Photo courtesy of Incurable Hippie
THE RAPE CARD
When a woman alleges she was the victim of rape people do not immediately say she is playing, “The Rape Card,” even though some women have falsely claimed they have been victims of rape. [This article is not meant to minimize rape or the history of abuse women have suffered and continue to suffer.]
THE RACE CARD
When a black person alleges they were the victim of racism some people and I said SOME people, respond with they (blacks) are playing “The Race Card.” They say it like this is some game to be played. Blacks don’t benefit by being the victims of racism. Sure, there are some blacks that have lied about being a victim of racism, just as there are some women that have lied about being the victim or rape or men have lied about being the victim of a robbery. People don’t automatically assume the woman is playing the “The Rape Card” or the man is playing the “The Robbery Card.”
Another common response is, “Well, there is always one crazy nut in a group.” I guess that is somehow supposed to make the victim of a racial attack feel better. Somehow I do not think that would go over well if we started telling all victims, “Well, there is always one crazy nut out there.” Perhaps it is a person’s inability to empathize with the victim that causes this response. Or, maybe they think they hear people cry racism too much. They are not understanding that maybe the reason why they hear it is because there is too much racism; or the victim of racism thinks one incident of racism is one too many. Furthermore, people should understand that not every racist is some unemployed, uneducated crazy nut. Some are very well educated and in positions of authority.
There are approx. 300 million people in the United States and if only 10% of the population were racist that would equal 30 million people. If you think that is too high then cut it in half to 15 million. That is still a lot of people to spread racism around. If you do not believe that racism exists (read some of the comments on IndyStar.com when the victim is Black or Latino) and for proof that SOME of the anti-Obama sentiment is race based, just read the comments on the FOX News website and other websites that claim to be conservative.
THE SOLUTION
Acknowledge that the person may have been a victim of racism and denounce it. Why attack the alleged victim by alleging they are playing the race card? for example, John Lewis walking through the angry crowds in DC during the Healthcare vote. He and a few others claimed they were called nigger and spat upon. Since the cameras and microphones didn’t pick it up, people claimed it never happened. Is it so far fetched that no one can believe a group of 400 hundred or so angry white people that 1 or 2 could have shouted out racist slurs? If you don’t believe that could happen then you probably won’t understand the purpose of this article. If you do believe that could happen then just denounce it and move on. No need to attack the alleged victim by saying it didn’t happen because you didn’t witness it. People like that frustrate me because they act like just because they have not witnessed a racist incident then it must not have happened. On the other hand, the same people on FOX News shouted how wrong it was for Bill Clinton to offer a job to Joe Sestak last year, yet they never heard the conversation. They have no idea exactly what was said but they claimed a crime was committed. Contrast that to the John Lewis example, where they have no idea what was said so they claim nothing happened.
In conclusion, there is no race card to be played and being a victim is not a game.
Comments