- Mar 11, 2015
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Blacks and whites have had different experiences in America. Whites tell a story of a group of people who came over on the Mayflower. Blacks tell stories about being stuck in the bowels of ships like the Amistad. We did not see the Beaver Cleaver nation many whites talk about. During the 50s, we were protesting having to sit on the back of the bus and segregated schools. We didn’t have time to worry about Lumpy Rutherford. Let me add this, and maybe the whites who are the problem can understand better how things are now. Today no freedom riders are going into towns to teach children how to read and then finding whole communities of adult blacks who also can’t read. Those days are over. Blacks are educated now, and more blacks than ever before are entering colleges or post-secondary training. We know what you mean when you say certain things. Dogs don’t whistle, and “Make America Great Again,” means that “we want white dominion.” The use of various terms have been weaponized by the racists subculture and used as dogwhistles that members of that subculture uses then claims plausible deniability when called on the obvious racism of the statement. DEI is one of those terms.
A dog whistle is a term that also does something else—something less socially acceptable—below the surface. It is a coded, deniable bit of language that allows people to communicate ideas that would be too offensive if done explicitly.
As podcaster Peter Shamshiri puts it:
"What they're doing is trying to create a framework whereby any person of color's position is inherently suspect…It's about building a sociocultural mechanism for reinforcing the existing hierarchy."
There's nothing new about this sort of effort. But the way DEI is used to play into racist sentiments is uniquely powerful, and more potent than other culture war terms.
Condemnations of critical race theory played a key role in educational gag orders and book bans in states like Florida. But that is limited to educational contexts.
"Affirmative action" is also used to attack members of underrepresented groups who find their way into desirable positions, but it's no good for book bans. Other terms like "woke," "snowflake" and "politically correct" can readily be used to discredit anti-racist activists, but they can't be easily applied to someone who integrates into a white workplace.
DEI can cover all of these. Those books you don't like? Blame DEI initiatives. Black people getting prestigious jobs? DEI is at fault. Annoying young student activists? Too much DEI on university campuses. It's hard to find a hot-button issue or social context where DEI can't be hurled as a term of abuse to undermine marginalized people.
We are looking at a fascist movement by the extreme right element in the white community. It is now time for all who oppose white supremacy to stand up.
Why the term 'DEI' is being weaponized as a racist dog whistle
In right-wing rhetoric, the DEI label is often used to play upon racial resentments. It is increasingly appropriated as a racist dog whistle used to question and undermine the positions, qualifications and abilities of racialized people.A dog whistle is a term that also does something else—something less socially acceptable—below the surface. It is a coded, deniable bit of language that allows people to communicate ideas that would be too offensive if done explicitly.
As podcaster Peter Shamshiri puts it:
"What they're doing is trying to create a framework whereby any person of color's position is inherently suspect…It's about building a sociocultural mechanism for reinforcing the existing hierarchy."
There's nothing new about this sort of effort. But the way DEI is used to play into racist sentiments is uniquely powerful, and more potent than other culture war terms.
Condemnations of critical race theory played a key role in educational gag orders and book bans in states like Florida. But that is limited to educational contexts.
"Affirmative action" is also used to attack members of underrepresented groups who find their way into desirable positions, but it's no good for book bans. Other terms like "woke," "snowflake" and "politically correct" can readily be used to discredit anti-racist activists, but they can't be easily applied to someone who integrates into a white workplace.
DEI can cover all of these. Those books you don't like? Blame DEI initiatives. Black people getting prestigious jobs? DEI is at fault. Annoying young student activists? Too much DEI on university campuses. It's hard to find a hot-button issue or social context where DEI can't be hurled as a term of abuse to undermine marginalized people.
We are looking at a fascist movement by the extreme right element in the white community. It is now time for all who oppose white supremacy to stand up.
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