I think you're just looking in the wrong places for something to get confused or offended at.

"Black Kats" are thematically correct. If a black cat crosses your path, that's an omen of bad luck. Walking under ladders, breaking a mirror, and stepping on sidewalk cracks are also omens of bad luck, but they don't fit into the pun of a "spookat".

"Black Kats" are also thematically correct due to "black magic" referring to evil magic. They summon cursed monsters, and themselves inflict curse. Curse is a very "evil" themed status, as it is both rare and limited in infliction. A spookat that inflicts curse can thus be assumed to perform "black magic", and the summoning of zombies (ie, necromancy) is another form of "black magic".
Something to note here is that black kats are not black at all, instead they are purple. Purple (with pinkish highlights) is a symbol of curse in this game, and thus these kats are more black magic than black in color.

A "dark ritual" is usually associated with something of the underworld or hellish in nature. A "book of dark rituals" is something that has these rituals written inside of them. Fiends are also notorious for performing these to summon trojans into the clockworks.

The backstory of the event is that these black kats (which are omens of bad luck - look at what happened to the kat tribe because of them) are attempting to do something nefarious with these dark ritual books... But can't read so they just eat them instead.

Attaching a color onto something doesn't make it inherently racist. The rose sets aren't racist because they have "black rose" and "white rose" - they're named that because they are "rose" sets that are black and white. The name of the kat is a multi-level pun, and this game has a history of references and puns being involved in name schemes and descriptions. This is just another one of them.

I mean it's kinda true that all the pieces fit together and you're just having a hard time comprehending it for some reason.
As for white kats, we have Mewkats that are complete pacifists. It's a dark/light kind of thing, not race.
Also if you want a dev to respond, they're not going to look here most of the time when most of the event is self-explanatory.

Note: Just because Fangel supports GH doesn't mean she's biased with a blind eye.
She still gives valid answers and that's probably the best one you'll get from anybody about this thread.

I gave history and background to why black kats are called what they are called. Here's the wikipedia page on black magic.

If you're asking why there's no "white magic" (the opposite of "black magic"), then it's probably because there's no pun involved in a "white kat" over a "black kat". The black kat event is themed around dark magic AND bad luck (look at the lore of the kat tribe - it's crawling with references to bad luck). Calling a "cursed miniboss kat" a "black kat" satisfies both the dark magic and bad luck themes.

White magic isn't necessarily a sign of good luck, but rather, it is a symbol of nature and harmony rather than chaos and destruction. As such, yes, a mewkat is essentially a "white magic" kat due to its peaceful nature, it simply isn't called a "white kat" due to that not being a double pun, and mewkat sounding so much more adorable. Listen to the little mews it makes!

Additionally developers don't often comment on the forums about things. We often get the game masters replying to general inquiries, however a thread title such as "I'm not trolling" likely isn't one that'll catch the eye of anyone looking to keep their sanity.

How is the use of "black magic" racist? How is a "dark ritual" racist?

The "black death" isn't racist because it has the word "black" in it. There's no "white death" plague to go along with it because it's not needed.

If you're pulling the "black magic" and "white magic", we can assume owlites performed "white magic" and the kat tribe has performed "black magic". Since the destruction of both races, only the kat tribe lingers on, the dark energies not allowing their souls to rest. As such, we only see the "black magic".

I'm not trying to say "if you don't like it don't ask". I'm happy to help others learn things about the game, and as such I have provided many reasons why I personally believe the kat event is set up as such.

For reference, here is a short list of all of the kat names:

• Spookat - a pun on "spooky" and "cat"
• Pepperkat - not a pun as far as I can tell, but I may be wrong
• Bloogato - pun on "boo", something ghosts say. Gato is also "cat" in spanish. This kat is also blue, making the name quite punny
• Hurkat - "hurking" is a slang for a cat throwing up a hairball. This is a pun on that slang
• Statikat - turns the end of "static" into a kat name
• Mewkat - cute little kat that mews at you. Named after the sound it makes, might have a deeper meaning I'm missing
• Black Kat - double joke at bad luck myth about black cats and black magic

So there you have it - all the kat names in the game. You're singling out the "black kat" because you make a claim that "it's racist not to have a white kat too!", but there is next to no reason to have such a thing. It's like being upset someone used red frosting instead of blue frosting when they both taste the same.

If you're suggesting we see "white magic" in the game, then I can back that notion if we ever see some owlite soul. That would be really neat. However, it should act on its own merit, not because someone got upset at a word that is printed on crayons.

I believe you have forgotten to mention the Grimalkin, which is also a word directed to a feline nature.

It feels like I'm watching a "please do not use master/slave" on an programing related thread.
No it is not linked to an ethnicity, it is simply a part of the baggage games tend to carry, and story telling in general. Dark is evil and light is good.
If you want to go with pink is evil and indigo is good then go for it, but breaking away from an established convention is not a good idea if you are just doing it out of spite.

First thought after reading this was "i'm not trolling, but i trol u lololl!!!1!", but I gave the poster the benefit of the doubt that they were just a troubled soul who needed some explanation. After their first response to me, well.... Sort of cemented my thoughts. Doesn't mean I can't passively make my point in the meantime.

I don't know which one is worse, this trolling thread or Fangel's attempts at rationalize it (as he does to almost everything, even insanity itself), but I think the OP made an error, and that is BKs are not black due to genetic inheritance but rather magic (or lost science if you want to join my Atheist club), BKs are not evil by nature or the color of their skin, but rather the super natural force unleashed by 'oh-I-regret-opening-this-book' Margel during the war against the owlites, suffice to say, BKs are now nothing more than the thralls of the curse.

This is just like in real life, people think ethnic minority are more likely to commit crime because they are different as supposed to the more obvious reason that they are being oppressed by the ignorance of the natives.

If you really want to talk about racism in SK, there are much better alternatives, such as:

-Why don't Spiral Knights and Gremlin live together in Haven? Surely it is a hell lot better than emberlight where Tinkinzar may finally one day wipe them off. Is there an inter-specie segregation going on?

-Why don't monsters of different status type live together? (there are exceptions)

-Why did the Kats fought the owlite in the first place?

-Why are there no Gremlins inducted into the Spiral Order? Is it a tradition or a prejudice that knights have about Gremlin being inferior?

-Why don't the swarm drop anything? Are they living in extreme poverty because they are black? <--- SHOTS FIRED!!! TAKE COVER!!!

Nowadayz you can call racism on literally everything you want.