Excuse me, Do you have any race cards I can borrow?

In the article Playing the race card when frame of reference is everything by Devorah Major, what I think she saying is; the race card that people of color are accused of using is non-existent and people who have not experienced racism in any form should trust that people who experience it daily know the difference between that and false blame.

Major starts the article off humorous by naming the different sets of card decks she owns, making it clear that the “race card” is no where in sight. Further along in the article she speaks of her personal definition of the “race card” saying, “it is a card that is dealt when a person of color infers, implies or clearly states that race is a dynamic in a given situation.” She continues on saying that usually a person that has never experienced racism and knows nothing of the tribulations says at best that the man or woman using the “race card” is overly sensitive and using their color as an excuse.

When I think of this definition it reminds me of the massive propaganda surrounding Hurricane Katrina storm and the events that happened after. The U.S government didn’t send in water, basic medical care or food until eight days after the storm hit. When the government finally showed up the U.S citizens in New Orleans were treated like “refugees” as they were so commonly called in the mainstream media. The arguments that were made, were that the way the government’s response had nothing to do with race, and the officials wanted to make sure that the plan of executing assistance was the right one. Major would argue that this is another instance of people saying that people of color are playing the “race card”, I’m sure you would agree Hurricane Katrina was no game.

In the final paragraphs of the article Major speaks of the Yupik Eskimo people who have a disputed 401 names for snow. The Yup’ik people have so many definitions for snow because they are very well versed in the history and variations of the substance. The author makes this reference to say, the Yup’ik people are very knowledgeable about snow because they experience it everyday all day and have had time to experience all kinds of snow-their the experts. So why wouldn’t we trust that they know what their talking about when it comes to snow? Should we not listen to them when they are the authorities on this topic? Similar heed should be taken when it comes to people of color and racism. People of color have lived in mist of racism for years, by know they know it when they see it.

So to conclude, the “race card” is not a 52 deck of cards that people of color pull out when they feel like having a good time. This is a term that has been coined by people who know nothing about the daily perils of non-Europeans in America. Don’t chalk up the experiences of a whole people to overzealousness.