to play the race card
10
7.8
- idiom
- Literature
:
sacar la carta racial
- Seems like every time I see you, you're playing the race card, Frank.
- play the race card and say
- try to play the race card
- defense attorney played the race card
Examples
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But attempting to silence any exchange of facts with aspersions of racism is called "playing the race card."
Blog text (1) -
So now any criticism of Obama is apparently playing the race card.
Blog text (15) -
You know I hate when you play the race card on me.
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I understand some people still play the race card every chance they get, but...
Blog text (3) -
At times, while reading, I too thought you were basically playing the race card.
Blog text (15) -
And yes, I am playing the race card, and roll your eyes all you want.
Blog text (13) -
Congressman Rush should be ashamed of himself for so blatantly playing the race card.
Blog text (6) -
Accusing Bill Clinton of being racist for making that remark is "playing the race card."
Blog text (15) -
Playing the race card, says Hofstra's Freedman, "is not unethical; it is simply a bad tactic."
Academic text (1995) -
During the debate, she decided to play the race card to sway public opinion in her favor.
Antonyms
How Manipulative
- Literature
10
7.8
788
2.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is partially derivable: 'play' can mean 'use' or 'employ' and 'card' is often used metaphorically (as in 'play a card' or 'trump card'), while 'race' clearly points to racial issues, so a learner could infer using race as a tactic. However, the specific pragmatic sense—that one invokes accusations or racial issues strategically to gain advantage or influence opinion, usually with negative connotations—is culturally specific and not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Play the race card comes from a card-game image: to play a 'card' is to make a sudden move, and the race card is the idea of using 'race' as that move. So it means 'to bring up race or accuse someone of racism to gain an advantage'.