Also, pull the race card. Invoking race, in particular bias for or against race, in order to achieve an end. The term dates from the late 1900s and alludes to card games, that is, playing a particular card to gain an advantage, trounce an opponent, or the like. For example, when President George H.W. Bush nominated an African American, Clarence Thomas, to the Supreme Court, some who considered Thomas poorly qualified accused Bush of playing the race card, nominating a man unlikely to be rejected lest one be accused of racism. The term is on its way to becoming a cliché.