The feral utility of dog whistle statements rests in their deniability.
A racist tweets the whistle, and friends and foes alike get the racist message. Then the whistler denies they whistled, insisting instead that foes are overly defensive or are imagining things. It’s a beguiling defense against being offensive.
And it fails to work only if the racist makes one of two mistakes: Either they say, “Hey everybody, what I’m about to say is racist, and I mean it, so don’t believe me when I deny it afterward.” Or, they tweet racist things so long, and deploy the dog whistle defense so effectively, that hubris sets in, and they say or do something so racist that even their friends say, “You need to take that one back and return to the safe ground of dog-whistling.”
Chris Caldwell
That’s what happened when the president displayed racist images of the Obamas and even Republicans called him on it. And now, after President Donald Trump took down the post, 12 hours later, his friends will expect his foes to comply with the dog whistle ritual as most have in the past.
I offer a few simple reasons why we should not do that.
First, the release of this racist video did not happen in a vacuum. It’s part of a long pattern. If I have a habit of punching people in alleys and someone spots me leaving an alley after someone has been punched, the burden of proof is on me.
Second, it took 12 hours to take it down, and still the president refuses to admit he did anything wrong. Classic dog whistle dodgy behavior.
Third, it’s just so blatantly racist. That’s what has made it a tipping point. You can’t put out a video of a Black person made to look like a monkey, then kinda sorta back away from it, and not be a racist.
Buying a rifle and reflective orange vest, going into the woods and killing a deer, then saying, “I’m not a hunter” — Not a thing.
Joining a basketball team, scoring four points in a game, then saying, “I don’t play basketball” — Not a thing.
Making countless racially offensive statements, putting out a video of Black people as monkeys, then saying, “I’m not a racist” — Not a thing.
The president of the United States is a racist. And I say that as someone who tends to take people where they are and try to work with them from that point, and as someone who typically eschews labeling people, because labeling people is often sloppy and counterproductive.
There are times when, for the greater good, pragmatism may call us to soften our language. But, as Jesus taught us, there is a time when yes has to be yes and no has to be no. And as Howard Thurman taught us, there is also a point at which the person themself becomes a deception.
It’s time for our country to stop living as a deception. The president of the United States is a racist. Undeniably.
Chris Caldwell serves as a professor at Simmons College of Kentucky and as interim pastor at Louisville’s Highland Baptist Church.