Summary of Ian Haney Lopez's Dog Whistle Politics

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was a racial moderate before he was elected in 1963. But after his inauguration, he became a segregationist.

#2 In the 1950s, many Southern politicians began to shift to the right on race, as the pressure of black equality began to destabilize the political culture of white supremacy.

#3 Wallace realized that he could exploit the widespread animosity towards blacks. He began speaking about states’ rights and federal overreach, and his supporters began sending him congratulatory telegrams across the country.

#4 Wallace ran for president as a third-party candidate in 1964, and then again in 1968, 1972, and 1976. He was quick to adopt and use racial demagoguery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669384977

IRB Media

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Insights on Ian Haney Lopez's Dog Whistle Politics

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was a racial moderate before he was elected in 1963. But after his inauguration, he became a segregationist.

#2

In the 1950s, many Southern politicians began to shift to the right on race, as the pressure of black equality began to destabilize the political culture of white supremacy.

#3

Wallace realized that he could exploit the widespread animosity towards blacks. He began speaking about states’ rights and federal overreach, and his supporters began sending him congratulatory telegrams across the country.

#4

Wallace ran for president as a third-party candidate in 1964, and then again in 1968, 1972, and 1976. He was quick to adopt and use racial demagoguery.

#5

The Republican Party today is almost entirely made up of white voters, but this was not always the case. In the 1960s, the Republican Party was split over whether or not to appeal to racist sentiments in order to gain power.

#6

The Republican Party used racism to become the White Man’s Party, while the Democratic Party leaned in the other direction.

#7

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was a clear example of how the old, internally divided racial politics between the two parties had persisted. Yet, it also showed the emergence of new politics based on party alignment along racial lines.

#8

Goldwater’s campaign flaunted the racial pandering that defined the era, but he also made clear that he opposed the New Deal, which was popular in the South. He was willing to say what people wanted to hear, as long as it was what he thought they needed to hear.

#9

Goldwater’s conservative policies also did not sit well with many voters in the North, as they were seen as racist.

#10

The country as a whole seemed to have solidified its support for the New Deal in 1964, but the South was still enticed by racial politics,