Why the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor Getting Wider

In American politics, the increase in inequality has become probably the major issue even as scholars try to come up with the conflicting explanation on why the gap between the rich and the poor has been widening since the 1960s. The various explanation has been social and political and has focused on the tendency of the middle class and the working class Americans to vote against their interest. Now that racism have been identified as the source of inequality in income, why it that very few individuals still considers racial discrimination as a cause of the widening gap? Dog Whistle Politics focuses on how dog whistle racial politics has played an essential role in increasing inequality that is being experienced at the moment. Dog whistle has become prevalent in the American politics which refers to signals which are coded and sent to particular groups of people and only those people understands the code, the same as a dog can know a dog whistle. The book written by Lopez focuses on dog whistles since the 1960s up to the moment indicating that their appeals have assisted in generating the middle class and the working class majority eagerness to policies that were more harmful to their on interest (Lopez).

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The author informs a decade-in lengthy story of moral inconsistency and corrosion probing different tactic the keeps the scale unbalanced between the whites and the blacks. However, the big idea is that racism has evolved even before the civil war, and has played a crucial role in the breakdown of the middle class and liberalism itself. According to Lopez, racism used to be plainly severe, humiliating and exclusionary, but at the moment, it has changed into subtle and less noticeable forms. The author cautions that the future of the nation is hampered by a particular mechanism for switching and restricting progress: dog whistling the political strategy of utilizing coded racial dialect on two levels: inaudible and denied quickly in one range, yet invigorating strong response in another. Lopez writes that most white American do not see themselves as racist and do not intentionally harbor hatred to blacks. The author believes that most of white Americans who are vulnerable to the tempting tons of dog whistle politics are exceptional individuals stunned by articulations of racial oppression. Nonetheless, being fundamentally good person gives no invulnerability from manipulative predations of the people who utilizes coded wording and narrating to ingrain negative generalization regarding minorities and accomplish ideological objectives. Does it mean that we are a land of decent fools? (Lopez).

The book describes the strategies that determined the use of race so as to influence the voter, win election and push for policies when they take on the office. Lopez shows the way coded communication started and how it has been used and adapted up to now. In the end, the gains of the minority are minimized while the power of the whites is maximized. For instance, by relating crime and drug use and abuse of welfare programs such as stamps, it increasingly scares most of the Americans to roll the federal government back and vote against their interest. Lopez notes that in the 1960s and 1970s, many white Americans who had supported new deal safety nets started to turn against them, the moment they became concerned that other minorities will take advantage of their benefits

The book reveals that every president since 1964 including Obama has used racial coding during their campaigns since they wanted to be elected as presidents. For example, President Obamas was attacked when used the teleprompter, and according to Lopez, this was a dog whistle for American racist whites who questioned the intelligence of black people. Lopez discusses those politicians who have been the manipulating race at election time. For instance, while Ronald Reagan was campaigning for the presidency, he told stories about, cedilla-driving welfare queens. According to Lopez, such stories pushed middle-class white American to vote against the economic self-interest to punish minorities who they believed that they were being given too much public assistance at their expense. This does not sound subtle at all, even though Lopez maintains that Reagan provided enough cover from accusations of racism. Historically, the use and evolution of race are correct. But the question that continues to be asked is, how familiar to the sensible mind is coding? How persuading is it to the unconscious mind? The truth is that many white individuals are not pretenders. When you reflect of Reagans campaign, it was easy to realize that Reagan was tapping the code out. It was well known that when politicians began creeping regarding the rights of states to white people, what they only meant was that when it comes down to you and the blacks, we are together. A few politicians like Wallace and Romney failed to gather national momentum. Is it because they could not transform their identities into a magic combo of smooth and delightful. The capability of Reagans to fool so many voters was his skills at persuading Americans that he was a concerned fellow who could not trust anybody (Lopez).

The arguments of Lopez are adamant since they recognize that racism is a continuous problem that had not disappeared when slurs left the official political forum. Lope further discusses the issue of the politically-correct colorblind behaviors that suggest any clear mention of race is racism. Lopezs advocacy on the liberal view of race and social is portrayed when he attacks conservative politicians for allegedly using dog-whistle tactics. Some other time, Lopez cited what appeared to be clear examples racial punch by democratic. For instance, during 2008 campaign, President Bush and McCain would focus on making American get scared of him by saying things like he has the funny name. He is not patriotic to the United States. He looks different as compared to another president on the dollar. This appeared to be a clear illustration of a racial punch (Lopez).

Dog Whistle Politics is an essential contribution to both racial and political analysis and the link between soft racism and the toughening opposition to the government which remains challenging. The consequence of an ignorant and easily duped country are still struggling. What is currently killing our society is racial division, and it is the responsibility of everyone to get out of their comfort zone and talk about race. Additionally, our schools should teach history honestly, to make sure that while children are growing, they receive ideas that match reality. Notably, when you focus on the discussions that have been presented, it is only educational institutions that still hold with the most powers for a change.

Work cited

Lopez, Ian Haney. Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class. Oxford University Press, 2015. Print.