During the month of February, Black History Month, I usually write a series of articles dealing with past and present racial issues. I begin here with some thoughts on what has come to be known as ìthe race card.î I also argue that the emergence of this term, even if by default, signals the declining significance of race in the United States and the world.
I am not sure when the term ìrace cardî was first used, who used it, or how it might have originated. Nonetheless, the term slowly has crept into popular use in Americaís political and social discourse. In terms of its meaning, Stanford University scholar Richard Thompson, suggests it refers to ìself-serving individuals ... and political hacks who use accusations of racism and other types of bias to advance their own ends.îÄù
In his book, ìThe Race Card,î black, conservative Thompson provides a variety of examples of how the term is used. In so doing, he says ìthe rhetoric of racism is a national (quiltwork), spoken fluently by ghetto hustlers and Wall Street stockbrokers, civil rights agitators and political party hacks, criminal defense attorneys and Supreme Court nominees, lawyers and judges and parishioners and priests have mastered the sleight of hand required to play the race card.îÄù
Well, thatís just about all of us. In addition, though, I think there are examples of others, particularly those in the media, who unwittingly play the card. Remember sportscaster and odds maker Jimmy the Greek? On a nationally televised broadcast of, as I recall, a basketball game, The Greek tried to explain why black athletes jumped higher and ran faster than white ones. He muttered on about how, in the days of slavery, blacks were deliberately bred for strength and endurance.
That was the end of Jimmy the Greek. No television station would hire him. He died in obscurity, flat broke. Although there may have been more than a grain of truth to his rough hewn analysis of black athletic ability, it was against social etiquette to mention it. In fact, unless there is an issue directly related to color, you will not hear sportscasters ever mention the fact that an athlete is black. For broadcast purposes, the race card is removed from the deck.
This is why, as I mentioned earlier, I think the race card may be, even if by default, a signal that the significance of race is declining in America and, perhaps, the world. To use another relatively new term, it is politically incorrect to mention race outside of the context of some circumstance requiring it. Simply put, we prefer to be called ìcolorblind.îÄù
The idea of colorblindness affects what parents tell the children, what teachers teach, and what preachers preach about the subject. As to the visible outgrowths of racism, e.g., separate water fountains, separate accommodations, separate schools, ìwhite onlyîÄù and ìcolored onlyîù segregation artifacts and such, the people who put this nonsense in place are, for the most part, dead and gone. There is no one left to blame.
As a result of some of these things, we now see more interracial friendships, dating, marriage, and mixed race children. In fact, where the general population is concerned, people of mixed racial heritage have grown so numerous that either this yearís census or the next will feature a new category which is as yet un-named. The category will be for people who see themselves as neither black, white, Hispanic, nor ìother.îÄùThey will be whatever they choose to call themselves.
In the next 40 years or so, it is likely that whites will be a minority in America. The black percentage of the population is expected to hover at its current levels ó around 14 percent. The most dynamic growth, however, will be among Hispanics, who will likely be in the majority. Also, in a global society, the total population of America is small compared to the teeming billions of people of color collectively to be found in places like India, China, Africa and Brazil.
In a global marketplace and with information technologies that have the power to keep all players honest, there is no room for racism or its death symbol, the race card. Moreover, we canít start dealing with these realities in 2050. It is not about integration. Itís about transformation. Itís not about the past. Itís about the future.
Have a nice day!
Primus Mootry is an Anderson resident and a high school teacher.
