8 Sneaky Racial Code Words and Why Politicians Love Them

[MrScorpio]

When Paul Ryan talked about a "real culture problem" in "our inner cities in particular" this week, he wasn't the first American politician to be slammed for using racially coded language to get a point across. Far from it.

Ian Haney López, author of Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class, says it's not just the promotion of old-fashioned racial stereotypes that we need to worry about. Rather, he argues, it's the manipulation of racism in service of very specific goals.

López's book focuses on elected officials' ability to tap into bias without being explicit about it, all to gain support for what he calls "regressive policies," which, ironically, hurt working-class white people as much as people of color.

"This sort of coded speech operates on two levels," he says. "It triggers racial anxiety and it allows plausible deniability by crafting language that lets the speaker deny that he's even thinking about race."

The Rest: http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/03/_racial_code_words_8_term_politicians_love.html

[spinbaby]

1. The eight "words" for those that don't want to watch the ad

'Inner City'
'States' Rights'
'Forced Busing'
'Cut Taxes'
'Law and Order'
'Welfare' and 'Food Stamps'
'Shariah Law'
'Illegal Alien'


Actually more phrases than words.

[Jim Lane]

2. Thanks! I disagree about "cut taxes"

Although it's true that cutting taxes and cutting governmental services would disproportionately harm nonwhites, I don't think that's the primary motivation. If everyone in the United States were white, the Koch brothers and their ilk would still pursue their antigovernment agenda.

Racism does play a role, of course. The Koch-funded Tea Party propaganda falls on more fertile ground because some of the working-class whites who suffer from these policies have been bamboozled into seeing people of color as their enemies. Still, I think it's a mistake for us to attribute it all to racism. On this issue, we're more likely to succeed by emphasizing the economics.

BTW, as one of those who didn't want to listen to the whole thing, I appreciate your giving us the list.

[gollygee]

3. Also "urban"

I live in a small city but it has a high black population, and it's always called "urban" and "inner city." We are not big enough to be either.