The author is a law professor at Berkeley. His thesis is that today's coded racial appeals have reinvented racism and is now destroying the middle class. His thesis is well-supported. My only criticism is that in some cases he stretches the thesis a little too far.
There is no doubt that racism is at the heart of today's conservatism, today's Republican Party, and in particular the Tea Party. The author starts with our own George Wallace, who discovered to his delight in the 60's that Americans hate black people. Wallace made his run at national politics with this insight. Reagan really got the ball rolling with his Cadillac-driving welfare queens and strapping you bucks buying T-bone steaks. Reagan didn't have to mention race: his followers knew what he was talking about without using the word. His followers and today's Republicans hear the siren song like a dog hearing a sound above the hearing level of Democrats. So like a dog whistle.
Veiled racial appeals enhance the 1% and hurt the middle class. The social conservatives are too stupid and racist to understand what is going on: that they are voting against their best economic interests. It is so sad.
The Republican Party is 99% white. The decline of the middle class in this country is well-defined. These two facts are connected
1 comment:
Calling Richard Sherman a "thug" is a current day example of coded racist language.
Post a Comment