Playing The Race Card-- Terrorism?

"There are many who lust for the simple answers of doctrine or decree. They are on the left and right. They are not confined to a single part of the society. They are terrorists of the mind." - Angelo Bartlett Giamatti

In my previous post, I made the assertion that U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D) GA. is a racist because, among other things, she played the so-called "race card". Dan Trabue, a frequent commentator, posted the following comment in response:

"Certainly, anyone can be racist - black, white or color of your choice. I'm not disputing that.

What I am disputing is the notion that "playing the race card" is racist. It's not.

It may be wrong, or a bad idea, or it may even be right, but it is not racism. Racism is, "the believe that a particular race is superior to others."

By "playing the race card," she is not asserting that her race is superior to others. What she may be saying is that she's paranoid, or that she's had a history of being unfairly singled out by whites (and, thus, it can be understood why she'd be sensitive), or that she's being politically manipulative.

She is not, however, being racist.

Words have meanings."


I answered his response with a rather unconvincing weak response that didn't really address itself to the comment. So, this morning, I decided to respond to it further. After typing several paragraphs, I realized that I had much more to say on the subject. So, instead of leaving my response in the comments section, I decided to create a whole new post.

Here is my response:

Dan, I maintain that the very act of playing the so-called race card in this, as well as most other situations, is an act of overt racism in itself. Not only do I see that as racism in itself, I also maintain that playing the race card can also be considered an act of psychological terrorism, as well.

You might well ask, "How could playing the race card be an act of terrorism?"

I will tell you. To begin with, Webster's dictionary defines terrorism as "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion".

Since the race card was first played as part of the defense in the O.J. Simpson trial, well-meaning people, including Senators, Congressmen, and even the President have been seen scrambling to avoid being labeled as racist.

People who are not in the least racists. People who find racism abhorrent.

For Cynthia McKinney and Johnny Cochran and others to continually play the race card in defense of indefensible actions, from the brutal murder of two people to the simple overreaction of a volatile Congresswoman, is not only reprehensible, but a blatant accusation that is intended to back people down and away from the base issue.

It is the text book definition of terrorism.

As soon as racism is mentioned we tend to object strenuously and stammer and stutter in an effort to distance ourselves from that label. None of us want to be labeled as racist.

That is terrifying.

I myself denied for a long time that I was racist, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I went through an introspection of my own, and ultimately decided that I was no longer racist. Hurricane Katrina forced me to re-examine my views on racism, and I decided to change my viewpoint.

As a result of playing the race card, we who have exorcised the demon of racism from our souls, are challenged to re-evaluate our position, and it terrorizes us to think that anyone would stoop to accusing us of the kind of ignorance and bigotry that the image of racism invokes. And then we back off immediately and acquiesce to the accusers in an effort to avoid the stigma of being labeled a racist. With Congressmen and Senators, specifically, this can be a career killer, and they know it.

In order to distance ourselves from being labeled racists, we find that we have been coerced into keeping silent, rather than reaching the correct conclusions based on factual evidence.

That is the textbook definition of terrorism.