I witnessed an incident of ‘the race card’ a couple of years back - one of my neighbours was finding her driveway regularly blocked by the car of a frequent visitor to another house in the street; she asked the driver not to park there again and he immediately flew into a fit of rage, in which the “you’re just saying that because I’m [of X ethnicity]” card was played (she replied something to the effect “If being [of X enthnicity] compels you to park on my property, then yes, I am”.
Thing is that people sometimes do and say stupid irrational things - the ‘race card’ is just one of the many varieties of stupid, but for some reason, it stands out as if it is special.
I was once bringing my then-13yo brother to an arena football game in New Orleans. We were on our way into the Superdome when we were targeted by a ticket scalper. Well, technically he wasn’t scalping, since he was just trying to unload tickets at their face value, but he was very aggressive and in my face. We already had tickets, and I wasn’t about to pay for another set even if they were better seats. Finally, I had to practically yell at him, “No, we’re not interested!” I got the “Oh, it’s because I’m black… I get it… you’re a big racist!” Um, maybe it’s because I already have tickets, dumbass?
My brother found it all very amusing since I happened to be in a serious relationship with someone at the time, who (you guessed it) happened to be black.
Bolding mine.
:eek: Your school librarian split an infinitive?! :eek:
Anyway, I hear the phrase “race card,” and I imagine an actual card (the race of spades?) The back looks like a standard playing card, and the front says:
It’s okay, the only reason I even know what it is is because I had friends who if you went to Playdium with them (which I went to rarely) they would spend hours and LOTS of money on DDR, to the extent that they didn’t even eat because they were so engrossed in it and they had spent all their money.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Some of these people encounter racism in some instances and their defense mechanism goes on heightened alert. After this, it becomes a us vs. them mentality and they start picking up vibes that just may not exist. I feel sorry to see them pull out the race card because I can understand where it might be coming from. Either this, or they are really full-fledged assholes.
I don’t know if it’s just you. I think a Magic card (unoffical, of course) that was the “Race card” would be hilarious. You pull it as an instant and automatically win the game or something like that.
The asshole explanation is the more likely one. It’s just too convenient an excuse to blame (insert appropriate form of prejudice here) when somebody does or says something you don’t like, or to rationalize one’s own personal failings.
And it’s not just minorities who do it. I’ve got a cousin who can’t hold down a job, and every time he gets fired, he starts pissing and moaning about how “the Jews give all the jobs to the blacks.” (Well, actually, he uses another word besides “black.”) Just about everybody in the family has tried to tell him that his real problem is his out-of-control drinking.
Why not? That old myth about infinitives not being allowed to be split is baloney, as is just about everything anyone ever learned in elementary school.
And what about the “gay” card? Can I be a snivelly little whiner and pull that? I wanna be a victim and have no responsibility for my actions either, waaahh!
Seriously, though, haven’t these people ever read the story of the boy who cried wolf? Enough false alarms like that, and eventually VALID complaints of discrimination get ignored simply because the signal-to-noise ratio is so high.
Brings up an interresting memory. When I was in highschool, I hate to admit it, but I was a major homophobe. Meeting certain people and getting away from my community that summer helped me turn my views around (thankfully). The timing was particularly good as, when in college the next fall, I met a guy who was a total asshat who would pull the ‘gay’ card. He’d do something completely fucking annoying or just mean-spirited, and if you called him on it, he’d simply say, “You’re just saying that cos I’m gay.” Pissed me off to no end.
Yes, it’s pork. It’s J.M. Schneider brand, as are our grilled chicken breasts. I don’t know what makes you think “everything we serve” is made of turkey. Our ham is not turkey and our seafood isn’t turkey (of course, it’s hardly real crab either, but whatever) and our VeggieMax soy patties sure as hell aren’t turkey.
I feel your pain guys, I used to work at a grocery store in a predominantly white neighborhood. One night around 2 A.M. a guy came into the store dressed like a bum and reeking of pot, and as it were happened to be black. He took a walk around the entire store then approached the register and bought a $0.50 pack of gum.
I totaled the order and he paid with a $100.00 bill. I ran the counterfeit pen over it and put it in the drawer (I didn’t even follow full proceedure and check for a water-mark or security strip) and proceeded to give him his change back. This asshole went completely ape-shit on me for testing his bill, saying that I was only doing it because he was black. I tried explaining to him that it was early, and that he made a small purchase with a large bill, and it was store policy (even to check $20’s) He continued yelling about what a white racist mother-F*cker I was and how he didn’t have to take this shit.
So I told him that if he didn’t like it then he should shop somewhere else, because he wouldn’t be missed here, and I asked him if he would have said anything if I had been a black boy, because I don’t think that I’m the racist one here. Big mistake which eventually ended up costing me my job. But on the upside the guy started yelling at my manager about our “racist” policies instead of at me, so it wasn’t all bad.
