Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class

A detailed examination of primarily Republican Party manipulation of political messaging to gain control of the government to enrich the 1%. In the process, they changed dominant social thinking from a belief in a government that cared for the whole population into one that blames individuals for their social circumstances and seeks to pull the rug out from under the "undeserving". Their message has been effective, synergistic with the rise of the "me" generation. Our 45th president is the successful culmination of this political realignment. Far from being an outsider, Trump is the dream of Republican financial elites. As an unwitting tool, he has come to plunder the middle and working classes for maximum loot for himself while dragging into government a gang of pirates to do the same. They have cast minorities as the enemy, blinding supporters to the commonality of their plight as fellow victims of the super rich. This is a must read for those who want America to finally fulfill the promise of equality and justice for all.

If you love Trump this is one book you want to avoid like COVID-19. On the other hand, this is why Haney's work is a MUST READ for Trumpers and all of us.In my inglorious career I must have heard my co-workers (especially New Yorkers for some reason) retell the Reagan meme of the "Welfare Queen." Perhaps the most quintessential example of "Dog Whistling" racism that like a brain eating zombie seems unstoppable. Important to note here that the whole thing was of course a fabrication.Ian Haney Lopez (you'll see why he is the endowed chair as the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley) takes you through genuine understanding of the evil genius in the creation and pervasive use of "Dog Whistling" as an effective, cynical, and persistent tool of the far right (I prefer fascist loving) Republicans to not only use this as a means to churn racism and a sense of aggrievement, but to literally cripple the working class to act against their own best interests.So, please buy this book and use the methods he provides to put this ugly tactic into the dustbin of history.

As a black person, this black person this book connected many dots for me. After reading this book, I had a much better understanding regarding the things that I hear from the political world on a daily basis. This book should be required reading for seniors in high school. I want to give it to my daughter, but she's only in the 7th grade. As Americans, we have to open our minds, open our eyes and put this country to work for all Americans. Whether we believe it or not, there is enough to go around.

I bought this book for much the same reason that I like to have on DVR an episode of "Ancient Aliens", enjoy movies about ghost hunters and liked "The Blair Witch Project": I enjoy a good story and often a good pseudo-history just fills that need for pleasurable reading.He writes like a good lawyer. If you want to find a well reasoned a priori argument which may or may not be congruent with reality, consult a good lawyer. Examples might be if you want to misdirect the jury after you've just murdered your wife and her lover or if you want to misdirect Congress after you’ve been caught with a 22 year old intern. Or, more mundanely, if you are a student of human nature and you want insight into how bright people concoct historical fiction stories. This book doesn't analyze modern society; it syntheses a story about it. It becomes grating once one realizes just how much is synthesis.I do like his catchy phrase 'dog whistle politics'. It immediately puts one to mind of the now-dated movie where the villain whistles up a pack of Dobermans which then threaten to eat the hero. He sort of ruins the illusion however when he cherry picks (I hate that phrase, cherry picking, since it is way overused in Amazon reviews, particularly those one-sentence ax jobs) his stories, filters them through his own prejudices and ignores other equally catchy phrases such as 'victimhood politics', 'revolutionary dialectic', et cetera. But I fear he leaves as much history on the cutting room floor as did Michael Moore at his apex. Gone too is any semblance of explanation of how, in the absence of any objective biological basis for our sociological construct 'race', can the abstraction of that construction which we call 'racism' be anything except subjective?My review is negative in large part because there are misdirections which thread their way throughout the book, just as a lawyer would misdirect a jury from the facts of his case. For the sake of brevity I'll mention only the most egregious ones: He conflates the effect of "wealthy" conservative contributors and ignores the short list of the world's richest people, 'progressives' all, who collectively own more wealth than half the people in the world. He presents too many false dichotomies, false equivalencies, straw man arguments and other rhetorical tricks. The analyses he presents appear at times to me to be superficial, not substantially based on human nature nor psychology except for the psychology of persuasion. Just as often they appear tangential to his central point but designed to impugn his political enemies.For the reader who is struggling with understanding the incongruence between the language of the book's historical vignettes and traditional language I'd recommend a small but powerful book, Crane Brinton's 1938 text "The Anatomy of Revolution". Here they will find a logical structure with which they can deconstruct the meaning of revolutionary rhetoric. For the psychologically minded reader interested in understanding the book's curb appeal I'd suggest Jackson and Richardson's "Understanding African American Rhetoric". For the reader who senses the intrinsic emotional exploitation of their fears and nightmares but doesn't have words for it I'd recommend Jack Schafer's "The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over". For the reader interested in a critique of leftist academia from within its fold there is Tony Scott's "Dangerous Writing". And the reader who is interested in exploring the concept that the belief in racial identity is a damaging factor in the lives of real people should review the works of John Ogbu.

I have not read a book, until this one, that spoke so clearly to what I have felt has been happening on both sides of the political spectrum for a long time in our country. I had concluded that people of color had become the public whipping boy for all the ills of the country, though I suspected many of those ills were created by the powerful moneyed class that enabled their drive toward greater wealth. This book does a great job of describing the historical context of the rise of the plutocrats. It also addresses what needs to be done to wrestle the country's future back "FOR ALL THE PEOPLE".

I thought this book was very good in explaining dog whistle politics and how they have evolved in our society. There are great references in the book. I took me longer to read this book, because I also read several of the references which were excellent. I think this book is a must read for all, but particularly white Americans.

After a shaky start, the thorough research in this volume likely warrants deeming it the go-to source on the subject. Haney Lopez writes like a lawyer: exhaustively, in a way that often seems repetitious. The pattern in the narrative is a dense bit of explanation and analysis, followed by diffuse illustration and drawn-out demonstration of his claims. Still, the sum-total of the most incisive parts is substantial.

the times we live in. The politics of colour