Did Isaiah Washington “overplay the race card”?

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

Columnist Leonard Pitts at the Chicago Tribune thinks so (thanks to Rob for the tip):

He — like many of us, black and otherwise — seems knee jerk where race is concerned. Is it so hard to believe people feared him because they thought he was a volatile jerk? Or that a white actor of middling fame who disrupted his workplace would have also been fired? In his rush to make himself a martyr, Washington fails to consider these and other obvious questions.

He comes across as one of those brothers the running joke is meant to mock — the kind for whom race is a get-out-of-jail-free card. Unfortunately, like the boy who cried wolf, such people trivialize what is serious and give others license to do the same.

Though I hate the term “race card,” it’s an interesting question. While it’s good to be aware of how racism influences the way others perceive you, you also need to take responsibility for your own actions. Is it racism? Or are you the problem? Or, more likely, is it a mix of both?

What do you think? Was Washington fired for being a jerk? Or because he was outspoken while black (OWB)? Or was it both?