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The Black History Monopoly Game
Hint: It’s Rigged
I grew up playing the board game Monopoly. Players compete to acquire wealth by buying and renting property using play money. The game is won by driving the other players into bankruptcy. Parker Brothers owns the rights to the game. The original version of the game is based on Atlantic City, New Jersey. Charles Darrow is often credited as the inventor, but he’s more accurately described as the final developer. Versions of Monopoly had existed for years before Parker Brothers acquired the game from Darrow.
The game features forty spaces, comprised of twenty-eight properties, three Chance squares, three Community Chest spaces, a Luxury Tax space, and an Income Tax space. The four corners are Go, Jail, Free Parking, and Go To Jail. In the original version, each player was given $1,500 to start the game and represented by a token. Players would choose between a race car, a thimble, a battleship, a howitzer, a horse and rider, and others that have changed over the years.
There are hundreds of versions representing different cities and countries. The Marvel Universe has editions for the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Captain America. There is a Star Wars Monopoly and one for Barbie. I submit there should be a historically accurate Black Monopoly with properties, rents, and Chance and Community Chest cards…
