Cobb

Hey Cobb,

I for one don't appreciate this brand of "humor." I think its hurtful and ugly and small minded. The only people that would find this funny, are people that feel it bares resemblance to the truth.

I guess I don't have your type of sense of humor. I don't find this funny in any form. I am glad you can laugh at this Asian's interpretation of the image of the Black race.

It's precisely because I don't automatically associate crackheads with the black race that I was able to laugh at Ghettopoly. As soon as I recognized Chang was making it racial by including King and X, I stopped grinning.

I don't think anybody should lose any sleep over this. So what if it 'proves' racists can make money by being racist? Since when has that been news?

This is one of the most clever games I have ever seen. The sheer genious behind the game, marketing, and the best PR you can get in the world! 8000 Blogs have links, even more are linked to sites larger and have more readership. You couldn't get this kind of publicity if you had Bill Gates kind of money! Mr. Change, Hats off to you! The best thing is that there are 5 other types of games coming out including Redneckopoly! Kudos! ....Spoony

The man came up with an idea for a game; people evidently are flocking to his website to purchase it due to the fact that the orders are constantly on backorder. If you don't want to be exposed to it - DON'T GO TO THE WEBSITE AND DON'T BUY THE GAME. There's kinky sex games in "adult stores" and games that "allow" you to talk to the dead; no one is grabbing their soap box to attack their creators. While I don't personally agree with every aspect of the game (specifically King and X) I also don't believe our founding fathers ever envisioned a country where our freedom to think and act for ourselves would be in such jeopardy as it is today. I am so positively SICK of people being offended by every little thing someone else says or does. GROW UP AND GET A LIFE!!! I grew up in a predominantly black area and have numerous black friends. I don't look at them and think "pimps and ho's" or "crackheads" and I certainly didn't think of them when I first saw this game. Maybe if Chang had thrown in a few white powderheads or a white journalist with an addiction to prescription pills, the public's first general reaction wouldn't have been the same. Let's face it; life is life. There's reality out there that this game is based upon. Just because you jump and shout and don't want to see it doesn't mean that when the game goes away, the reality will too.

Defenders of civil liberties scatter to the four winds when called upon to defend unpopular or insulting free expression. I have read other websites calling for this game to be banned because it is hateful and racist. Still others sound the alarm because this game "denigrates Dr. King". I think King's legacy will outlive a small, insignificant game. Really the only party with a legitimate gripe when it comes to shutting down Mr. Chang's cottage enterprise is Hasbro, as it is their intellectual property he has co-opted.

I have to agree with Rob. It tends to make me wonder if he had given the game a different name, would we have heard of it at all?

This Ghettopoly board game is awesome. I just received it in the mail 2 days before Christmas and played it with 4 friends the following night. We had loads of fun playing it. It was so realistic too. We all live in the same neighborhood. It used to be all White here. Since Blacks have been moving in, we are less than 20% White now. It used to be very peaceful here, minimal violence, kids had dads that were a part of their lives (they knew who their dads were too), etc. We do have crack whores here now, as well as pimps (I see it first hand). I now hear gun shots most nights. Most of what I saw in the board game Ghettopoly we now have here in my neighborhood. The game is true to life. I feel that most rap I hear blaring from car stereos is extremely offensive. Not once in the board game Ghettopoly did I see the 'F' word, 'B' word, or the 'N' word. I wish the same could be said about rap. I am in the process of moving from my neighborhood. The African American lifestyle is one I choose to avoid not out of ignorance, but out of experience. I can only hope for the sake of the decent African Americans that the educated African Americans can put more effort into improving the lifestyles of their own people rather than waste their time condemning those like myself who find the board game Ghettopoly amusing and true to life. Eliminating rap would be a good start. I would gladly give up the board game Ghettopoly (I'd even burn it) if I were able to remain in my neighborhood without being forced to leave. Abandoned cars, stray animals, litter in the streets, graffiti, broken glass, etc., is not part of my culture.

very well put John!! I couldn't agree more. When Redneckopoly is released I bet no one will try to ban that one. Certain types of white people are stereo-typed as rednecks, so shouldn't that game be offensive to them? I bet it wont be and I bet they wont go on national tv and complain. You know why? because it's a part of life, it's things you encounter in everyday life, you just laugh at it and move on. I'm proud to be from the south and have relatives that I call "hicks". In small southern towns people do things differently then in larger cities. They have slang terms just like anyone else and some people may not understand those sayings. I'm not offended when my "yankee" husband ask me to translate what my mom just said or when he makes fun of my southern accent. Ghettopoly is not about blacks, it's about the type of PEOPLE that choose to turn they're neighborhoods into a ghetto. People make fun of some whites that live in trailer parks, they get labeled as "white trash", not everyone that lives in a mobile home is trash. There are bad people in all races but that doesnt mean that the entire race is bad.

Rights to fight for...

One person wrote: "Really the only party with a legitimate gripe when it comes to shutting down Mr. Chang's cottage enterprise is Hasbro, as it is their intellectual property he has co-opted."

I am an expert in the history of monopoly. The game has a 100 year history of people producing it in various forms, both popular and unpopular. Did you know this game's history is all about fighting what is wrong in our society, much through humor and parody? Monopoly emerged out of a town that was the first in the country to give the women the right to vote. It emerged into the education system by someone who fought for child labor laws and got fired from teaching for such. I can not speak to this particular game as parody, or just hateful, as I've never seen it. So I'll address some other issues in discussion.

Monopoly game rules were plagarized by Darrow in the 1930s and the patent was a fraud. The game's name, monopoly, was used in the public domain since around 1904. The Parker Brothers were aware of this in their aquizitions from Darrow and others. They, and the subsequent parent companies to this day, have continued to squash and intimidate competition based on a bogus lie to the American public. If you don't believe my words, then maybe that upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court:
"Anti-Monopoly, Inc. v. General Mills Fun Group United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit 684 F.2d, 1316 decided August 26, 1982 upheld by the United States Supreme Court."

You may not like this version of a 'public domain' game; but, what if you wanted to produce an "-olpoy" game that promoted social harmony and equality and Hasbro went after you? Consider spending a little bit of time looking out for your own rights that are being attacked via big coporations? Today, they attack someone/thing you despise so you are happy, yet tomorrow that could be used as precidence to attack you or a friend! Look out for your future, not your present.

I must say, "I absolutely DO NOT condone racism in any form." If you feel this game is racist, don't buy it and do not put it in the media spot light. Let it die a death via poor sales.

Hate this game if you will, but love the fact that we have a constitution that protects "everyones rights" to freedom of speech and press. We must protect that right for all, else those in power at any given time will dictate what is "proper" to say and print. Think about that, cheerish that, defend and fight for that...

wait wait wait why is ghettopoly racist ive been all over the internet and theyre saying its racist and another thing why can that chang guy sell his ideah to hasbro and tell them its a....wait what is he going to tell them nevermind

I am a teacher at an adult prison in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. My students are male felons largely in their early 20's.

Sadly, over half of the prisoners at the prison are Black. Most come from Milwaukee.

We discussed the issue of "Ghettopoly," and I have news: to a man, each inmate wished that they could see the game and play it. Bear in mind that I strive for balance. I presented both sides of the controversy to the best of my ability. The consensus--UNANIMOUS--was favorable.

I plan to requisition this game for use in my classroom. (The chance for approval is small, admittedly.) I would use the game to discuss issues of racism, poverty, and popular images as exhibited by media--rappers, for example.

I teach writing skills. The potential in Ghettopoly for high interest discussion and writing ideas would be a boon to the students' motivation to express themselves. Ghettopoly hits home. Any tool to stimulate a writer to produce work has value in and of itself.

Oh that's funny. No disrespect for an important job, but yours is hardly a recommendation for a father of three elementary school kids.

Subvert away!

I see all the fuss about Ghettopoly and I wonder... why are the black leaders not making the same noise about "Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas"? Here we have a "Ghetto oriented" video game in which you steal cars, buy and sell crack, rent hookers and actually have sex with them, then beat them up and take your money back... yet no one is raising a stink..

Maybe it's because big corporations aren't paying the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons to be upset about that one... because it's a big corporation who is doing it.

I swear, the mindless masses are sheep, following their religious leaders where ever they are being paid to lead them.

there is nothing on that game that we as black folk dont do or say to ourselves already.....stop trying to blame and if we stop maybe it willtoo....we are the ones who keep it alive....that n-word gets used... more by us to us for us....so please...stop confusing the true problem....its called.... in da hood