URGENT antedating needed: "the race card"

Baker, John JMB at STRADLEY.COM
Fri Aug 1 20:07:16 UTC 2008


        It can't be too old - maybe sixties or seventies?  I assume it's
a card game metaphor, similar to playing the China card (remember that
one?) and probably other cards that slip my mind.  I see the following
early uses on Westlaw, though the reporter can probably do this well
himself.  Note that either blacks or whites can play the race card.


        Boston Globe, 7/22/1982:  This year Stennis voted for the Voting
Rights Bill for the first time in his career. Though he's been a
traditional foe of civil rights laws for nearly four decades, he never
played the race card like Jim Eastland, his fellow senator who retired
after 36 years in the Senate.

        Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/13/1983:  One of the ironies of the
campaign was that while race was never an issue, it was always a factor.
None of the candidates overtly played the race card - neither Egan or
Leonard in their campaign speeches before predominantly white audiences,
nor Goode when speaking before blacks. It was a civil campaign.

        National Review, 2/10/1984:  You [sc. Jesse Jackson] have just
played your race card, which has always been the ace of spades up your
sleeve. It has always worked. But it means you are still a prisoner of
color in your view of the world.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Laurence Horn
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 3:34 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: URGENT antedating needed: "the race card"

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

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list