Ghettopoly' No Bigger Insult Than MTV Rap

[MORTARDUDE]

http://tampatrib.com/News/MGALJPKRWLD.html


Ghettopoly' No Bigger Insult Than MTV Rap
JOSEPH H. BROWN

( who is an African-American ... )
Published: Oct 19, 2003

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 with fake Uzis, malt liquor, crack, marijuana, ``Ghetto Stash'' and ``Hustle Cards.'' Instead of Boardwalk Avenue and Park Place, you have Cheap Trick Avenue. And instead of Reading Railroad, you have Hernando's Chop Shop.

Predictably, some blacks are outraged and want the game banned. Some called for a boycott of the clothing chain Urban Outfitters unless the company stops selling Ghettopoly in its stores.

Pardon me if I think their protests are late and way off target.


Play Vs. Real Urban Warfare

Ghettopoly is the creation of David Chang, who was born in Taiwan and never lived in a ``ghetto.'' He says it's all a satire that people are taking much too seriously.

He says he got the idea for his game watching videos on MTV, which is why I can't take much offense at his game.

``If we are silent on this issue, there is more of this type to come,'' the Rev. Robert Shine warned at a rally a few weeks ago outside the Philadelphia headquarters of Urban Outfitters.

News bulletin, Rev: ``This type'' is already ubiquitous. It's part of our popular culture, and many young black men have become millionaires acting out negative stereotypes.

Turn on MTV or even BET and you'll see it: the celebration of thuggery, the touting of violence and murder and the crude materialism. Worse yet, they claim the ignorant, hedonistic, antisocial, profane and obnoxious behavior they exhibit is authentic, or ``keeping it real.''

So Chang is simply - to use the hip hop slang - ``gettin' paid.'' And he'll have to sell a lot of games to earn the money 50 Cent, Jay Z and others have made putting on a modern-day minstrel show.


At Least It's Only A Game

Fifty years ago CBS, bowing to pressure from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, canceled the TV show ``Amos 'n' Andy.'' In a detailed complaint to the network, the NAACP noted that ``Amos 'n' Andy'' tended to ``strengthen the conclusion among uninformed and prejudiced people that Negroes are inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest. Every character in this one and only TV show with an all- Negro cast is either a clown or a crook.''

That was a stretch, but what are the ``uninformed'' supposed to think when they see some of the videos Chang saw? Where are the protests about these negative images?

There are rumors that donating some bucks to black organizations provides a free pass to rap moguls to continue profiting from acting out these stereotypes. I don't know if it's true, but it would help explain the silence.

As for those who say that white kids are the biggest rap fans and are equally influenced by the gangster-rap ethos, let's compare behavior and body counts. Then we can find out who takes this garbage seriously and who doesn't.

Regardless, David Chang and his board game are not the problem. Ghettopoly is just a game, and if it is taken off the market, its inspiration will still be alive and well. And that's where the protests should be directed. Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

[Jerry D]

I agree with what Mr. Brown has to say also

[SuperScout]

For Mr. Chang, and his creative idea! Taking a page out of the textbook of Capitalism, he has created a board game that contains a large amount of satire, probably not a small amount of truth, and cashes in on what the hip-hop thugs have long extolled as ghetto virtues. And the last time I looked, this is still America, and we can occasionally still claim the First Amendment rights of free speech, and then quickly remind the protestors that there is no concomitant right not to be offended.

[39mto39g]

It all depends on which side of the mirror you looking through. Nobody wants to be satired. Next is fat-opoly, and Jew-opoly, mexican-opoly, every group has its own things that make them who they are.
It is only a game, and if people are offended by whats inside maybe a hard look in the mirror is in order.
Just my opinon.

Ron

[MORTARDUDE]

If he had made "Redneck-opoly" or "Deliverance-opoly" or Honky-opoly" or "Mafia-opoly" or "Chink-opoly" ( he is from Taiwan ), or if he had been black and made this, no one one woould have given a flying rat's ass. I would be willing to bet that some of the MTV rapper types pick up on this idea and market it themselves...

Larry

DEO VINDICE

[Jerry D]

Larry : Mr Chang IS releasing reneckopoly next and I agree with Ya' No one but a couple of us southerners will even care It's like someone stated earlier if you pay Jessie and Al off first you get a free ride even if you Rap like 50cent or P-diddy....

"Deo Vindice"