Is there really a race card, or is there just the accusation of playing it?

[Usrename]

If you are a person in a group that is being discriminated against, and you notice the discrimination, and you speak out, you become open to attack for playing the "race card".

Is there a better way to hide one's own bigotry from oneself? Accuse the object of the bigotry of something that is much worse than being a bigot; accuse them of pretending to be harmed, accuse them of feigning injury. In that way the moral superiority of bigotry and hate can be maintained, the conscious high ground can be won.

This same accusation will also be used by some people framing arguments against affirmative action, pretending to speak for a level playing field, yet willfully ignoring all evidence that the playing field is not level by any honest standard.

In many cases, people are simply covering their fears. Most often those fears, or xenophobia, I believe are natural artifacts of evolution, no more significant than being right or left handed, or having blue eyes. It is how this fear is vulnerable to predation upon the human psyche by folks with nefarious purposes that is the most dangerous. I think it's one of the easiest ways that there is to manipulate the masses.

That's why it is always appropriate to speak up strongly whenever racism is even suspected. If it's a bad, much can still be learned from an honest discussion of what signs are there and why those signs are suspect. This really shouldn't be seen as crying wolf, when nine out of ten times it's a real wolf.


I highly recommend an article by Tim Wise, What Kind of Card is Race
http://www.counterpunch.org/wise04242006.html

[VelmaD]

1. I feel the same way about racial/ethnic minorities...

making claims about racism that I do about women making claims of sexism. As a white person I know I am less able to really see racism than the people who are faced with it every day. I know as a woman I get really frustrated that some men seem to think they know more about sexism than I do. When someone starts blathering about the "race card" or the "gender card" I generally tune them out because they're usually just shilling for the powers that be.

[leftofcool]

3. Good point!

[BuyingThyme]

2. Some race cards are good, others are bad.

[jody]

4. Civil rights proponents have argued for decades that tests are racially-biased if less than x% of a

minority group pass the test where x% is the proportion of that minority group in the general population.

Would that not also suggest that if more than y% of women vote for Hillary, then voting is gender-biased where y% is the proportion of women in the general population?

Would that not also suggest that if more than z% of African-Americans vote for BO, then voting is racially-biased where z% is the proportion of African-Americans in the general population?

In some exit-polls for state primaries, over 90% of African-Americans voted for BO.

Is that racial bias?

Is it racial bias when the overwhelming majority of NBA stars are African-American?

Is that racial bias?

[Usrename]

6. Sometimes blacks vote more as a block than some other groups.

IIRC, that Bill Clinton had similar results in his first run, which was a three-way race, and he garnered the vast majority of minorities.

[jody]

7. OK, but is it racial bias when over 90% of African-Americans vote for BO? Would some call it

racial-bias if over 90% of whites voted against BO?

I don't believe the NBA is racially-biased against white players just because there are so few white players. Ability on the court is all that really counts.

I know it's not so easy to identify the most talented and promising candidate among politicians and the problem is treacherous when we have a white woman and black male.

IMO that problem is nearly impossible to solve because neither candidate has every played a game as executive of the biggest organization in the world with a budget that dwarfs that of all other nations.

How could anyone justify hiring a NBA player when they've never played outside other than in pickup games at the local club. :shrug:

[bobthedrummer]

5. There is a rainbow coalition of race cards n/t

[Igel]

8. "If you are a person in a group that is being discriminated against"

is the problem: How do you separate fact and intent from perception?

I've seen racism cited often, when I knew it wasn't the reason for something. I've seen exceptions made when it *was* the reason.

There's a large "I know it when I see it" contingent, but again ... people have *known* we/I/others did something out of racism when it just wasn't so. They value their own perceptions more than others', and more than intent, and no ambiguity is too large to be drowned by subjectivity.

Me, I value intent, and have no trouble with ambiguity.

[nomorenomore08]

9. And likewise, when prejudice (of whatever kind) is so prevalent in a society,

how can you ever know for sure that it's NOT a factor in a given situation? Which isn't to say that some people won't take advantage of legitimate grievances for their own purposes, but when others (especially those who aren't as disadvantaged in society) are so quick to raise their hands and essentially say, "Nothing to see here, let's move on," it makes me wonder if it's simply a difference of perspective, or a sign of insecurity ("white guilt," as some call it).

[Usrename]

10. That would be the one in ten instance that I would acknowledge happens.

There is definitely a strong reluctance to accept plain evidence of racism. I don't question this fact at all. Tim Wise talks about this phenomonon in excruciating detail in the link provided in the OP. I don't think any fair-minded person could read his arguments and remain unconvinced.

The other thing that I was trying to focus on, the accusation of playing the race card, isn't talked about all that much, anywhere. I'm not sure that most people are even all that aware of what they are doing. Like you say, intent may be everything when it comes to this kind of discussion.

I think it's definitely possible, and likely, that most of the time people act without spending any deep thought on this subject. They just know that deep down they themselves are not racist, so they don't even bother to try and examine if their own comments or actions are racist or in some other way hurtful to others.

[MedleyMisty]

11. I've been trying to figure out that phrase for years

And all I could ever glean from context is that "playing the race card" meant pointing out that racism exists.