Let’s play the “race card” game. You know this game—it was invented by racists and right-wingers who seek to rationalize or cover up singular acts of racism, racist tendencies and the institutionalized racism that still plagues our society in this supposedly post-racial era.
It starts like this: I call out a Racist Old Troglodyte (ROT) like Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the guy whose rent-a-hottie caught him on tape saying nasty things about black people and decided to burn him by going public with it. Then, other people attack me for “playing the race card,” in an attempt to belittle valid concerns and
shut down public discussion of racism.
The problem with this game is that it’s rigged. The other side has a lot more cards at its disposal than I do. In fact, ROTs and their tacit defenders play their cards all the time, even when I don’t play mine. Race cards are routinely played in law enforcement strategies and structures that target minorities while letting wealthy white folks off the hook. They’re used in government policy debates to scare poor white people into fearing and loathing people of color, rather than the corporate barons who steal their tax dollars by the billions. And consumer messaging and political campaigns often employ racial cues to obscure or legitimize the ongoing class warfare of rich against poor.
My card is to call out racism openly and straightforwardly, but other race cards are coded, or cloaked altogether. ROTs often try to play their cards subtly or in secret, the way Mr. Sterling did. Nevertheless, his ROT paper trail spans decades. He’s been the subject of racial discrimination lawsuits, sexual harassment complaints, federal charges of civil rights violations—you name it, this guy has had a long, diverse and well-documented career as an asshole. The real estate mogul’s discriminatory housing practices hurt thousands of minority renters struggling to build better lives.
I’ve seen several comments pointing out that Mr. Sterling is a Democrat, as if that’s somehow relevant. I don’t care if he belongs to the “I Love My Grandma” party, his pattern of abuse is long and obvious, and he should’ve been called out and banned a long time ago. The sad thing is that it took a “gotcha” audiotape on a bottom-feeding website like TMZ to make it happen.
There are reasons for this. The race card game is specifically designed to stifle public discussion of race, and it’s quite effective in squelching the timid and often complicit mainstream media’s approach to the subject. Not only did Mr. Sterling largely avoid being held accountable for his obviously racist words and deeds over the years, he actually received civil rights awards instead because he made large donations to the right groups—i.e., he was wealthy and powerful enough to get away with his ROT behavior.
Meanwhile, ROT defenders provide cover with “Get Out of Racism Free” cards, which they play preemptively on all sorts of issues, everything from immigration to health care. “Race has nothing to do with it—it’s all about the rule of law!” Yeah, except when the “welfare queen” is a white male rancher freeloading on the range in Nevada rather than a Mexican worker looking for a job or a black woman trying to raise healthy kids.
Cliven Bundy, the ROT welfare rancher, is not as good at the race card game as Mr. Sterling. No secret recording was needed for Mr. Bundy—he spewed his lunatic, disgusting racial theories directly to The New York Times, and then repeated them for clarity. His toxic views—however opaque they may have been to the bulletheads at Fox News who tried to make him a hero—were utterly predictable because he belongs to the violent, dissociative and fundamentally racist Posse Comitatus/states’ rights movement.
Why is anyone shocked by what these people say? Kudos to the NBA for finally banning Mr. Sterling, but the league should’ve done it a long time ago. And, sure, the Fox rats and wacko Arizona legislators eventually fled Mr. Bundy’s ship, but they never should have given him such a lofty soapbox in the first place. Must it be so excruciatingly obvious, like fresh dog crap on the dinner table, before you call a spade a spade? It’s willful ignorance, at best.
At worst, it’s an abdication of a fundamental democratic responsibility. You can’t make it illegal for ROTs like Sterling and Bundy to think the way they do, or even to say what they think. But you can—and damn well should—make it clear that their ROT poison will not be tolerated in a modern, enlightened society.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2014.
In Cliven Bundy’s case, I’ll never understand why, instead of trying to take his cattle, he wasn’t arrested and prosecuted as the thieving scofflaw he is. He should be either incarcerated or at least out on bail, instead of still walking around as a free man.
Agreed 100% and then some, PVK. Moreover, can you imagine what would have happened if environmental protesters had pointed high-powered weapons at federal LE agents, rather than militia types?
Archie Bunker once opined; “There’s a little of me in ALL of us”. That means EVERY one of us and it’s a matter of individual restraint that keeps the rest of us from having the problems of this man, a NFL player, a cattleman or ANYONE who is so arrogant as to make such spiteful, irresponsible comments. Thankfully, some of my more vile rants will never be such public embarrassment and if so at least my multi~penny empire will not be at as much risk.
And, as an avowed sinner I have far less sanctimony than the writer of this, uhm, rant.
PVK and skinnyman have certainly never lived on a producing ranch and had to put up with all the crap the United States of America Government can lay on ranchers today. The government under which the ranchers live today is the greatest enemy they have faced to date, or will have to in the future. Actually, the government is slowly shutting down all ranching and farming. Those idiots in Washington actually believe that beef and grain comes from cans imported from China so there is no need for ranchers and farmers. I don’t give a damn what their color is or whether they are democrats or republicans, they are all the worst kind of fools. The politicians today will destroy this country if something isn’t done to get people with honesty and common sense to replace them.
James Kidd, you are absolutely right when you said “The politicians today will destroy this country if something isn’t done to get people with honesty and common sense to replace them.” My question to you is this: Why should thousands of other cattlemen, for whom I have nothing but total admiration and respect, have to pay grazing fees when Cliven Bundy does not? If your argument is that the Federal Government shouldn’t own the land in the first place, maybe I should go onto that same land that Cliven uses, and start blowing holes in the ground. Maybe there’s some kind of minerals or other resources that I can dig up and sell to make money. Who cares if one of Cliven’s horses or cattle steps in one of those holes and breaks a leg. I mean, it’s really nobody’s land, right? Do you see where I’m going with this? It’s hard to believe that you would really want to open up this can of worms. The result would not be very pretty for anyone concerned, including Cliven.
I don’t have time to read your article. But I have a question. When blacks make racist remarks, it is either for their music or it is expressing freedom of speech. When whites make private racist remarks it is a public outrage. The owner of the Clippers can say whatever he wants to his mistress and if I don’t like it, I don’t have to listen. But to ban him, to try to destroy him, is way out of line.
Was it true his black mistress made the private call public when he refused to let her black mail him to keep the call private? Will charges of unlawful phone recording be filed against her?
Next question. How can a white man who has a black mistress be considered a racist against blacks? Where is common sense in this unwarrranted attack on the man?