the race card

the race card

The act or tactic of introducing the issue of racial discrimination, especially against the race one identifies as, in order to gain an advantage in or dismiss or discredit an argument. Typically used in the phrase "play the race card." There you go playing the race card again. I don't care if you're purple—I still think it's a bad policy! I hate it when casual racists try to brush off legitimate criticism by claiming that you're just "playing the race card."
See also: card, race
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*race card

Cliché the issue of race magnified and injected into a situation which might otherwise be non-racial. (Typically: deal ~; play ~; use ~.) At the last minute, the opposition candidate played the race card and lost the election for himself.
See also: card, race
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
Duyck answered, "If you can play the race card, I guess I can't win.
Racism looms in debate over tax hike to fund affordable housing
and said that in honour of King and all those who are committed to ending racial divide, there should be no more playing the race card, Politico reported.
Sarah Palin writes Facebook post urging Obama to quit using 'race card'
Ray Liotta is suitably slimy as a Green Card approval officer and Jim Sturgess brings up the rear as a non-practising Jew who is trying to play the race card to find work.
Life and times on the borderline; DVDS
But the book that has most changed my thinking about both law and politics in recent years is Richard Thompson Ford's The Race Card.
Race de-baiting
I FIND it sad that Mr Berman felt he had to use the race card in response to my letter about Cardiff being destroyed (Viewpoints, February 28).
Letter: VIEWPOINTS - Unfair to play the race card
Stanford law professor Richard Thompson Ford's book The Race Card: How Bluffing about Bias Makes Race Relations Worse decries those who play the race card by claiming race discrimination when it may not really be involved.
The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse
Rick Davis, who is McCain's campaign manager, said: `Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck.
Pundit sees introduction of race card souring political pot
Despite the race card's advice - "one to watch rather than back" - Mr Turner placed a sum on his horse at odds of 99.5-1.
Horse proves a real winner
Simpson case nine years before, the Kobe case has brought back memories of the race card. Given the widespread belief in colorblindness within contemporary America, the race card refers to those efforts to add race into a supposedly race-neutral situation.
In search of the race card: what did Kobe Bryant's case reveal about the racializing of sexual violence?
* Dave Chappelle's How to Play the Race Card and Win!, the incomparable comedian's take on race in America, to Mark Chait at Hyperion, in a half-million-dollar-plus deal, by David Vigliano and Michael Harriot at Vigliano Associates.
Deals
Sabina of "playing the race card," according to the Tribune.
Southside Catholic Conference board members. (2001 in Review)
Rivers plays the race card." Land concluded that "bigots come in all stripes and all colors and all professions."
`Faith-Based' Fallout: Fueling Religious And Racial Divisions
William Hague's decision to play the race card in his speech to the Centre for Policy Studies last week was both misjudged and misguided.
Desperate politicians must not stoop to racism; With a General Election looming next year, the Rt Rev Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham, urges parties to avoid using the 'race card'
While some in the industry have pulled the race card as a motive for the SEC turning over its investigation to the Justice Department, the SEC denies those claims.
Top investment banker convicted
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?