Re: Racism and sexism in historical settings
I had a GM for a while who ran a game in which people from various periods were transported into a magical post-apocalypse. Without really thinking, I ran a character from the 1920's, and the GM pushed me to play up the racism and sexism. Like really pushed. And part of it, I believe, was to be able to have those aspects in a game to poke at other players without the blame or responsibility falling on him. Eventually the game fall apart, and part of it -was- due to my character's attitudes. I wish I'd realized it in advanced, and backed off of it. It was years ago, and I'm older and wiser.
The deal, perhaps said already here, is that the game is an expression of both the GM and the players. If they want to have those things in the game, great, let them. If one or more of them doesn't? Probably not the best game for them to be involved in, whether it be player or GM. It's good to start things with people being on the same page about it all, but if not, having the ability to say, "Hey, this thing in the game bothers me, can we either talk about it or excise it" is a real good thing.