Inequality-opoly : play a racial inequities board game? In a world where wealth inequality is increasingly stark, Inequality-opoly serves as both a tool for self-reflection and a space for dialogue about the structural inequality in their everyday lives. As an educational tool, it opens up conversations about topics most people have been afraid to discuss: race, gender and class. The goal is for participants to be able to recognize the benefits and disadvantages of the current system and create an awareness of how structural racism and sexism affects others. Inequality-opoly can be used in schools and workplaces to promote anti-racism, diversity and inclusion. Read extra info at Inequality-opoly.

Diversity And Inclusion advice of the day : It’s not just about putting some drinks on the conference table and calling it a party. Office happy hours can be a perfect networking opportunity. To start down the road of real fun, office happy hours should have a plan and a purpose. It can prove to be a great get-together and help know each other personally. Apart from refreshments, they should experience something exciting, beautiful, or shocking that creates conversations that go far beyond the borders of happy hours.

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.

This month marks two years since the mass protests for racial justice. They forced society to reckon with the racial inequities that have been deeply engrained in policies and practices that shape nearly every aspect of our lives. They also underscored the acutely disparate health and economic effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on Black people and other people of color. Finally, public and private entities began examining the ways they historically contributed to or were sustaining such inequity. The federal government vowed to prioritize advancing racial equity, as did private companies and philanthropy. See even more information on Inequality-opoly.