# What are some dog whistles of the American left? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012 "2020-07-02T02:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/102 "2020-07-09T19:17:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > My point was, when liberals are in a hostile environment, many of them tend to disguise their speech just like conservatives do when surrounded by liberals. They’re not socially suicidal, after all; self-preservation is a human instinct. If they can’t come out and say “I support LGBT” directly or “I’m pro-choice,” they will hint at it or try to use oblique ways to communicate a point across while not suffering consequences. But who is the recipient of the hint? Context makes a big difference. Consider a pro-LGBT Christian trying to persuade anti-LGBT Christian opponents. If both sides understand that “don’t judge” (or whatever) is code for LGBT support, then there’s no deceit and thus no dog-whistle. You’re just observing the shared group norm of euphemizing words that Christians might find objectionable. We could call it a shibboleth, since you’re using in-group language to reinforce your membership in the group (to compensate for violating group norms of belief). If you’re signaling to pro-LGBT people that you’re one of them, without raising suspicion of anti-LGBT people, then that could qualify as a dogwhistle. Though generally, IMO, dog-whistling is just part of a spectrum of deceit. As a behavior it only interests me as a minority-recruiting phenomenon. What really interests me is words and phrases that are popular as dog-whistles, how obscure phrases end up reliably signaling some unrelated thing. A good example would be the phrase “The Dred Scott Decision”. If you heard someone throwing that around, as George W. Bush did while musing about his SCOTUS picks, you might they’re talking about slavery or civil rights movement. But if you’ve followed pro-life rhetoric then you know that they see _Dred Scott vs. Sanford_ as identical to _Roe vs. Wade_. When you see them invoke Dred Scott it’s almost certain that someone is trying to rally the base without the opposition picking up on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/103 "2020-07-09T20:46:03Z")
The trouble with the OP is that the left and the right are not two halves, yin and yang. They are differing ways of looking at the world and other humans, but they aren’t binary. Dog whistles are for people who feel they must work in secret. There’s nothing secret about the left that I’ve noticed. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/104 "2020-07-10T00:39:27Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Here’s a new classic Leftist dog-whistle: Black Lives Matter. The BLM organization only cares about black lives that are extinguished by white cops. That’s it. Sure, black people being killed by white cops is a bad thing; nobody disputes that. But it’s a trivial proportion of the problem! Last weekend alone, eleven black lives were extinguished in Chicago. Every one of those murders was perpetrated by a black thug. Where was BLM? Nowhere, _mon frère_ . Hundreds of black-on-black murders have occurred in the USA this year so far, compared to a handful of white-cop-on-black citizen murders, but look where BLM chooses to focus. Classic misdirection and dishonesty. A clear dog-whistle to their followers, hoping to deceive the rest of society. What makes you think BLM only cares about Black lives ended by white cops? I think they care ALSO about Black lives not only ended by racism but also limited in quality by systemic racism. Methinks you are attempting to be provocative or demonize BLM. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/105 "2020-07-10T00:44:19Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Methinks you are attempting to be provocative or demonize BLM. **Tim** is trying to steal **octoupus** ’ schtick? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/106 "2020-07-10T02:00:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Dog whistles are a racist thing. Racists feel they need to hide what they are. So they have ways of signaling to each other while keeping the signals unrecognizable to outsiders. Or they use these signals so they can maintain plausible deniability of what they are. I never took it to be some kind of secret code among a particular in-group. Instead, I always took a “dog whistle” issue to mean something relatively innocuous on its surface that when brought up, causes a certain segment of people to start howling for no apparent reason, like dogs do when someone blows a dog whistle (i.e. they can hear it and it’s uncomfortable, even though people can’t). To that end, I always thought that dog whistles were stances/commentary on topics meant to specifically inflame a certain group, without necessarily being overtly racist or overtly unreasonable. I have some ideas about what left-wing dog whistles (i.e. things that would trigger left-wing people without necessarily sounding entirely unreasonable) might be, but I’m staying quiet for the moment, as I suspect that a lot of people around here are going to hear those as dog whistles that I believe in, and not necessarily as mere examples. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/107 "2020-07-10T02:44:04Z")
Hopefully Tim will feel better in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/108 "2020-07-10T05:47:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [They also don’t just focus on black victims of police violence.](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/09/black-lives-matter-supporters-call-attention-graphic-video-arizona-shooting) Basically no part of **Tim** ’s post was accurate. I’ve lived in Chicago most of my life. Every week, we see the tally of black murder victims, killed by black perpetrators. I have NEVER ONCE seen a representative of BLM decrying this state of affairs. So, with all due respect, and for my city, you don’t know what the hell you are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/109 "2020-07-10T06:18:04Z")
Who cares whether you’ve personally seen it? BLM has indeed campaigned over generic gun violence and an example was cited above. Would anything ever make you drop this particular talking point? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/110 "2020-07-10T10:58:41Z")
Wow, that is a completely different interpretation of “dog whistle” than how I’ve ever heard it used. Let’s define the O.P. shall we? A dog whistle is used to _call dogs to come to you_ without being audible to other humans. The classic example is a politician giving a speech where he says, "We oughta do _something_ about Those People, if you know what I mean, and I think you do … " Or think of an outraged parent telling their teenage daughter not to hang around with Those Kinds Of People anymore. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/111 "2020-07-10T12:13:56Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I have NEVER ONCE seen a representative of BLM decrying this state of affairs. You have been provided with links to exactly what it is that you claim to not see. Not our fault you refuse to see what would upset your narrative. Your blindness is entirely of your own choosing. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/112 "2020-07-10T12:17:53Z")
The use of a real dog whistle is not to inflame dogs, but to train them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/113 "2020-07-10T15:37:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I never took it to be some kind of secret code among a particular in-group. Instead, I always took a “dog whistle” issue to mean something relatively innocuous on its surface that when brought up, causes a certain segment of people to start howling for no apparent reason, like dogs do when someone blows a dog whistle (i.e. they can hear it and it’s uncomfortable, even though people can’t). > > To that end, I always thought that dog whistles were stances/commentary on topics meant to specifically inflame a certain group, without necessarily being overtly racist or overtly unreasonable. No, I believe what you’re describing is called “red meat”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/114 "2020-07-10T15:45:09Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I never took it to be some kind of secret code among a particular in-group. Instead, I always took a “dog whistle” issue to mean something relatively innocuous on its surface that when brought up, causes a certain segment of people to start howling for no apparent reason, like dogs do when someone blows a dog whistle (i.e. they can hear it and it’s uncomfortable, even though people can’t) From The Wiki on the subject: > **[Dog whistle (politics)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics)** > > In politics, a dog whistle is the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named after ultrasonic dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans. Dog whistles use language that appears normal to the majority but communicates specific things to intended audiences. They are generally used to convey messages on issues likely to provoke controversy without attracting negative attention. > > ... ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/115 "2020-07-10T17:41:07Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’ve lived in Chicago most of my life. Every week, we see the tally of black murder victims, killed by black perpetrators. I have NEVER ONCE seen a representative of BLM decrying this state of affairs. So, with all due respect, and for my city, you don’t know what the hell you are talking about. [It’s not my fault you won’t use your eyes.](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/06/24/chicagoans-do-protest-gun-violence-and-organize-for-safer-neighborhoods-all-the-time-heres-how/) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/116 "2020-07-10T19:36:52Z")
I would just like to point out for the record that whistles which cannot be heard by humans but can by dogs, are not used to direct herding dogs, and in fact, having traveled in various dog training circles (competitive Obedience, Agility, and sheepdog trialing, along with some dabbling in Search and Rescue and a few other things) for nearly fifty years, I have never come across one of these whistles, seen one advertised for sale, or witnessed one being used. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/117 "2020-07-10T19:39:27Z")
[Dog whistles.](https://www.amazon.com/dog-dog-whistles/b?ie=UTF8&node=2975423011) Well, now that you have edited your post to remove the part where you said you weren’t sure if they even existed, my post looks a little less relevant. But they are used, not often, but they are. Usually people use the electronic ones, rather than the ones that you actually blow into. I’m not a huge fan myself, but there are others that swear by them. They do do a good job of getting a dog’s attention. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/118 "2020-07-10T19:40:49Z")
Yes, I posted too soon. It looks like some hunters use them. Don’t know anything about hunting dogs. They do exist, just out of the realm of my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/119 "2020-07-10T19:41:52Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > > > I’ve lived in Chicago most of my life. Every week, we see the tally of black murder victims, killed by black perpetrators. I have NEVER ONCE seen a representative of BLM decrying this state of affairs. So, with all due respect, and for my city, you don’t know what the hell you are talking about. > > [It’s not my fault you won’t use your eyes.](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/06/24/chicagoans-do-protest-gun-violence-and-organize-for-safer-neighborhoods-all-the-time-heres-how/) Yeah, but you’ve got to look for that; they don’t show that on the 10:00 news every night. It’s more important to tell you that 7 people were shot to death last weekend than it is to show you the grass-roots efforts to try to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/120 "2020-07-10T20:02:33Z")
Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/121 "2020-07-10T21:55:08Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The use of a real dog whistle is not to inflame dogs, but to train them. Name checks out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012.md?page=7)