Monopoly as a metaphor for racial inequity. “During the first half of the game, we said that Cas and I could buy property, but you could not, then halfway through the game, we say, ‘Now the rules are even. Now the rules are the same for everybody.’”
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See also “The Game Is Fixed” Against Black People in America.
Better yet, start the game in 1492, and have one player represent Native Americans, and that player owns everything. Each time a player passes go they add a century. So for the first 4 turns around the board the white male player just takes whatever he lands on, the woman, black and native players can't buy anything.
Also, infect the Chance and Community Chest cards with smallpox.
Aamer Rahman has a great bit about reverse racism (YouTube) that makes a similar point about systemic racism from a different angle.
But now imagine that the game lasts forever. Two new players enter. Both, on the surface, belong to the previous groups of players. The person belonging to the group that was allowed to buy property early has no access to that property and never will. The person belonging to the previously disadvantaged group will, daily and forever, remind their partner player (both equally disadvantaged) that they actually do have an advantage, even though they certainly do not. This is why it gets crazy. Each side is telling the other that they're insane, on a loop, and we just keep fueling it. Neither side is insane. We have a lot in common. Making t-shirts with "bring back the estate tax" would be more useful than these articles, I think.
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