What kind of card is race?

[dkwrkm]

Some of you have probably seen this essay before, but even in that case, I think it's worth a second look.

What Kind of Card is Race? by Tim WiseI think it's really helpful for the arguments of the "you people just want to inject race into everything!" variety and just really educational in general

Comments

[atreyutheslayer]

Hm, the white card of denial. I'm going to start using that the next time someone says I'm using the race card.

Thanks for posting this, it wasn't all that surprising considering how much I see this where I live, but a very interesting read.

Favorite part:
"Nothing, absolutely nothing, has to do with race nowadays, in the eyes of white America writ large. But the obvious question is this: if we have never seen racism as a real problem, contemporary to the time in which the charges are being made, and if in all generations past we were obviously wrong to the point of mass delusion in thinking this way, what should lead us to conclude that now, at long last, we've become any more astute at discerning social reality than we were before? Why should we trust our own perceptions or instincts on the matter, when we have run up such an amazingly bad track record as observers of the world in which we live? In every era, black folks said they were the victims of racism and they were right. In every era, whites have said the problem was exaggerated, and we have been wrong."