So, You’re Tired of Me Playing the Race Card?

Me too! But you dealt…

For the average white American, the issue of race has become the single most annoying issue they have to deal with. These are not the very small percentage of white Americans who support white supremacy and organizations that promote it. But they are also not the large number of white Americans who tend to lean moderate or liberal and are generally more sympathetic to the impact of racism on the African-American community. They are mostly conservative, mostly male, and their sympathies for African-Americans vary as much as their acceptance of certain white supremacist narratives. They are equally as likely to have numerous black friends as they are to have none, have grown up rich or in minority neighborhoods, and many are able to honestly claim that they are not in the least bit racist. But the one thing they all have in common is that they are tired of people “playing the race card”.

What Is the Race Card?

For this group the race card represents any time a person, white or black, uses race or racism as the first or primary explanation for minority disadvantage, loss, underrepresentation, or bad luck. It is the fundamental belief that the individual who brought race into the discussion is either making excuses, placing blame, or most threateningly, directing accusations at them personally as…