NASPA is the largest association for student affairs practitioners in the world. I recently attended the NASPA Multicultural Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had a great experience at the institute. The presentations and discussions were very meaningful. I learned a lot about the work that is being done at schools all over the US.
One “educational tool” that was presented at the institute was the “Game of Oppression.” I was slightly curious about this “game” due to its title and the fact that it was being presented to us as an educational instrument for diversity work. A presentation of the “game” was held at the same time as another session that I attended, so I missed out on seeing the “game” in action.
The other day, I received an email from NASPA with a link to the “Game of Oppression.” Apparently NASPA is taking pre-orders for this thing. Here’s the description:
While college campuses are becoming increasingly diverse, many students still find it difficult to step outside of what is familiar and interact with students of different races, religions, classes, abilities or sexual orientations. Students may pass each other on campus and attend classes together, but few develop meaningful relationships with others from different backgrounds. The Game of Oppression is designed to encourage and challenge individuals from different backgrounds and experiences to engage in authentic dialogue.
The Game of Oppression is an innovative interactive training program designed specifically for use by student affairs professionals. The program equips diversity educators with strategies to encourage students to take full advantage of the diversity on their respective campuses and in their communities. The game provides a “safe space” for authentic dialogue around the issues of oppression.
I spoke with a colleague who attended the presentation about the “game.” She was appalled. My colleague is White and she said that this “game” does not create a “safe space” and that it is basically an exercise in tokenization. Further reading of the game’s description says that the game’s goal is to help participants “achieve enlightenment.” The game is somehow supposed to do this in 3 to 4 hours!
Who is supposed to be enlightened? Is this a game for dominant group participants?? Will it marginalize people of color, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, people who do not believe in religion, etc??? Is this another exercise in diversity being taught through the lens of dominant culture ideology????
Have you read Road to Wigan Pier? I really liked it and the book addresses poverty and oppression quite intelligently I think.
I have played this game and met with the creators. I did not find it lead to tokenizaton or marginalization. The “goal” of the game is enlightenment, but by playing the game one really finds out how hard it is to achieve enlightenment. It really opens your eyes to oppression in all its form, gender, race, sexual orientation and challenges you on how you define oppression. There is the need for a facilitator for the game, which the rules require, but the game is one that is not over when someone wins, the challenge is continuing the discussion of reactions to the game once the game ends. Please consider playing the game yourself or talking to more than one friend before determining your opinion. I played the game with a large group of people of color and no one expressed negative reactions, but then again that was one group.
We played this game in one of our CSSA classes this year, and it was an awful experience for the co-hort. The point was lost the first time that one of our classmates got their feelings hurt, and the rest of “game” was spent doing everything we could to make sure that everyone felt comfortable. What was intended to be a learning, facilitated game ended up being 2hours of us ignoring the rules, trying to back each other up and hoping/praying we wouldn’t land on a spot that required sharing. While the game is supposed to take 3or4 hours, we played the game in 2, 30-minute rounds and class ended before we could have any discussion. Instead, any sort of debrief happened on the way out of class and over facebook, as cohort mates left wall posts for each other. not really a “game” that is fun to play.