The goal of this paper is to explore the way the Race Card is used in the United States and how its use affects the racial climate of the country. The use of the Race Card in politics, courts, and sport is addressed. Research and examples show that the use of the Race Card in these areas has generally negative effects. In most cases the use of the Race Card in these areas not only reinforces stereotypes but also can racialize a situation, which can cause the actual issue to be ignored. Therefore, in order to improve America’s racial climate and ensure the root of issues are being addressed it is important to limit the use of the Race Card to anti-discrimination issues courts.

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This thesis examines the role of racialized practices in the discourses and processes that alter place identity. Drawing on ethnography from the East Village of Buckhead, a once vibrant nightlife district in Atlanta, I examine how discourses of danger, colorblindness, and the race card have been employed to “whitewash” the discussions about the redevelopment of the Village. In effect, the business and civic elite of Atlanta (and Buckhead) deployed racialized conceptualizations of group identity. In particular, they utilized “public safety” discourses to influence the Atlanta city government to support the redevelopment effort. This led to the elimination of the establishments that attracted African American partygoers in large numbers. Using interviews with government agents, night club operators, and Buckhead civic and business leaders, combined with archival analysis of newspaper accounts, I implemented a hybrid content-discourse analysis to explore the ways in which the discourses of race and place concerning the East Village changed between 2000 and 2008.