Was the ‘race card’ pulled??

Yes of course someone can misunderstand someones intentions and/ or falsely accuse someone else of racism. No one is saying otherwise. But even when they do this, it really doesn’t confer them any advantages.

Well in the case of the guy who's job I took over, he did have an advantage. Without his accusations of racism he would have been eventually dismissed from his civil service job. Instead he continued in that role for many years, and continued to get average pay rises (usually performance based) for that time.

I don’t think it’s a straw man, to point out the harms of the concept of the “race card”.

The phrase “race card” deceptively and racistly flips the narrative- suggesting that racism is a system that can/ is being “gamed” by some racialised minority people to obtain unfair/ unreasonable advantage. Racism as a social structure does the exact opposite of that.

Yes of course someone can misunderstand someones intentions and/ or falsely accuse someone else of racism. No one is saying otherwise. But even when they do this, it really doesn’t confer them any advantages. Honestly it doesn’t. There is no “race card” to play, or game to be won by the very people who the system exists/ functions to oppress/ exclude .

No. I said hundreds of incidents of students of all types ..in other words he was spitballing because teens of all colours act like twats and he was dealt with the same as any other, but he chose to say it was racially motivated.

@Tandora

So how would you describe the time I told a black kid to stop trampling on the flowers in my garden (in the same way would to anyone), and he responded by saying “don’t talk to me like that you racist bitch… you wouldn’t tell white kids to get out of your garden!”

@Tandora

And yes, obviously i agree “racism” doesn’t benefit people who are in racial
minorities…

But no one is saying that, it’s a complete straw man…. The issue people who accuse someone of, or spuriously invoke, racism, when no racist action has occurred.

But racism is not a system that confers advantage in racialised groups. it’s really, really harmful and wrong, and racist to imply this.

I don't see anywhere I've said that the system does confer advantage, and I would always argue that racism is a bad thing. I'm not suggesting that they are taking advantage of their race, but a small minority taking advantage of pushing at the edges of systems and rules which have been put into place to try to reduce their disadvantage.

🙇

Come on, of course someone can make false or spurious accusations of racism to their advantage, in the same way they can for sexism and other isms.

Everyone, black, white or otherwise, has the capacity for manipulation and deception, and to pretend otherwise, is ridiculous.

Ugh. I give up.

@Tandora

No no no no no. Racism is not a system that can be used by racialised minorities to their advantage.

Yes yes yes! It’s simple to see how someone could use a false allegation of racism to deflect from their own actions. I’ve seen it, as other people have on this thread too… People use pretences and equivocations to distort things to their advantage all the time! It would be far odder if no one ever tried to leverage it to their advantage.

It’s not about the personalities of individuals though.

It’s about a total misrepresentation and denial of the system/ social structure of racism. The phrase “race card” deceptively and racistly flips the narrative- suggesting that racism is a system that can/ is being gamed by racialised minorities to obtain unfair/ unreasonable advantage. Racism as a social structure does the exact opposite of that.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t bad or manipulative individuals who also happen to be racialised minorities, but it is to acknowledge that no matter how bad or manipulative they are , racism is not a system that confers advantages on them. It doesn’t.

It is odd that OP has seen it so often and then another poster has seen it ‘hundreds of times’, when I’ve never seen it.

@Allergictoironing

Are you genuinely denying that there are any people from a racial minority who ever try to use their race as an excuse or to try to gain an advantage?

It seems so, and it’s just such a weird position to try and defend… Yes, black people can be twats too, as white people obviously can, but no no no… you can’t say that because “racism”.

It’s insane… it’s as though they’re trying to stir turns up from a racial perspective and goad people into being racist out of sheer exasperation! It won’t work with me - I hope it won’t work with others…

No no no no no. Racism is not a system that can be used by racialised minorities to their advantage. Racism is the direct opposite of that. This is really a problem that people think it’s ok to reinvent who benefits from racism this way.

That is not to say that people can’t be mistaken about other people’s intentions, or make false accusations about racism. Of course they can.

But racism is not a system that confers advantage in racialised groups. it’s really, really harmful and wrong, and racist to imply this.

Who said I had authority? I just said that ‘pulling the race card’ is a real thing that I’ve seen.

So you’ve seen hundreds of people from ethnic minorities ‘play the race card’?

Do you see why many people just don’t find that credible?

Especially when the statistics are that many BAME people don’t even report racist abuse?

The idea that these ethnic minorities who hesitate to report racism abuse go around ‘playing the race card’ is quite novel.

The race card can be lazily used to try to shut down any legitimate (race unrelated) challenge.

I agree it can be used in that way, it's just not the only way it's used. It's also used to refer to actual cases of someone blaming racial bias when that isn't the case.

And some of those twats will use false accusations of racism as a way to manipulate something for their own benefit.

I’ve not encountered it much in my life, but there’s one example of it in particular that stands out… It would be really odd to think it never happens, and that every single person who would otherwise do all kinds of manipulative and gaslighting stuff would suddenly be all morally upright and draw the line at using racism.

For crying out loud....we are talking about whether the ops experience may have been due a phenomena where sometimes a person uses race or other characteristic to excuse or deny poor behaviour. Mine is such an example to counter those who say it doesn't happen. I'm happy to recount hundreds of similar incidences over thirty years of students of all types misbehaving. Not one single person here is denying racism happens. We don't need tit for tat examples to prove it, but some are denying that things such as the OP and mine cases don't happen and are in fact us being "subconsciously biased". Im waiting, still, for someone to tell me how that works in my unambiguous example.

It implies that in SOME cases it CAN be used by SOME people to gain an advantage. Same way that sexism is a system where SOME women CAN use the system to their advantage in SOME cases.

Just about all systems can be "gamed", whether ones bounded by formal rules or by things like cultural bias. We all hear how there are various ways round financial rules for example and are disgusted when someone manipulates them for their own advantage, that's a case of formal rules being "gamed"

In no way does it imply that this is normal or usual behaviour, and I wouldn't term racism as a system but more as a cultural set of behaviours; I used the term system purely to show where the reference to playing a card came from.

Are you genuinely denying that there are any people from a racial minority who ever try to use their race as an excuse or to try to gain an advantage?

It’s not about the character of individual people.

The point is that racism is not a system that racialised minorities are able to “game” to their advantage- quite the opposite!!. That is a total refutation/ denial of what racism as a system/ social structure is/ does, and the inequalities and injustices that it creates.

If you’re going to say that the thread is only for people to recount their descriptions of ethnic minorities behaving badly, then it’s only right that people counter that with their own experiences.

Yes, it seems to be an uncomfortable truth that some people of colour will use false accusations of racism to deflect from their of others’ bad behaviour… But some on here are saying this can’t be acknowledged, and to do so would itself be racist - some people seem to have really fallen a long way down the woke rabbit hole!

The problem is it’s very convenient that OP sees people ‘pulling the race card’ often.

I’ve seen lots of racism but even after having lived and worked in London for decades at dozens of places with people and friends from every ethnicity, I’ve never seen anyone of any race ‘pull the race card’. So it is surprising that OP sees it often.

It can be used that way…. But equally, just calling “racist” can shut down any legitimate discussion in the other direction!