# Dog Whistles **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 25, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898 "2016-07-25T23:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/81 "2016-07-28T00:47:59Z")
The OP is faulty. The purpose of the dog whistle is that it is **not** heard consciously by the intended audience but responded to on an emotional level. The opposition audience will hear the dog whistle, if anyone is going to. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/82 "2016-07-28T03:20:32Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > False premise. A dog whistle isn’t something _only_ your fans can hear. It’s something your fans can hear, and most everybody else hears too - but you can paint the opposition as insane when they call you on it because it’s so very innocent. Like talking about “urban people” when you really mean “nigger”. > It’s pretty much the polar opposite of political correctness - using euphemistic or lateral language to really mean horrible shit ; rather than using euphemisms to \*soften \*horrible shit. “in which certain phrases have a particular meaning to a segment of the audience that passes unnoticed by the rest. This allows a candidate to surreptitiously signal agreement with that group, without alienating the rest of the audience, among whom the ideas might be unpopular if plainly stated.” XKCD explained. “Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.” wiki ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/83 "2016-07-28T12:22:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “in which certain phrases have a particular meaning to a segment of the audience that passes unnoticed by the rest. This allows a candidate to surreptitiously signal agreement with that group, without alienating the rest of the audience, among whom the ideas might be unpopular if plainly stated.” XKCD explained. > > “Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.” wiki You clearly are fixated on a reductive, simplistic reading of this, and don’t seem to know what “resonance” means. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/84 "2016-07-28T13:50:06Z")
While an aide in Ronald Reagan’s White House, Lee Atwater told us pretty much everything we need to know. **[In this excerpt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8E3ENrKrQ)** from an interview he gave in 1981, which was never supposed to be publicly revealed (“now, y’all aren’t quotin’ me on this…?”), he backhandedly explains how the refrain of “nigger, nigger, nigger” morphed into Republican economic policies via the Southern Strategy. > [@](#): > > You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut taxes, we want to cut this, we want–” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.” Lee Atwater went on to manage the 1988 presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush and then became the chairman of the Republican National Committee. However, he died before the comments were publicly released. Although, he does not mention the term _dog whistle_, what he’s talking about here is the very epitome of _dog whistle_ politics where the very economic policies underpinning modern Republican ideology, in fact, evolved as _dog whistles_ intended to attract the votes of racists without the candidates themselves sounding racist (i.e. “…doing away with the racial problem…”). ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/85 "2016-07-28T16:01:49Z")
Is this really rocket science for the OP? Hell, leaving the political sphere alone, there’s examples from everyday life. Take this… back in the day when I used to waitress, frequently customers would be passed to the newest staff to wait on if they were “Canadian.” I live in Texas, and after a couple of these, I was more than baffled. 1) That they could tell. I mean, they looked just like everyone else and weren’t dressed head-to-toe in maple leaves, and 2) I couldn’t grasp what the problem was even if they were. So finally, it was explained to me that being called “Canadian” was code for being a bad tipper. And if anyone overheard, then you had plausible deniability and could explain it away as “Your accent vaguely sounded like my cousin Rita’s in Winnipeg.” or “When I vacationed in Vancouver, I saw lots of town folks who wore styles just as awesome as these!” Or whatever. Yeah, it’s there. The other sad thing about it was, shockingly, this was mostly leveled at minorities and the elderly. Therefore, largely racist and ageist as well. But I can tell you, that for me who never turned down a table, I found it to be bullshit and the jackasses who employed this tactic were both shitty servers and bigots in other, equally sneaky areas. I can only conclude that weren’t tipped much because they and their service sucked, undoubtedly due to their attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/86 "2016-07-28T17:43:50Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > You clearly are fixated on a reductive, simplistic reading of this, and don’t seem to know what “resonance” means. I am “fixed” upon two common definitions of the term, not a “Humpty Dumpty” definition. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/87 "2016-07-28T17:45:59Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > While an aide in Ronald Reagan’s White House, Lee Atwater told us pretty much everything we need to know. **[In this excerpt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8E3ENrKrQ)** from an interview he gave in 1981, which was never supposed to be publicly revealed (“now, y’all aren’t quotin’ me on this…?”), he backhandedly explains how the refrain of “nigger, nigger, nigger” morphed into Republican economic policies via the Southern Strategy.Lee Atwater went on to manage the 1988 presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush and then became the chairman of the Republican National Committee. However, he died before the comments were publicly released. Although, he does not mention the term _dog whistle_, what he’s talking about here is the very epitome of _dog whistle_ politics where the very economic policies underpinning modern Republican ideology, in fact, evolved as _dog whistles_ intended to attract the votes of racists without the candidates themselves sounding racist (i.e. “…doing away with the racial problem…”). As i said before, that’s bad journalism. First the interviewer promised Lee’s name would never be used. Next that quote is deliberately taken out of context. if you listen to the entire interview, you’ll see his meaning is \*exactly the opposite \*of what is implied by the out of context quote. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/88 "2016-07-28T17:55:10Z")
I see the OP has given up on trying to convince me that I have never heard a dog whistle intended to appeal to me. I guess we win: dog whistles exist. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/89 "2016-07-28T18:57:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > As i said before, that’s bad journalism. First the interviewer promised Lee’s name would never be used. So, it doesn’t count because he thought he was going to be able to keep this bigotry a secret? Please. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Next that quote is deliberately taken out of context. if you listen to the entire interview, you’ll see his meaning is \*exactly the opposite \*of what is implied by the out of context quote. Actually, what you have here is an example of doublespeak. He does this throughout the interview. Indeed, he even **[makes the paradoxical claim](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Pb5jnTI-Y)** that the “whole” Southern Strategy was entirely based on coded racism but it somehow wasn’t done in a “blatantly discriminatory” way (5:50). The quote: > [@](#): > > The Harry Dint type southern strategy, and that is, **that whole strategy was based** …although it was more sophisticated than a Bilbo or George Wallace…it was, nevertheless, based **on coded racism–the whole thing: busing,** we want a Supreme Court judge that […]. Anything you look at could be traced back to “the issue” of the old Southern Strategy. Now, it was not done in a blatantly discriminatory way but the Reagans did not have to do a Southern Strategy for two reasons: number one, race was not a dominant issue and, number two, the mainstream issues in this campaign had been, quote, southern issues since way back in the 60s. Evidently, he only considers something bigoted when the n-word is explicitly used. Clearly, his mind resided in fantasyland because that’s absurd. Also, I will point something else out. See the portion I highlighted. He explicitly claims the objections to busing were coded racism. Well, **[here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wra-krMEvlU)** of Ronald Reagan bitching about busing and trying to stop it the moment it started in California in 1970. And **[here is a 1976 campaign ad](https://archive.org/details/csth_000018)** in which Ronald Reagan is bitching about busing. It’s difficult for me to see how anyone can plausibly claim Ronald Reagan was not knee-deep in this Southern Strategy business. Certainly, the interviewer had to keep going at him to get the most damning admissions but they are not invalid because Atwater was employing doublespeak. That’s what people of this mindset do. If you’d like to continue trying to impeach the credibility of this interview or the undeniable damnation coming out of Atwater’s own mouth, I’m more than happy to continue pointing the facts concerning what he says out to you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/90 "2016-07-28T19:14:32Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > So, it doesn’t count because he thought he was going to be able to keep this bigotry a secret? Please.Actually, what you have here is an example of doublespeak. He does this throughout the interview. Indeed, he even **[makes the paradoxical claim](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Pb5jnTI-Y)** that the “whole” Southern Strategy was entirely based on coded racism but it somehow wasn’t done in a “blatantly discriminatory” way (5:50). The quote:Evidently, he only considers something bigoted when the n-word is explicitly used. Clearly, his mind resided in fantasyland because that’s absurd. Also, I will point something else out. See the portion I highlighted. He explicitly claims the objections to busing were coded racism. Well, **[here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wra-krMEvlU)** of Ronald Reagan bitching about busing and trying to stop it the moment it started in California in 1970. And **[here is a 1976 campaign ad](https://archive.org/details/csth_000018)** in which Ronald Reagan is bitching about busing. It’s difficult for me to see how anyone can plausibly claim Ronald Reagan was not knee-deep in this Southern Strategy business. Certainly, the interviewer had to keep going at him to get the most damning admissions but they are not invalid because Atwater was employing doublespeak. That’s what people of this mindset do. If you’d like to continue trying to impeach the credibility of this interview or the undeniable damnation coming out of Atwater’s own mouth, I’m more than happy to continue pointing the facts concerning what he says out to you. That does make the journalist unethical. Which makes his story questionable. No, if you listen to the whole interview, you can see that that portion is taken out of context and thus the quote is the _exact opposite_ of what Atwater was saying. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/91 "2016-07-28T19:25:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That does make the journalist unethical. Which makes his story questionable. Your claims are turning toward the ridiculous. How is the story “questionable” when this is a sound recording of Lee Atwater himself speaking? Good lord, it’s straight from the horse’s mouth! > [@DrDeth](#): > > No, if you listen to the whole interview, you can see that that portion is taken out of context and thus the quote is the _exact opposite_ of what Atwater was saying. Frankly, I think you have your head in the sand because you just can’t bring yourself to believe it. You’re giving us the “say it ain’t so” line of reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/92 "2016-07-28T19:31:39Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > Your claims are turning toward the ridiculous. How is the story “questionable” when this is a sound recording of Lee Atwater himself speaking? Good lord, it’s straight from the horse’s mouth! Don’t you see? He’s effortlessly receiving Atwater’s secret intended message, which the rest of us can’t detect! Thus proving the existence of dog whistles! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/93 "2016-07-28T19:38:34Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > Your claims are turning toward the ridiculous. How is the story “questionable” when this is a sound recording of Lee Atwater himself speaking? Good lord, it’s straight from the horse’s mouth!Frankly, I think you have your head in the sand because you just can’t bring yourself to believe it. You’re giving us the “say it ain’t so” line of reasoning. Because he could have edited it. And, like i said, I went ahead and listened to the entire interview, and that section is taken entirely out of context. Atwater was saying just the opposite. Go ahead, listen to the _entire_ interview. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/94 "2016-07-28T19:42:55Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Don’t you see? He’s effortlessly receiving Atwater’s secret intended message, which the rest of us can’t detect! Thus proving the existence of dog whistles! Try it, listen to the\* entire interview.\* ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/95 "2016-07-28T20:40:11Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Don’t you see? He’s effortlessly receiving Atwater’s secret intended message, which the rest of us can’t detect! Thus proving the existence of dog whistles! By Golly! I think you’re right! > [@DrDeth](#): > > Because he could have edited it. wow, moving the goalposts, ok. > [@DrDeth](#): > > And, like i said, I went ahead and listened to the entire interview, and that section is taken entirely out of context. Atwater was saying just the opposite. > > Go ahead, listen to the _entire_ interview. I have listened to the entire interview, several times. However, something tells me you’re simply going to fall back on “he could have edited it” no matter what failures of logic I cite from the audio. So, I’m just not going to bother. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/96 "2016-07-29T00:36:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 1. No one has been able to point to a _clear_ use of one. Diversity of tactics. A euphemism used in discussions among the activist left that essentially means we’re willing to at least consider things outside strict non-violence. A Greenpeace hosted [blog post](http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/blog/Blogentry/diversity-of-tactics-what-does-it-mean/blog/12092/) on the phrase: > [@](#): > > The idea behind Diversity of Tactics is that nonviolent and “not nonviolent” tactics can work together in a protest environment where each option is allowed its space. > “Diversity of Tactics” rests on three main tenets, not always made explicit: > > 1. No tactic should be ruled out as a policy. Diversity of Tactics is freedom to choose any tactic, violent, or nonviolent. > > 2. No organized marshals or peacekeeping team should enforce any code of behaviour. At least one protest area should be free of restrictions and devoid of nonviolent action guidelines, especially regarding property destruction. > > 3. No public criticism of other tactics should be expressed before, during, or after the events. So where’s a clear use of one? Occupy Oakland did. Sadly the link to the Occupy Oakland cite in wikipedia is gone but they are quoted in this article about a statement put out before their “Fuck the Police” demonstrations which turned into riots. My underline added. > [@](#): > > Statements posted on the Occupy Oakland website before Saturday’s march urged those opposed to violence or vandalism to either steer clear or avoid interfering with those willing to engage in mayhem. > > “If you identify as peaceful and are likely to interfere with the actions of your fellow protesters in any way (including telling them to stop performing a particular action, grappling, assaulting or holding them for arrest), you may not want to attend this march,” one statement read. “It is a militant action. It attracts anti-capitalists, anti-fascists and other comrades of a revolutionary bent. It is not a march intended for people who are not fully comfortable with diversity of tactics.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/97 "2016-07-29T01:42:07Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > I have listened to the entire interview, several times. However, something tells me you’re simply going to fall back on “he could have edited it” no matter what failures of logic I cite from the audio. So, I’m just not going to bother. In fact I dont think he did. But if you listened to the entire interview, you know that quote is out of context and the opposite of what he was saying. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898/98 "2016-07-29T01:44:04Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Diversity of tactics. A euphemism used in discussions among the activist left that essentially means we’re willing to at least consider things outside strict non-violence. A Greenpeace hosted [blog post](http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/blog/Blogentry/diversity-of-tactics-what-does-it-mean/blog/12092/) on the phrase: > > So where’s a clear use of one? Occupy Oakland did. Sadly the link to the Occupy Oakland cite in wikipedia is gone but they are quoted in this article about a statement put out before their “Fuck the Police” demonstrations which turned into riots. My underline added. That’s a maybe, I will agree. But you’d _expect_ “Diversity of tactics” to have diversity…in tactics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-whistles/760898.md?page=4)