The Race Card

I caught a really depressing post on Digby today talking about perceived racism in the Obama and McCain campaigns. The gist of it is that the majority of Americans see John McCain’s various attacks as not at all racist, but Obama’s little comment of how he’ll be attacked because he doesn’t look like the other faces on the dollar bill, is.

Okay, that’s not entirely accurate. There’s no one saying Obama’s comment was “racist” per se, he’s not going after McCain for being a white guy or saying he should be president because white guys are bad and he’s black. Rather, Obama is now “playing the race card.” That’s a phrase that immediately makes me want to punch people along with “Adam and Steve” and “latte-drinking liberal.”

To get an idea of what “playing the race card” means to most people, hop over to Ye Old Google. I wanted a good image to go with this article, so I searched for “race card” in the Google Image index. The result? A whole lot of snarky images involving blacks, usually Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

When most refer to the race card, what they’re saying is that someone has claimed that they are the victim of racism when in fact they aren’t in an attempt to soil the image of their opponent. It’s been cited all over the place from the OJ trial to Cynthia McKinney; any time racism enters the debate by the “victim” completely without merit. It’s a valid criticism.

Unfortunately we’ve gotten to the point where it’s impossible to even discuss the possibility of racially-motivated actions without “the race card” accusation flying out like a knee-jerk reflex.

Obama’s comment was entirely apt. FOX famously went racial twice with the huge “controversy” over the “terrorist fist bump,” and let’s not forget the famous “baby mama” chyron when showing Michelle. He’s consistently been demonized for his “difference” from Americans, be it his color or his upbringing (remember the madrassa bullshit?).

He’s been race-baited for months now, with pundits claiming at times that he’s not REALLY black, Democrats only like him because he’s got the color but not, I guess, the attitude. It’s been said for a long time now that the only reason Obama got the support he did was due to his race, that if he was a white dude he’d never have gotten noticed. Then, suddenly, when Obama rightfully points out, incredibly tactfully, that they’re going after him for (among other things) not looking like other Presidents, suddenly he’s “playing the race card”.

This is a painfully common tactic on the right. Bait the opponent over a trait for a while without ever coming out and saying it, and then immediately accuse him of bringing that issue into play for political purposes. The way they claim it, it’s the liberals that are racists for bringing it up, they’re not doing it. They’re actually more enlightened than we are, not thinking race at all. That was the premise behind Limbaugh’s whole ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ tirade. Liberals are racists, Limbaugh and his dittoheads are actually the colorblind people, far more racially progressive than the rest of us. Then when someone calls them on it, they’re “playing the race card.”

It’s important to remember that racism is frequently claimed when it wasn’t really used. When a cop arrests someone, even if the guy’s black it doesn’t mean racism was involved. You see it now and again even when the guy’s guilty. Same with media coverage of sports scandals. No, Kobe, it wasn’t because you’re black. It’s because it’s a scandal. Same to you, Michael Vick.

Here, though, no race card was played. Racism was involved. We’re going to see a lot of this the closer we get to the election. It’s dishonest and frankly it’s disgusting, but it’s not going to end soon. The important thing to remember is that, no matter how much Republicans bleat otherwise, they have indeed brought race into the race. Obama has every right to call ‘em on it, and it’s actually a great testament to his character that he’s only mentioned it offhandedly instead of turning it into the focal point of an ad campaign.