Ghettopoly

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Ghettopoly is a Monopoly parody released in 2003. Invented by David Chang, it uses Monopoly-like mechanics in the atmosphere of a caricaturized American ghetto.

Some thought the game was "tasteless" and "offensive" due to its racial overtones; for example, the name of Malcolm X was intentionally misspelled as "Malcum X."

Supporters have argued that the board game is scarcely more racist in its portrayal of America's minority ghettos than some more accepted elements of popular culture, such as popular hip hop music. Some have even classified the game as social criticism.

That a game in the Monopoly family should function as social rhetoric is not unusual. The ancestor of Monopoly, The Landlord's Game, provided harsh critique of the land-renting elite, while its enormously popular descendant encouraged capitalism (and was banned in many Communist countries for that reason). Some have said that Ghettopoly also qualifies not as racist mockery, but Monopoly within the sort of dark, self-deprecating social criticism characteristic of the rap generation. Indeed, what many find most inflammatory about Ghettopoly is not the game itself, but that its inventor was an "outsider," a middle-class Asian man.

In October 2003, Hasbro sued David Chang over the game's similarities to Monopoly. It was ruled that Ghettopoly did not infinge on the Parker Brothers' copyright.

The game was pulled by Urban Outfitters, its retailer. Chang is still marketing the game without their support, and has created a sequel known as "Redneckopoly." According to Chang's website, further such games are planned, including "Hoodopoly," "Hiphopopoly" and "Thugopoly."

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