Race card

For the horse racing term, see Racecard.
"The Race Card" redirects here. For other uses, see The Race Card (disambiguation).
Cartoon by John Tenniel published following Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The phrase itself came into use more than 100 years later.

"Playing the race card" is an idiomatic phrase that refers to the exploitation by someone of either racist or anti-racist attitudes in the audience in order to gain an advantage.[1][2][3] It constitutes an accusation of bad faith directed at the person or persons raising concerns as regards racism.[4] Critics of the term argue that it has been utilized to silence public discourse around racial disparities and undermine anti-racist initiatives.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ "to play the race card". Collins Dictionary.
  2. ^ "play the race card". The Free Dictionary.
  3. ^ "race card". Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.
  4. ^ Schraub, David. "Playing with Cards: Discrimination Claims and the Charge of Bad Faith." Social Theory and Practice 42, no. 2 (2016): 285-303. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24871344.
  5. ^ Hirsch, Afua (16 January 2020). "The 'playing the race card' accusation is just a way to silence us". The Guardian.
  6. ^ Lisiero, Dario (21 September 2014). America's Many Faces. Lulu.com. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-312-32365-0.
  7. ^ Kivisto, Peter; Croll, Paul R. (12 June 2012). Race and Ethnicity: The Basics. Routledge. p. 1-200. ISBN 978-1-136-58945-4.