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

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Ian Haney López (Author)
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Ian Haney López (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 146 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0190229252
ISBN-10: 019022925X
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 019022925X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0190229252
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 1 x 6.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsTopical? Have you heard of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling?
By Jared Castle VINE VOICE on May 15, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Any doubt that dog whistles - code words that turn Americans against each other - is a relevant topic in 2014 is illustrated by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Author Ian Haney López was interviewed on Bill Moyers' PBS show last February. He described the motivation behind the political tactic, the "dark magic" used to seduce middle-class voters.

"It comes out of a desire to win votes," Haney López told Moyers. "And in that sense... It's racism as a strategy. It's cold, it's calculating, it's considered, it's the decision to achieve one's own ends, here winning votes, by stirring racial animosity."

It would be hard to say from which political perspective (party) this book touches most. For a Republican, it is a reminder that the party's appeal to white Americans includes a racist element. For a Democrat, the book serves as a scorecard for the party's failure to illuminate and defeat dog whistle strategies.

The book is even-handed and well researched, but not entertaining like All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President. I imagine the book elicits outrage in many readers but, for me, it was a dour read. Several times, I wanted to stop reading because the subject matter is so depressing. I associate this to watching Schindler's List, an experience you should take once but not one made for repeat viewings/readings.

Rating: Five stars
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4.0 out of 5 starsGood historical context, eye-opening
By Daniel Estes on January 9, 2014
Format: Hardcover
What starts off as a historical review of communicating racism via covert political language to win elections, AKA dog whistle politics, eventually transforms into a plea for more public discourse on race in general. Lopez's biggest point of contention is the trend toward a belief that we have graduated to a post-racial, colorblind world. His critique of this view further inflames the controversy, as probably intended. While many see colorblindness as the natural end-goal of race relations, Lopez considers it another form of unintentionally coded racism. This naturally provokes the already-uneasy peace many have made with the issue.

I'll admit I was one of those who regarded colorblindness as the morally superior position. And now the author has got me second-guessing that assertion. The solutions he proposes don't seem right to me, but now neither does my current belief on race. I recommend Dog Whistle Politics if you're willing to concede that the issue of race in America is much more complex than previously thought.
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4.0 out of 5 starsHitting the Nail on the Head
By Christine L. Loss on May 20, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I always wondered how the talking-heads on the air were getting away with their racist comments and ideas and this book explains why. And it also explains how the racism is an 'on purpose' strategy by both Republicans and Democrats (but mostly Republicans) to win votes. All a politician has to do is talk about 'welfare queens' or 'big government' or the President's 'birth certificate and it may not sound racist to people who don't harbor mental views about those phrases, but to many people across America...it conjures up mental pictures that actually are racist in nature. People who secretly believe that everyone on welfare is black and doesn't want to work...the term 'welfare queen' is an image that brings that to life. 'Big government' is a term that conjures up images in the minds of many people of white America having to grow a bigger government in order to take care of the freeloading 'others' who aren't white. And talking about the President's birth certificate suggests that he is an 'other'...someone who does not belong here. It would be ridiculous if it wasn't true, but it is. Code words and phrases get otherwise sensible, middle class people to vote against their best interests. And the worst part of all this is that the ones spouting these phrases aren't necessarily racist, but have found that using these code words get them votes. If you wonder why the middle class has lost so much ground, you need to read this book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSubliminal Racism in the Disunited States
By Kevin L. Nenstiel TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 24, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
As I write, partisan media are backpedaling furiously from anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy. Certain sectors made Bundy a hero because he refused to pay taxes, claiming government authority stopped at state level. But tape has come forward showing Bundy making sweeping statements about “the Negro,” culminating in asking: “Are they better off as slaves?” But nobody who reads Ian Haney López will find such language surprising anymore.

For half a century now, Haney López asserts, subliminal racial language has inflected American political discourse. Even as Americans vocally reject white supremacy, “Christian Identity,” and other unreconstructed apartheid, outwardly neutral discourse with racial implications has conquered politics. It’s surprisingly bipartisan, pervasive, and successful. Politicians who use what Haney López calls “coded racial appeals” get elected; those who avoid it, don’t.

Politicians will avoid talking about race directly. But they’ll discuss “the undeserving poor, illegal aliens, and Sharia law,” as Haney López writes, themes which have indubitable racial inferences. When Ronald Reagan talked about “welfare queens,” nobody pictured white trailer trash; his implications were distinctly anti-black. When Bill Clinton prosecuted drug-war tactics with especial vigor, citizens caught in his dragnet shared characteristics based on skin color.

Haney López calls this “dog whistle politics” because it’s completely inaudible on one level, yet irrefutably present. The connection between, say, race and “law and order,” isn’t superficially obvious. But long-term cultural cues, which correlate criminality with skin melanin, have created an unconscious stereotypes of criminals as especially brown.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA provocative study of coded racial appeals

Before reading this book, I never heard of the phrase “Dog Whistle Politics.” I’ll quote the author in providing you with a description of what this means. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Randolph Eck
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

I've referred this book to many people on the political threads.

Published 2 months ago by Mary A. Rodger
4.0 out of 5 starsCoded messages dominate our political system--be sure you are aware of...

So accurate about what has happened to American politics. Politicians playing to our basest fears and prejudices in coded language...Ah, yes, this is indeed what is happening.

Published 2 months ago by Gretchen C. Eick
5.0 out of 5 starsgood

prompt delivery, good read

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsRequired Reading

When you here the terms "welfare", "crime", "assailant", etc. does the picture of a person of color come to mind? (Be honest) If the answer is yes, you need to read this book. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Greg Bolt
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent, easy-to-understand coverage of an important issue that...

Excellent, easy-to-understand coverage of an important issue that affects us all. I recommend it both for academics who study race and anyone is interested in US politics, social... Read more

Published 2 months ago by ceek
4.0 out of 5 starsDynamics of Racism Dissected

Perceptive analysis of disturbing undercurrents in present-day politics, and life in general. Helpful to understanding of how racism has manifest itself in various aspects society. Read more

Published 4 months ago by David Robinson
5.0 out of 5 starsI had a much better understanding regarding the things that I hear...

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... Read more

Published 4 months ago by gloria j haggerty
5.0 out of 5 starsMust Read

A must read really blows the lid off of various tactics such as “colorblindness” and its “punch-parry-kick” turn-the-tables routine, with all the code language. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Eric B
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent

This will open your eyes! Very illuminating.

Published 5 months ago by Cicero66

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