Let's play a game

We used to love to play the board game called Chutes and Ladders. The board is basically a snaking trail of squares making a gradually ascending road from the bottom to the top of the board, the top representing success in life: wealth, fame, whatever. There are all kinds points along the way that either boost or bust your progress. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice to move their game piece forward however many squares indicated, trying to progress to the top and hoping to land on a ladder and not a chute; the ladders give you a shortcut up the winding ascent, and the chute slides you down to lower levels of the board, setting you back. The creators of that game obvioulsy were intending to teach children about the "ups and downs" along life's journey.

But it's actually not quite how things really are, is it? So for purposes of illustrating the difference between the institutional and social constructs of "white" and "black," before we start we'll need to make just one small adjustment.

We each are handed a slightly different board "for convenience sake," since we live in separate parts of town: You get a "Black" board, and I get a "White" one. From where I'm sitting, though, they seem about the same, even though "White" board players seem to be better at this game. The people handing them out confirm these facts, and why would they lie? Everybody has chutes and everybody has ladders.

You notice that your Black board has fewer ladders than chutes; it has more long and steep chutes than shallow and short ones; it has shorter and shallower ladders too. You also notice that my White board has more ladders, fewer chutes; more long, high and steep ladders than shallow and short ones; you can also see that more of its fewer chutes are also shorter and shallower than mine.

You examine your board more closely: One square reads "Go to College," but another one says "Get Pulled Over for a broken tail light, frisked and threatened." Another says "Get promoted." One says "Go to prison." Another says "Make a killing on the stock market." Another: "Sorry, all of the apartments in this building are already rented." Another states "You know, I'm so sorry, but we JUST accepted an offer for sale of this house." Another says "This polling station is closed. There's another one about 30 miles away in the next town (and you don't own a car)." But you REALLY don't want to land on that one that says "Get shot pulling out your cell phone to video the cop being unreasonable with you after pulling you over for having out-of-state plates." One says "You are very well-qualified but don't even get an interview." When you slide on down for the nth time, I say. "Wow, bad luck. But not my fault. Looks like I won this one. Play another round?"

Are we having fun yet?

Is it possible for you to win? Of course it is. Just less likely. And if a few million of you and a few million of me are all playing, your are sure to come up with a handful of successes at the level of a Barack Obama, Ben Carson, Oprah Winfreys, Juan Williams, Kamala Harris, Denzel Washington, or Spike Lee. And there will be some garden variety doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, and entrepreneurs in there too. Just a lot fewer than among the million of me. There will also be a higher proportion of George Floyds, David McAtees, Dreasjon Reeds, Trayvon Martins, Sandra Blands, Breonna Taylors-type situations. But I don't see any meaningful differences, since we are both playing the same game, right? And I don't want to hear any of that " spoil sport, sore loser, game's rigged" bellyaching, either. I had to earn everything I got. I have to roll the dice and take my chances just like you. Well, maybe not just like you...

Ready? Let's play! Every day. All day. And night. For the rest of your life.

FOOTNOTES: 1. I acknowledge that similar adjustments to "the game" apply in varying degrees to several other groups when one or more aspects of their observable and personal identity reside in other categories of disadvantaged groups. It's just that it is not normally the case (with the exception of women) that the game is DELIBERATELY DESIGNED to disadvantage them.

2. YES, I KNOW that the game involves spinning a dial, but hey, it's a metaphor; just roll with it. :) Plus, if Black board players do TOO well, they could always load their dice to get things back to the "status quo and Make America GRATE again. Just sayin'...