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Federal prosecutors want to burn or bury 62,496 copies of a board game called "Ghettopoly" because they say the parody of Monopoly, which has raised accusations of racism, infringes upon the "Monopoly" trademark. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Tacoma opened two cargo containers from China early last year and found the games, which feature "playas" who, instead of putting hotels on Park Place, construct crack houses on Cheap Trick Avenue. The customs agency now has the games under lock and key. The game's creator, David Chang, says the game is a parody, drawing on stereotypes to...

THIS IS FOR REAL CLICK ON THE LINK TO KBTOYS Explore an amusing slice of American life with Trailer Park Tycoon, the irreverent resource management game. Pull out the barbecue and serve up the pork rinds, because this is going to be a non-stop down-home party. Features: Choose the perfect setting for your double-wide empire: city, desert, soggy swampland or back country Make your park trashy or flashy - pick from a variety of mobile homes to entice the wackiest or wisest tenants Stay abreast of the latest happenings with the local tabloid, Trailer Park Times Watch out for natural...

Moral indignation over game is misplaced 31 Oct 2003 Leonard Pitts Miami Herald I guess I’m obligated to be offended by this new board game. After all, Al Sharpton says I should. And not just Rev. Al, either. Many other people — including NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and radio host Tom Joyner — have pronounced themselves offended by the game. Not that I blame them. It’s called Ghettopoly, a take-off on Parker Bros. venerable Monopoly. Except that this game isn’t about moving a car or a top hat around the board, buying properties and landing on Boardwalk after somebody...

<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The company that makes the Monopoly board game has sued the man who created "Ghettopoly" — a knockoff featuring "playas" who build crack houses on Cheap Trick Avenue instead of hotels on Boardwalk.</p> <p>The lawsuit by Hasbro Inc. seeks unspecified damages from David Chang, accusing him of violating Hasbro's trademarks and copyrights and creating "irreparable injury" to Hasbro's reputation.</p>

Playing the board game Monopoly as a kid, I never thought there was anything controversial about it. A college professor once hinted that some of the game's streets - Baltic, Mediterranean, Oriental - were so named to indicate the ethnicity of their owners. I found out later that the properties are based on streets in Atlantic City, N.J. Now a racially provocative takeoff on Monopoly is leaving no doubt about what kinds of people live on its streets. Ghettopoly capitalizes on the stereotypes of people living in poor urban areas. Instead of top hats and thimbles, Ghettopoly is played with...

P laying the board game Monopoly as a kid, I never thought there was anything controversial about it. A college professor once hinted that some of the game's streets - Baltic, Mediterranean, Oriental - were so named to indicate the ethnicity of their owners. I found out later that the properties are based on streets in Atlantic City, N.J. Now a racially provocative takeoff on Monopoly is leaving no doubt about what kinds of people live on its streets. Ghettopoly capitalizes on the stereotypes of people living in poor urban areas. Instead of top hats and thimbles, Ghettopoly is played...

The retail clothing chain that stirred controversy for selling the game Ghettopoly has bowed to protests from black activists and pulled the product from its shelves. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports after two weeks of brisk sales, Urban Outfitters Friday decided to yank the game, which pokes fun at the ills of American ghetto life, including drug abuse and gangsta rap. The game requires "playas" to steal and sell drugs while building crack houses and public housing. "Due to customer concerns, Urban Outfitters no longer sells the board game Ghettopoly," said a statement from the company. "My word, what a victory....

All of the excesses of rap music are coming home to roost with a vengeance. In his book, Hip Hoptionary: The Dictionary of Hip Hop Terminology, author Alonzo Westbrook argues that rap music has great social and cultural significance and redeeming value. But he and other commentators who see only the positive in rap have unwittingly given birth to antirap products, such as the board game Ghettopoly. I will return to Ghettopoly shortly. "Through catchy tunes, inventive phrases, and expressive voices," Westbrook writes, "rappers address the concerns and hopes of America in ways "intellectuals' have not or cannot because they...

ADL Blasts 'Ghettopoly' for Racist Content, Says Game's Stereotypes of Blacks Offensive and Degrading 10/10/03 1:42:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Myrna Shinbaum, 212-885-7747, or Todd Gutnick, 212-885-7755, both of the Anti-Defamation League NEW YORK, Oct. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today blasted the board game "Ghettopoly," saying that the recently released game's use of racist wordplay, caricatures and stereotypes of African-Americans is "offensive, demeaning and degrading." "It is outrageous that someone would take a venerable American game and pervert it in an effort to make a profit from bigotry," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL...

<p>In Ghettopoly, there's no little guy with a top hat, cane and white mustache. Instead, there's a bandanna-wearing African American man holding an Uzi in one hand and a bottle of malt liquor in the other.</p> <p>"Playa" (player) pieces include a 40-ouncer of malt, a marijuana leaf, a basketball and a "hoe," while "Smitty's XXX Peep Show," "Hernando's Chop Shop" and "Busta Rap Recording" are some of the properties.</p>

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando's Chop Shop instead of Reading Railroad?</p> <p>The game's creator, David Chang, promises similar games soon.</p> <p>Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called "Ghettopoly" that has "playas" acting like pimps and game cards reading, "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50."</p>

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando's Chop Shop instead of Reading Railroad?</p> <p>Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called "Ghettopoly" that has "playas" acting like pimps and game cards reading, "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50."</p>

<p>PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando's Chop Shop instead of Reading Railroad?</p> <p>Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called "Ghettopoly" that has "playas" acting like pimps and game cards reading, "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50."</p>

<p>CHICAGO -- Those familiar pieces to the Monopoly game are the shoe, the thimble and the race car, but have you ever heard of the version with the gun or crack cocaine?</p> <p>It's sure not your typical board game with player pieces that include a machine gun, drugs and a bottle of malt liquor. You can forget about buying up hotels -- in this game you purchase crack houses instead.</p>

Those familiar pieces to the Monopoly game are the shoe, the thimble and the race car, but have you ever heard of the version with the gun or crack cocaine?

Check it out...