Board Game Highlights Racial Inequity and Supports Urban League Housing Division
NEW YORK (February 18, 2021) -- Proceeds from the sale of a new board game that highlights racial inequity in real estate and American society will support the National Urban League’s Housing Division, the creators announced today.
New York City-based comedy writers Nehemiah Markos and Jed Feiman (The New Yorker, Funny or Die) created Blacks & Whites: 50th Anniversary Edition. In 1970, Prof. Robert Sommer of the University of California at Davis created a socially-conscious version of Monopoly called Blacks & Whites. Originally developed for educational use, the game highlighted racial inequity through gameplay and nuanced humor.
With the original creator’s blessing, Markos and Feiman refreshed the game with brand new artwork, contemporary topics like reparations and gentrification, and renewed lessons in the economics of prejudice.
“In light of the Black Lives Matter movement and the events of 2020, we felt that an updated Blacks & Whites might provide a new generation of players some lessons in empathy and cooperation – or at least some painfully honest and awkward laughs,” Markos and Feiman said.
“The role that housing discrimination has played in creating and worsening the economic racial divide cannot be overstated,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. “Nehemiah and Jed have devised a creative and effective way not only to draw attention to the problem, but to promote a solution by supporting our housing programs. We’re grateful for the partnership.”
25% of proceeds from every purchase of the new game will support the National Urban League’s Housing Division, which provides opportunities for the most vulnerable to achieve housing stability and security through programs like comprehensive housing counseling and foreclosure prevention.
Blacks & Whites: 50th Anniversary Edition was successfully funded on Kickstarter and handpicked by Kickstarter as one of its “Projects We Love.” It is now available for purchase here.