Monopoly Archives - The Race Card Project

I’m not proud of being a WASP.

June 19, 2021June 19, 2021 1630, america, Ancestors, CA, equality, Family, fear, immigrants, Monopoly, Nancy MacLeod, others, Philo, Power, proud, struggle, the masses, WASP

Nancy MacLeod,
Philo, CA.

I have ancestors that came to America in 1630- among the 1st to take advantage of the indigenous people. What is to be proud of, is how your family lived, how you live. I can be proud of my family because they were hard working and honest- but were they compassionate and wise? Did they believe in equality for all? Or did they believe in making money at the expense of others? Those things I don’t know. But I can be confident in my own life that those are driving factors for me. As for fearing “the other”- immigrants, people of whatever race- those fears are false. It is not immigrants, or people of some other color that are making it “hard” on “white American males”. It’s our ever-more elite law makers who allow corporations to expand exponentially until only 8 men in the world own as much wealth as the poorest half- 3.5 BILLION- of the world’s population! The “powers-that-be” are very good at obfuscating the real reasons for peoples’ angst and struggle, making it seem like the “others” are making it harder for them, but the reality is we need to re-do our laws- like Citizens United; like anti-monopoly laws that have been eviscerated and/or not enforced; like the removal of Glass-Stiegal; like voting laws and educational laws and redlining and drug laws and all the other unfair laws our government has in place- they try to keep us, “the masses”, from realizing the truth: We all may look different, but we are all one family- the family of humanity! (I don’t think government is bad- just some of the people who are controlling it…but that’s another talk…)

Why am I always Monopoly Banker?

June 26, 2020June 28, 2021 banker, Eugene, Jewish, joke, Monopoly, not a joke, OR, Sasha Feoktistov, stereotype

Sasha Feoktistov,
Eugene, OR

Jews as a minority group are put in a particularly awkward place. Because we enjoy most if not all of the privileges of being in the white majority, it makes dealing with subtle cases of bias and discrimination particularly delicate. I’m not about to make a stink about always being told “Sasha, you be the banker” when playing Monopoly, nor will I point out to an Asian colleague how offensive the statement, “Jews in America are doing fine, you’re all rich” is (my instinct is to joke, “yea we hire Asian accountants to do our taxes.”). Frankly, these are minor issues, but the discomfort with challenging these subtle slights carries over to more egregious comments about people being “Jewed” or getting “ki*ed out on.” How do you know where to draw the line? How do you stand up for yourself without playing into another stereotype of Jews throwing accusations of antisemitism at everything?

Not brown? Pass Go. Collect $200.

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 brown, collect $200, Monopoly, OR, pass go, Portland, Sue Ann Higgens, unearned advantage

Sue Ann Higgens,
Portland, OR.

For me, White Privilege operates as unearned advantage, kind of like in the Monopoly game, where you get paid simply for showing up. I was pulled over by a police officer for the first time ever for speeding (which I do daily) the day after I turned 50. And I was not ticketed even for going 72 in a 50 mph in a Traffic Safety Zone where tickets double. This sort of unearned advantage influences me all the time, often without my noticing.

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