An Ugly Game

http://www.nytimes.com ^ | 10/17/03 | Bob Herbert

[BCrago66]

Ghettopoly is a board game, based on Monopoly, and it has a lot of people fired up.

Marches and protests by people denouncing the game as racist have distributors running for cover. Yahoo and eBay have blocked the sale of the game on their sites, and the Urban Outfitters chain has stopped selling it in stores.

People are outraged — outraged! — that a game would portray inner-city blacks as pimps and hustlers and ho's.

Kweisi Mfume, president of the N.A.A.C.P., has threatened to boycott sellers of Ghettopoly, which he described as "demeaning, repugnant and reprehensible, to say the least."

For the record: Ghettopoly is without question an ugly game that promotes disgusting racial stereotypes. It presents blacks as murderous, thieving, dope-dealing, carjacking degenerates. Instead of the familiar Monopoly pieces, like top hats and thimbles, Ghettopoly players get to move around the board as pimps, machine guns and rocks of crack cocaine.

So I'm not feeling sorry for David Chang, the game's beleaguered 28-year-old creator. What I'd like to know is why all this outrage is springing up over a board game when so little is heard in the way of protest about the outlandishly self-destructive behavior that gives rise to a game like Ghettopoly, and which is burying any chance of a viable future for extraordinary numbers of young black men and women, and their children.

How can you march against a game and not march against the real-life slaughter on the streets and in the homes of inner cities across America? Violent crime, ignorance and disease are carving the very heart out of America's black population.

The president of the Los Angeles Council of Churches, the Rev. Leonard Jackson, told me last spring about the long line of funerals he's had to conduct for young black men and women, and boys and girls. He seemed on the verge of tears. "The young people have more of a chance of dying here in South Central than in a military combat zone," he said.

Instead of using their influence to help stop the slaughter, certain truly twisted elements of the hip-hop culture encourage it, celebrating it in songs that not only glorify murderous violence, but also degrade black people to a degree that should leave any sensible person stupefied.

"We dangerous," says one song. "Bitches pay a fee just to hang with us."

Trust me, we've got some problems that are bigger than Ghettopoly. We've got insane young men who take their heavy armament into the street and shoot up the neighborhood, and then go back inside to listen to music that celebrates the act of shooting up the neighborhood. That is not a sign of a healthy culture.

It's not that there's been no protest. Marc Morial, the new president of the Urban League, said in a speech last summer that "too many of our young black males believe that manhood is defined by the ability to injure or damage another man, rather than helping another man."

The Urban League, the N.A.A.C.P. and many other groups and individuals are trying to address some of the myriad problems facing black America.

But the efforts have been too few and too timid. And they haven't been accompanied by the bold, honest, creative and self-critical thinking that is an absolutely necessary precursor to action that would be effective.

Ghettopoly is a stupid and offensive game. But its reach is nowhere near as vast or as dangerous as the "Lord of the Flies" street culture that is seducing one generation after another of black children, and producing freakish entertainers like Nelly and 50 Cent.

We learned last month that Nelly, a male rapper from St. Louis, was marketing a new drink called Pimp Juice — aimed, I suppose, at niggaz and ho's. The drink was a follow-up to Nelly's hit song of the same name, a song with such immortal lines as "You ain't from Russia, so bitch why you Russian?"

50 Cent has the top album of the year, and one of the hit songs is "P.I.M.P." He brags in the song that he'll have his ho "stripping in the street." Of one of his women, he says, "The last nigga she was with put stitches in her head."

That's not entertainment. That's a symptom.

[BCrago66]

Better than the usual pap from Herbert. He's talking like a cultural conservative.

[Consort]

Is there a Barriopoly game?

[HitmanLV]

This is the best advertising the gamemakers could get.

[clee1]

It's supposed to be coming out soon.

[FortLiberty]

To annoy the (so-called) liberals, I've placed more non-pc humor on the web at http://www.fortliberty.org/humor.shtml

Will

[sourcery]

How can you march against a game and not march against the real-life slaughter on the streets and in the homes of inner cities across America? Violent crime, ignorance and disease are carving the very heart out of America's black population.

But they do--blaming racism, capitalism, Republicans, tax cuts, deregulation, and Rush Limbaugh as the root causes.

[expatguy]

Things would be different if Ghettopoly was made by a black person unfortuately it is made by an enterprising Asian American.

Blacks have no one to blame except themselves. Their music glorifies crime, killings, drugs, prostitution and almost every other vice you can possibly imagine.

50 cent above is one of the biggest star now with a song out called PIMP.

I dont see anyone calling him on the carpet.

[jake hoyt]

Thank you! Getting "huffy" about a stupid game when we call ourselves "n#ggers" publicly, is typical of how backwards we've "allowed" ourselves to be(obviously THATS not a "secret" Whitemans' conspiracy!!)- I rode in a taxi this afternoon (my car was in the shop). The driver(immigrant obviously,but couldn't figure his ethnic origin) was singing the praises of being an American as we went down the road .When I reached La Brea and Adams blvd ( this is in L.A.,folks) we saw a group of young Blk Males fighting each other-they weren't H.S. school teens settling some "play ground beef" but MEN in their 20s, and it was a vicious bout. The driver asked me, "brotha'man,why are black people so angry and violent?" I was actually unable to answer that one.You see as African Americans, we really don't have an excuse-We are a paradox,cursing the "evils" of racism,sexism,urban violence,drug abuse, yet we seem to embrace those same evils.Blacks in America have to stop their OWN degradation (Rap music has truly "F*cked up" the minds of our children, and its poison has now spread to overly impressionable Wht suburban kids telling them that crime,drug abuse, and failure is okay also)I thought that the energy wasted battling in the "hood" could have been used finding a JOB,or if they can't /won't work, they could at least have volunteered at a school,senior citizens home,or just picked up trash in the neighborhood.As far as "so-called" black leaders like former gangbanger Kweisi Mfune(what part of Africa did he come from?-I thought he was raised in Baltimore) and "Rev"Jesse Jackson-Black people wake up! These losers will continue having us as "beggars" and "crybabies"(ghettopoly?!!!) instead of prosperous "Americans" like the rest of our society.Only Black people can change themselves.Despite what people think of Farrakhan( and some of the things he hes said) he truly embodies what African American men should live up to in his speeches-BE Responsible,Respect yourselves and others,Work hard,Take care of your families! Sounds like what the Republicans have been to "preaching" for yrs!!!!!Somebody please bring J.C. Watts back to office !!!
P.S. I forgot to use paragraphs again,huh?

[Fledermaus]

I'm sure a game called "Redneckopoly" wouldn't even be discussed.

[clee1]

Wrong! The author says it is coming out soon as well.

There is supposed to eventually be several versions out: Redneckopoly, Chinkopoly, Ragheadopoly, Wetbackopoly, etc.

I heard him on a radio program (glen beck, michael savage???) saying that "racial stereotypes are hysterically funny and only when we can laugh at ourselves can we learn to be tolerant of others."

I would personally like a copy of ShortWhiteManopoly... :)

[Caipirabob]

Well, now it's destined to be a classic. No such thing as "bad adverstising" when it comes to stuff like this.

[Fenris6]

hmmm....I take it the ACLU won't defend freedom of expression here. Some animals are more equal than others, yes?

[clee1]

Yes.

The only "speech" that will be defended by the ACLU is either PC approved or Fag-predator crap from NAMBLA.

[JennysCool]

Who cares about the paragraphs? Great wise rant. Thanks.

[dsc]

"Somebody please bring J.C. Watts back to office"

How about you run? I'd vote for you.

[Fighter@heart]

How sad. When the actions reflected in the game happen in real life, it goes un-noticed by most black "leaders." When a game comes out depicting the same, ONLY then does it become "demeaning, repugnant and reprehensible, to say the least." If todays black activists/leaders would condemn these actions within their communities it would/could be a giant step in the right direction. Lyrics in todays black music are stereo-typical but that is acceptable, unless you express the same & are white. I've never heard the "N-word" used so much EXCEPT when blacks use it toward each other. Illegitiment children in blacks run damn near 72% according to FOX news. Black on black crime is also at record levels, but lets put our entire efforts into thwarting a game depicting what we won't attempt to correct in real life. Race baiters like jesse jackson, etc. are just money grubbers & care nothing about the advancement of their people. So much attention to a game, so little attention to real life problems.

[Lion Den Dan]

I don't do board games but I want to own this one. If anyone knows where I can get one in the Loisville KY area or has one for sale, contact me FRmail.

[section9]

Better than the usual pap from Herbert. He's talking like a cultural conservative.

With respect, bollocks.

Herbert and other liberal blacks have had decades to deal with this problem within their community. Their response? To vilify white conservatives and to exile black conservatives.

When your entire intellectual argument revolves around the proposition that Republicans Want To Bring Back Slavery, you end up having no argument to begin with. Instead, you hear the rants of the intellectual pimps who deal in the debased coinage of reparations instead of women. I have no sympathy for Herbert or other black liberals.

And the beat goes on...

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[expatguy]

There is a quotation by George Washington Carver that I have been looking for and can't seem to find.

I wish I could find it, it would explain this situation perfectly.