Idiom
play the race card
Meaning
To assert that race or racism is involved in a situation, especially in order to exploit racist or antiracist attitudes.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He accused his opponent of playing the race card to win the argument.”
“When the manager criticized his poor performance, he claimed she was playing the race card to avoid taking responsibility for his mistakes.”
“Political analysts often debate whether a candidate is genuinely addressing systemic inequality or merely playing the race card to manipulate public opinion during a heated campaign.”
Examples
simple
“He accused his opponent of playing the race card to win the argument.”
contextual
“When the manager criticized his poor performance, he claimed she was playing the race card to avoid taking responsibility for his mistakes.”
complex
“Political analysts often debate whether a candidate is genuinely addressing systemic inequality or merely playing the race card to manipulate public opinion during a heated campaign.”
Key words
Related idioms
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