IAN HANEY LÓPEZ: Well, think about a term like “welfare queen” or “food stamp president.” On one level, like a dog whistle, its silent. Silent about race. It seems race-neutral. But on another, it also has a shrill blast, like a dog whistle, that can be heard by certain folks. And what the blast is is a warning about race and a warning, in particular about threatening minorities. And the idea that Im trying to get across here is, racism has evolved. Or, in particular, public racism has evolved. The way in which racism, the way in which racial divisions are stoked in public discourse has changed. And now it operates on two levels. On one level, it allows plausible deniability. This isnt really about race, its just about welfare. Just about food stamps. And on another, theres a subtext, an underground message which can be piercingly loud, and that is: minorities are threatening us. And so when people dog whistle about criminals, welfare cheats, terrorists, Islam, Sharia law, ostensibly they’re talking about culture, behavior, religion, but underneath are these old stereotypes of degraded minorities, but also, and this is important, implicitly of whites who are trustworthy, hard-working, decent.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 17:23:35 +0000
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