Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Dog Whistle Racism: He Who Hears The Whistle Is The Dog


"He said, 'Black people.' Waaahhcism! Waaahhcism!"

From Ace of Spades:
The problem isn’t that Tingles is willing to presume racism; the problem is that his presumption is irrebuttable, with subconscious racism the inevitable fallback presumption in cases like these when the accused protests vehemently enough. You’re guilty, even if you don’t know it. 
True. He always frames it as "have you stopped beating your wife?" and then talks over you as you try to make your point. And he's been doing it for decades
But here's a little value-add over and above cribbing from Allah via James Taranto's WSJ column today. It's a point that never seems to dawn on Tingles and the rest of the dog whistle crowd as we laugh at them. 
The thing we adore about these dog-whistle kerfuffles is that the people who react to the whistle always assume it's intended for somebody else. The whole point of the metaphor is that if you can hear the whistle, you're the dog.


Read the whole thing.

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