URGENT antedating needed: "the race card"

[Laurence Horn]

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