New Frontiers in Civil Rights: Did you know that chess is racist?

OpinionJournal from the Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | Best of the Web, OpinionJournal.com

[pip72]

Everyone knows that in a chess game white moves first.

This abstractly implies that white has a distinct advantage over black because black has to always take a defensive stand. Some see this as a continuing form of racism and want to change the rules of the game.

[Dante3]

This is truly insanity.

[cripplecreek]

Chess on a multi colored board with multi colored pieces must be hell.

[Eala]

free the game from its checkered history!

LOL!

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

LOL!!! Have I heard everything now? That reminds me. I have't played chess in some time. I must get out my set tomorrow and go at it.

[jwalburg]

Gotta get rid of all that MATE stuff.

[Lion in Winter]

Oh, geees.... years ago somebody gave me a BEAUTIFUL chess set where all the pieces were divided into two sides... one dark green jade and the other a pale green jade. The board was inset jade pieces. Quite nice!!

But always remember, as the frog my little grandson loves sings... "it's not easy being green"....lallallala.

[Peach]

Just when you think you've heard it all...

[Riley]

Ice cream sandwiches are racist symbols too, I guess. And car tires.

If one is absolutely determined to expose himself to the world as a nitwit, let him.

[catpuppy]

Not to mention the fact that bishops use the angles to spread their religion about the board. Not only is this unfair to atheists and agnostics, it discriminates against those whose clergy are not bishops but rabbis, reverends, muftis and even witch doctors.

And what of the "board"? Everyone knows that "boards" are controlled by powerful corporate special interests. Why is there not a "union" in this game to fight for the working poor?

[stylin19a]

um.......isn't who gets what color based on luck of the draw ?

[ladylib]

Silly ass.

[Seruzawa]

Soon these idiots' college years will be behind them. They will step out into the world we all live in. All this college idiocy will become meaningless. The new graduates will remember these college days fondly as they spend the rest of their adult lives saying repeatedly, "Would you like fries with that?"

[KellyAdmirer]

These people won't be happy until we all dress in gray, live in gray huts made of mud bricks (no wood, that would hurt the trees) and say nothing for fear of offending someone somewhere.

[Riley]

These people won't be happy until we all dress in gray, live in gray huts made of mud bricks (no wood, that would hurt the trees) and say nothing for fear of offending someone somewhere.

In other words, North Korea.

[JimVT]

Holy Cow....all these years I've been playing Checkers on a black and red board not realizing I was offending the honkeys!

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Oh oh. I own a racist car. It is painted white with black tires. What now?

[Arpege92]

What about hockey? A puck is black and the majority of hockey players are white. Shouldn't we demand that they change the color of the puck from black to white? Wait, that would make it too difficult for the hockey players to see the puck. Oh, I got it.....change the name of hockey players to honkey players.

[cripplecreek]

I hate to think where we could go with the conotations of "drag" racing.