Dog Whistles or Old Saws
Ron DeSantis, Republican of Florida and devout Trump supporter, won the Florida Republican Gubernatorial primary this week. He built his campaign around his fealty to the President, even filming a television commercial with his toddler “building the wall” and learning how to read from a “Make America Great Again” poster. He spent millions of dollars less than his opponent, but got millions of dollars (approximately $9 million) in free advertising from Fox News appearances.
Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee, won the Democratic nomination for the race, defeating front-runner former Congresswoman Gwen Graham. Gillum will now bid to become the first African-American Governor of Florida.
Gillum ran from the “left-wing” of the Democratic Party. His platform includes health insurance for all, a $15/hour minimum wage, a billion dollar increase in Florida education spending, and an increase in corporate income taxes. He was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders as well as supported by billionaire progressives Tom Steyer and George Soros.
In a world were common political sense says that campaigns are won in the middle among the independents and undecided, DeSantis and Gillum are running from the extremes. The two “middle of the road” candidates of both parties were left behind in the primary. So it is seems likely that this campaign will generate a lot of controversy.
It didn’t take twelve hours. On a Wednesday morning Fox News interview, DeSantis made the following statement about his opponent:
“He is an articulate spokesman for those far-left views. And he’s a charismatic candidate… …The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.”
Gillum and the media immediately cried “foul,” claiming DeSantis was mimicking his mentor by using “dog whistles” to racist followers. They claim the terms “articulate” and “monkey” were coded insults against black opponents.
“Monkey this up” is an awkward phrase. “Monkey around” or “monkeys and a football” or “monkey business” all are common phrases. “Mess this up” or “Screw this up” or its more profane derivation is commonly used. But where did the phrase “monkey this up” come from?
Racists have long used monkeys, apes, and gorillas as insulting terms for black people. To insert the word “monkey” for what should have been “mess or screw” couldn’t have been accidental, it doesn’t fit. So DeSantis, Harvard and Yale educated, either intentionally chose the term, or subconsciously inserted it.
In the same way, claiming that an African-American candidate is “articulate” has undertones of racism as well. It highlights the “surprise” that an African-American could be so “well spoken.” DeSantis isn’t the first to run into this situation. Joe Biden, in opening his last campaign for President in 2007, made the following statement about his opponent Barack Obama:
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
What Biden meant as a compliment came out as condescension to his black opponent. He quickly apologized, Obama accepted, and the campaign of 2008 moved on. DeSantis, a history major and lawyer, would or should have been aware of that precedent. So again he either intentionally chose the term, or subconsciously inserted it.
What my grandfather might have said, or even my father, is not politically acceptable today. What was common speech in the 1940’s or 50’s we now know is “loaded language” full of racist connotations. Politicians use speech as their “art,” their way of shaping the views of potential voters. So when DeSantis places these “loaded” terms in his speech, we can’t assume that it’s an accident, or something his grandfather used to say, or even his subconscious bias slipping through.
Politicians practice the art of communication. Either DeSantis is committing malpractice, or he’s doing exactly what he intends to do: communicating to the voters of Florida that they really don’t want to vote for a black man. It exactly what the President would do.
