#AskABlackChick: Why Do Black People Always Pull The Black Card?

Ask a black chick

The definition of pulling the black card is when a black person uses their race as a crutch in a seemingly unrelated conversation. So, if a black person is constantly chewing their gum obnoxiously loud, I mean like a straight up cow, and is addressed about it, pulling the black card would be them saying that it is because they are black; not at all because they are chewing their gum like it is trying to escape their mouth.

In that example, the person is pulling the black card. They are using their race’s status to rationalize their  behavior. I think that is pretty shitty and discredits times that race actually does negatively effect us.

However, black people are not pulling the black card when situations arise that actually are caused by race. Statistics prove that black people are discriminated against in ways that most other folk wouldn’t even think about. So, in your eyes, it looks like they are pulling the black card because it is sounds completely absurd that a person would be denied a job, an apartment, or followed around a store solely based on the stereotypes associated with their skin color.

The next time you think someone may be pulling the black card, really sit back and evaluate what is going on. Are there other people that aren’t black with the same behavior but receiving different results? You might find that your friend, family member, or coworker has a legitimate reason to be bringing up race.

Consider this; have you ever pulled the white privilege card? The race is just a skin color that has no bearing on how anyone is treated as this is a post racist society where everyone is treated the same therefore saying that you were pulled over because you are a black person driving around in a mostly white neighborhood because of your race is really just you not wanting to take responsibility for driving 35 mph in a 30 mph area card.

Look, there are people that are really f*cking up out there and blame their blackness for the shitty situations they are constantly finding themselves in. There are also people that pull the white privilege card because the idea that race may be a reason for crappy, unfair treatment is just too uncomfortable to bear. I think it is important that we try not to do either because both are pretentious and make us look like assholes.

6 thoughts on “#AskABlackChick: Why Do Black People Always Pull The Black Card?

  1. i soooooooooooo agree wit you as usual, but when you dont go through what we go through, they dont seem to understand, that its not pulling the black card. its just STATING FACTS. I think the world would be a better place if white people just stopped being so blind and admitted that racism still exists, thats it. Its here, and there are bigots in this world…stop making it seem as if the world is this perfect place just because you may not be dealing with certain issues ya know


  2. Once acknowledging that some white people are indeed privileged (such as their parents being able to spend the extra money to move to the better-funded school districts, etc) where should we go from there? As a white female, I acknowledge that I have had some privileges along the way, but I am still unclear about what I am supposed to do about that personally, aside from striving to treat people of all races equally. Am I supposed to try less in college and job interviews to make up for my privilege?


    1. Of course not. Your own personal white privilege is not something that can be pacified by you doing poorly in education or your profession. The fact is that, when given the opportunity, black people perform the same if not better than their white counterparts. You are doing what you are supposed to do by striving to treat people of all races equally. I think it is also important, though, to understand that white privilege does exist. There is nothing that I can think of that you can do in your everyday life to necessarily make up for it. This country is built on white privilege. Treating people equally, being color conscious instead of colorblind, and speaking up in times of strife make a difference. You being chosen over me for a job we are both qualified for because of race will not change because you dumb down your resume. They will still choose you. But you getting that job and then being a voice for diversity when you see that there is none, now that will make a change.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!


  3. Also,why do black people always go back to slavery?? This drives me crazy!!! YOU were NEVER a slave, your parents,grand parents, great grandparents were NEVER Slaves. You have never known a slave. You don’t here Jewish people blaming everything on Hitler.
    And if you are looked at differently or treated differently maybe PULL UP YOUR PANTS, don’t get tats all over your face, speak ENGLISH not ebonics, don’t drive a car with ridiculous sound systems,80″ rims and some random candy or cereal theme. Gee I wonder why you get pulled over more often than someone driving a “normal” car.


    1. Firstly, I appreciate you commenting.

      Now, slavery and the Holocaust were 2 very different horrible things. The Holocaust set out to erase an entire group of people by killing them. Slavery set out to capture a type of people based on color and completely erase their culture, language, and history and make them, well, slaves.

      And I am in my late 20’s so my great great grandparents might not have been slaves but they were far from free.

      I am not Jewish so I don’t have a clue what Jewish folk complain about.

      Slavery took our entire culture as a people (language, traditions, religion, identity). That doesn’t just go away. If you look through history, it took us kinda a long time to get any rights whatsoever. I mean, we were considered an 8th of a human. Property. How exactly are you helping black people to “get over it”?

      Also, you seem quite angry and judgmental. You shouldn’t judge someone by the type of car they drive, what they consider fashionable, and the music they enjoy. I mean, I don’t think every white guy that is quiet and reserved is potentially going to shoot up a crowded place when he gets remotely pissed off based on past situations. Or that white priest are all molesters based on past situations. Or that all white people are strung out on meth. Or that white women are these dumb bobble head submissive that can’t make a single decision without their husbands because they have no brains because that’s the way media likes to portray them. That would be
      P R E J U D I C E.

      Also, Ebonics is an actual dialect that has rules just like English (trust me, I studied it in school. They even gave me a degree). If it weren’t, those that speak it wouldn’t be able to understand each other. Ebonics doesn’t mean you are uneducated. It actually shows how intelligent you are when you are able to glide between Standard American English and Ebonics. Read up on it. They even considered teaching it in schools.

      Lastly, there is nothing, at least from your comment, that justifies being discriminated against. Black folks are simply here trying to build up our community in a country that brought us here to be their slaves.


  4. What can I do as a white woman to help ease racial tension and not be labeled as a racist simply because I am white? I am not the least bit racist, and I raise my son to love based on one’s heart not their skin color. I understand that racism still exists and the black community feels it the most. What can I personally do to help put an end to it? All everyone wants to do is complain that it’s there and people ignore it, but what can we really do as individuals to help stop it?


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