URGENT antedating needed: "the race card"

[Laurence Horn]

At 3:34 PM -0400 8/1/08, Laurence Horn wrote:
>Hi,
>
>A N. Y. Times reporter (not connected with Safire's column!) needs
>urgently to know what the history/origin of "the race card" is, for a
>piece he's writing in this Sunday's Week in Review.  I will seek to
>make sure whoever has something for him will be credited.  Let's make
>sure his work on this is as accurate as it can be given the time
>pressure.
>
>LH
>
P.S.  two more points:

  (i)  If it's not obvious from the context, he's interested in the
current political use (as in "play[ing] ___ [from the bottom of the
deck]"), not the equine competition sense cited in the OED.

(ii)  He needs the info by tonight.

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