The "Race Card" Rhetoric

Right wing propaganda, if you will. Courtesy of Discussionist.com.

One day I found myself reluctant to call out a racist remark made by an ex-coworker of mine. Me--reluctant. The problem is, the statement wasn't blatantly racist. It was subliminal; underlying; implied. I knew what he meant by it, but I was also the only black person around. As the only one who would have taken offense to his comment, and the only one to have expressed discomfort because of it, I knew that whatever two cents I had to throw in would have been exchanged for the subliminally-racist-white-male go to response: "You're just pulling the race card." (See visual representation above.)

And oh, how I wish it was that easy. I wish there was some card I carried around everywhere like an ID, and I could just pull it out of my pocket whenever something foul was said. "Throw a flag on the play," if you will, and automatic penalties be the consequence of the guilty party's bullshit. But, unfortunately, there is no "race card," literal or metaphorical, that I can pull on white people.

Those who believe in said "race card," are likely to believe in other ridiculous entities as well: Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, reverse racism, or maybe even respectability politics.

These are the people who, instead of acknowledging they've been offensive and working to resolve the issue,  would rather suggest that the disrespect people of color may feel is simply a figment of the imagination. Instead of admitting they're wrong, they'd rather imply that the belittlement people of color feel is rested in some old, pre-Civil War myth. To them, our feelings are fictional, so instead of the issue being actual racism, the problem is this "race card." It's a classic, and perhaps even model, case of victim shaming, where the offended are condemned instead of the offensive.

Black people, and other groups of suffering citizens, are not telling you of their struggles as some weak defense, or excuse. If we share these experiences with you, we are doing so in hopes that you will join with us in the fight against injustice in America. We are not asking for your pity, we are asking for your help. We are asking that you, the privileged, use your position to help rid institutions and systems of oppression.