You Know What Irks Me?: The Reverse Race Sympathy Card

I was all set to post about the "Anti-Role Model" but while watching one of my favorite shows, The Amazing Race, I saw this mess that made me mad.  What mess, pray tell?  The REVERSE RACE SYMPATHY CARD.  

You may be asking yourself, "now what is the Reverse Race Sympathy Card?"  The Reverse Race Sympathy Card, not to be confused with Reverse Racism, is when someone of another race or someone at a momentary disadvantage tries to find sympathy and/or justification for their foul actions by calling out the fact that someone else, usually a black person [or insert your minority here], should allow them pass for their insulting behaviour because "the black person/minority knows how it is."  As seen in the video below at around the 3:24 mark.  Margie is accusing Jen and Kisha of laughing at her son's deafness and trying to shame them into contriteness by calling out the fact that they are black and they should know how it feels.   WHAT!!!   

 

How absurd to equate blackness with deafness. How exploitative of his deafness.  Luke isn't special, he just can't hear.  He's still able bodied, he just can't hear.  Equally disturbing to me is the tendency of some in our society to equate the fight for civil rights of African Americans to the current fight for homosexual rights or even better the Feminist agenda.  Entirely different issues with entirely different purposes.  I think it's really shady to feign empathy with someone for the benefit of having strength in numbers all the while exploiting them with the intent of distancing yourself from them once the battle is won.  

I thought Margie was way off base.  The fact that Jen and Kisha were black should have never been mentioned.  Her comments, obviously were not well thought out and in the heat of the moment, but they were still spiteful just the same.  Saying things like, "people like you" made her character obvious. The fact of the matter is Luke was being overly aggressive and rude. Previous shows have evidenced his unsportsmanlike conduct.  His being deaf does not give him the freedom to mistreat others. If anyone should know better it should be him.  HAH! Reverse Reverse Race Sympathy Card!

I get so tired of people thinking the only way black people can relate is if we dig far down into that deep dark emotionally charged pit of racial angst we all must have.  You know the government issued baggage we all got when we were born black...

Kamika still black, just a little more perturbed