed additional shares or links with the artwork and then gathered to discuss what happened. Shortly thereafter, the poster apologized to the channel.

We’ve begun an investigation into this instance; while we can’t share details or outcomes of that investigation publicly, we want to make our stance on this kind of thing clear. Prejudiced remarks, “jokes”, or insults based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, disability, or sexual orientation are ABSOLUTELY NOT WELCOME in the Judge Academy community, and instances of this on our platforms will be dealt with when they occur.

Much like Unsporting Conduct at a tournament, someone taking inappropriate actions without intending malice or harm does not excuse harmful behavior. Judges who unintentionally create harmful or unwelcoming situations will be educated and warned, and are expected to show remorse for the hurt and damage caused. Even then, those instances will be documented and repeat occurrences will be treated more severely.

Those who intend harm or do not show remorse once educated do not have a place in our community. If that is you, we will not be sorry to see you go.

While we are incredibly disappointed that this happened, we do want to thank the judges who stood up to point out the issue and bring it to our attention. Those individuals exemplified what it means to be a judge by first making a calm and firm statement that the action was unacceptable, and then educating those who did not understand the context so that they knew why it was unacceptable.