Playing against the system: how a board game is teaching people about inequality
Playing against the system: how a board game is teaching people about inequality
Growing up in predominantly white spaces, actor Christian Telesmar noticed that many people fail to grasp how different life can be for people of color. “I don’t think they really understood the concept of a system oppressing an individual or a group of people,” Telesmar said.
But in 2019 everything started to change. Telesmar had a dream about playing Monopoly, with one important distinction. “The dice rolls of the game correlated to the race of the character playing or the person playing,” he explained.
The unusual dream helped launch him into the board game industry, as he sought to illustrate how systemic inequality impacts all aspects of life. Enter “Disparity Trap: The Socially Conscious Board Game.”
After several prototypes and help from friends, family and a successful Kickstarter campaign, Telesmar was able to launch the game late last year; it is now completely live.
To help illustrate how invasive systemic inequality is, Telesmar decided to stick with one major difference among players, after input from his mom, Dr. Debra “Debi” Jenkins, who works with organizations on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice projects.
Each person in the game is either in the role of a “systemically dominant” or “systemically non-dominant” player. How much privilege you have depends on your role in the game. “It focuses on the system, and thus, by focusing on the system, we’re focusing on the facts,” said Telesmar.
So far, the game has attracted the attention of educators and companies alike. Want to learn more? Click the audio button above.
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