This week I have started to teach my boys to play the game of chess. To my surprise, this may now be a politically incorrect game. Since white moves first, at least one man considers it a racist game. This is just silly. (Click here for a history of chess.) According to James Taranto:

Chess is not only racist but sexist, classist and homophobic. How come you can sacrifice your queen, but if you lose your king, the game is over? Why is there an underclass of "pawns"? Oh sure, they're promised they can be upwardly mobile if they only play by the rules, but how often does a pawn actually become a queen? And why are rooks only allowed to move straight?

Taranto was obviously speaking in jest, but his parody makes as much sense as the original complaint. Long ago, I used to answer 911 calls and dispatch police officers. Once I received a complaint that several cars had parked in a racist manner. When I pressed for details, the caller said they just were and hung up. It was a slow night, so we sent an officer to investigate. Upon arrival, he stated all cars in the neighborhood were parked normally. Some people just take enjoyment in being (or pretending) to be offended. As for me, I must confess that sometimes I take enjoyment in tweaking the easily offended.

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