Playing the “Race Card” means that no matter what is done or what is said, a minority — sometimes self-defined, sometimes labeled by statistics — has carte blanche to make a racist statement toward a majority, which is usually labeled such by the minority.
There is no way to defeat the Race Card; it is the perfect argument because it is fallacious in almost every respect, most notably, circular reasoning.
A good example comes from the Rocky Mount Telegram, where a reporter paraphrased a discussion between Rev. Gerry Niece, who is white, and Councilman Andre Knight, who is black. Knight had said that the past Council, to which Niece was a member, wasn’t responsive to the needs of low-income, predominantly black residents who had their utilities shut-off because of late payments. Niece called the statement racist.
In the words of the reporter:
The two men spoke after the meeting, and Knight defended his statement. Knight said he doesn’t believe it is possible for blacks or minorities to be racist toward whites because racism in this country is a direct result of white supremacy.
