inequality-opoly.com : discover a structural racism board game? Perry Clemons (He/His) is an African-American third-grade teacher from Harlem, N.Y. He has created a board game called Inequality-opoly: The Board Game of Structural Racism and Sexism in America. Inequality-opoly is a custom property trading game that transforms recent national studies into a perspective-taking experience. In this game like, in the real world, certain players based on their perceived identity enjoy privileges while others face obstacles to building wealth. Find additional info on Inequality-opoly.
Diversity And Inclusion tip for today : What can be better than celebrating diversity with food? Organize a fun potluck lunch party where employees should bring in dishes from or inspired by their culture and heritage. It starts from appetizers and main dishes to sweet courses. Potluck offers a welcome chance to try the all-time best cuisines across kitchens. But, it is undoubtedly more than that. It is because food is one of the best conversation starters. It gives a favorable occasion to share and connect.
Interestingly, Clemons pointed out that the original version of Monopoly was an imitation of The Landlord’s Game, an educational board game created at the end of the 19th century by Lizzie Magie for the purpose of showing that monopolies lead to a harmful accumulation of wealth that comes at the expense of others. A few decades later, Charles Darrow, who is typically credited for inventing the game, teamed up with a political cartoonist to create Monopoly – a skillfully redesigned version of Magie’s game, but whose wealth-accumulation objective is essentially the opposite of what Magie was trying to achieve – and sold it to Parker Brothers. (I will pause, if only parenthetically, to point out the irony of a man achieving fame and wealth by copying a woman’s idea and taking credit for it.)
It is perhaps for this reason that I was so delighted when, a few months ago, I was introduced to Perry Clemons, creator of Inequality-opoly: The Board Game of Structural Racism and Sexism in America. As you might guess from the name, Inequality-opoly is inspired by the popular board game Monopoly, with players trying to amass wealth by buying, developing and trading real estate. What makes Inequality-opoly unique is that each player is assigned an identity, and on the basis of their identity some players enjoy privileges while others face obstacles to building wealth.
Systemic racism and sexism created disparities in wealth and income for Black women. Wealth and income are two components of economic well-being. Income is a flow of money that comes in from employment, social security, or other sources, yet wealth consists of assets (e.g., homes, cash, businesses, vehicles) minus debt (e.g., credit cards, student loans, mortgages, medical debt). Wealth is critical. In its absence, families have difficulty managing financial emergencies, passing money down to the next generation and participating in activities that can build even more wealth like purchasing a home or starting a business. Research shows the racial wealth gap is even larger than the income gap. Read more information at racial inequities board game.