Was the ‘race card’ pulled??

Yes, many racist people do indeed use it.

Some ppl use their race to victimise themselves when there has been no evidence to suggest race is a factor in what ever it is thats happened, yes its not a game but its something that does happen. If you take issue with the term speak to those who think its OK to use race as an excuse for everything that doesn't go their way.

Agree

Because that wasn’t the question… The OP is asking whether others were falsely accusing her of racism as way of deflecting from their own actions.

The idea that we aren’t permitted to have a word or phrase that means “the act of falsely accusing someone of racism as a means of deflecting from their own or others’ questionable actions” because that would be “racist” is one of the most perfect examples of irony I have ever encountered! It’s absurd!

This reflects ‘attribution error’ where people misjudge causes for events.

There are subtypes of attribution errors:

Self-serving bias - People attribute successes to their own abilities but blame failures on external factors.

Fundamental attribution error - Overestimating the role of personality or intent in others’ actions while underestimating situational factors.

Actor-observer bias: Viewing our own behavior as situationally driven, but others’ behavior as personality-driven.

Most posts on this thread, including mine, contain potential bias linked to the above.

OP do you think you are jumping to conclusions? I cannot see anything that is suggesting this about race.

Wow, what horrible people. I’m sorry you had to encounter them, OP.

At this stage I assume she meant I felt entitled to say this because they were a family of colour!

I’d had hoped that when using the highly inflammatory term race card, your reasoning was a lot more concrete than an assumption.

I have to admit that the use of the term ‘Race Card’ makes me think that your stated sensitivities to racism aren’t as solid as you clearly think they are.

Yes these people were rude but your attempt to turn this unpleasant encounter into some kind of race war was clumsy, B+.

In being more concerned about the term used, the CF/ignorance is being ignored. That's the minimising that's going on here. Why should the OP be asking was this racism? She's asking whether the queue jumper's family were excusing the cheeky fuckery behaviour.

There’s no “card that can’t be named”. There’s no such thing as “the race card”. This is a racist concept that functions to minimise the very real problem of racism and deceptively imply that those most disadvantaged by racism are the ones in fact benefitting from it. The totalitarian and lying sentiment is very much therefore the other way around- in the hands of those who use this false and manipulative terminology of “the race card”.

@Tandora

You don’t need a word for it

Why can’t there be a word for it? What is this insanity? Maybe we should say “the card that can’t be named” like it’s Voldemort?!

The Left need to stop this Orwellian and authoritarian policing of language… It’s not going to work.

@GoodPuddingWhy can’t people just ask ‘Was this racism’ ?

Why do you need a term that instantly gives the impression of a game or con?

It’s a term that’s inherently racist and biased by nature and minimises that fact that actually yes, most of us who are black and brown/global majority whatever you want to call yourself DO experience personal/structural racism on a day to day basis and majority of the time have to ‘brush this off’ as we’d be told we are ‘playing the race card’

The “race card” is meaningless terminology which functions to deny the real problem of racism in society and suggest that people most disadvantaged from racism are somehow the ones benefiting! It’s a very wrong, and also racist, concept.

It is very possible that your actions were subconsciously influenced by race- this is likely in fact, since subconscious ideas about race influence us all. This doesn’t mean you were wrong to do what you did but it’s also something that is worth acknowledging and reflecting on,

I agree with the sentiment and over arching message here with the exception that the framing of ‘playing the race card’ implicitly suggesting that lived experience of discrimination is fake or opportunistic.

You can believe that a marginalised person has had significant experience of discrimination and that it is understandable that their inferences may be skewed by this and believe that in a given instance, they may infer discrimination when there is none, to confer some sort of advantage.

No group is free from unscrupulous people, willing to leverage whatever they can to gain advantage.

You could just ask ‘Was this racism’

also, it’s a hard question to answer. My feeling as a mixed black Asian woman is No. But perhaps they’d experienced lots of micro incidents and felt from their perspective that you were being difficult due to race. Not your fault.
Not 100% their fault either depending on what had been experienced.
did they see the girl push in @Glittercloud17?

This. Years ago I worked in a multi cultural organisation, where there was all sorts of support for women, people with disabilities, and anyone of ethnic minority heritage. We had senior managers of both sexes, various ethnicities, and my own boss (female) was disabled.

There was a couple of staff who come to mind who insisted that their colour was the reason for their lack of promotion, when it was their very obvious limited ability, and in one case their attitude to work. No racism involved, but they claimed there was. How do claims like these sit with people who say there’s no such thing?

Asking people to read a whole book before they are permitted to express this phenomenon is completely unreasonable.

Except that she didn’t say that.

These lies by the right wing is what led to the Southport riots.

Yes this is what someone said to me about my story upthread (moving a black teen to the front because he was mucking about). I've told it before and was instructed that I was in fact subconsciously racist. The fact that he was the only child flicking spit balls was overlooked, for the apparently preferable interpretation that I was singling him out for racist reasons. whether we call it the "race card" or some other term, more long winded and clumsy, it does sometimes happen. The desperate attempts to somehow make it not so (the OP assuming what the family meant) are just that. If the events were as reported, I think it's pretty obvious what the family meant and attempts to try and change it from any of us who weren't actually there are a bit desperate. As others have said, denying this does sometimes happen undermines the many many real incidents of racism and cause them to be doubted.

I had this situation but with white family the Dad had pushed in front with one child, then insisted that despite being too crowded to move, that wife and another two kids came to join him. Like they couldn’t possibly wait separately which they all looked capable of doing. They went on about how embarrassed my daughter must be of me, because I had suggested he move back rather just wait. Wouldn’t have happened if my husband was there. Watched with amusement as we left them standing at passport control as none of them seemed to be able to find their passports. Basically people cannot queue any more and panic in queues. Too many people around.

There are people who will never accept they are in the wrong and will claim it is because of a personal characteristic, not sure the term 'race card' is current or the best expression to use.

I have experienced something similar once. A teenager of ethnic minority was in the queue in front of me in a clothing store trying to return something for a refund with no receipt & no tags on. The store were polite but explained they couldn't accept it etc as a return. The girl got irate and another store worker said "look if you want the same thing different size I can probably swap it over for you" etc, they were trying to help but explained they can't give refunds without receipts and tags . Suddenly the girl shouted "omg its because I'm [ethnicity] isn't it, you think I've lifted it you are racially abusing me".

The poor store workers looked baffled and really worried. The girl continued to make a giant scene shouting about racism until security had to ask her to leave the store!

You get bad eggs of every ethnicity alas.

👏 👏

You don’t need a word for it. You could have just asked whether it was unreasonable of them to assume it was racism.

Actually there are so many assumptions here as you don’t even know if they meant race with what they insinuated.

Also it is possible that they didn’t see the teen push in and did think you were targeting them.

It is also possible that subconsciously you were influenced by race in choosing your actions. Although you were totally within your rights (and NBU) to challenge someone for pushing in, perhaps you wouldn’t have been as likely to notice a white teen pushing in, or have as much confidence to challenge the family.

They were rude and entitled and they are teaching their kids to be grabby and then claim racism when they are called out. More fool them. You did nothing wrong ( you were the victim of their aggression) but some will undermine your case because you made the mistake of using a term people can claim is racist. Thus the actual issue of the poor behaviour is not addressed . This is a microcosm of what happens in society.

If a women was using her sex as a cudgel to bash men with if she didn't get her own way and claiming sexism, then yes, I'd say it's pulling the sexism card.

These people weren't calling out an act of prejudice - thats the differene.