Reagan used racially coded language that racists understood without spelling out

Evidence

Reagan’s 1966 gubernatorial campaign (and others thereafter) made liberal use of the slogan “law and order,” a phrase with racist undertones that, like “states’ rights,” is generally construed as code language for keeping blacks in their place. As Robert L. Coate of the California Democratic Party observed, “Reagan handles racism in such a manner that racists understand exactly what he is saying, without his having to spell it out for them.” In a 1971 conversation taped by Richard Nixon, Reagan remarked about “those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 148

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A Black paper likened Reagan’s 1966 record to Wallace’s racism — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 147; Reagan’s states’ rights rhetoric signaled racial backlash — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black: How Race Still…, 286; Reagan’s national ‘we’ implicitly constructed Americans as white — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black: How Race Still…, 293 (+10 more)

Related

• Reagan’s backlash rhetoric repudiated civil rights through coded attacks (similarity 0.84)
• Reagan used color-blind rhetoric to commemorate a sanitized King (similarity 0.81)
• A Black paper likened Reagan’s 1966 record to Wallace’s racism (similarity 0.80)
• Right-wing politics rearticulated white supremacy into code words rather than overt racism (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Reagan’s backlash rhetoric repudiated civil rights through coded attacks #expands (0.93) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 211
• Reagan’s states’ rights rhetoric signaled racial backlash #exemplifies (0.92) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 286
• White politicians shifted from racial slurs to coded language after civil rights #corroborates (0.92) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 89
• Reagan built welfare-fraud narratives to tap white backlash, not reflect reality #exemplifies (0.90) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1061
• Politically coded language can carry racial meaning without naming race #corroborates (0.90)
• Racist meaning can be conveyed without explicit racial reference #corroborates (0.90)
• Color-blind rhetoric functioned as an arsenal of racist dog whistles #corroborates (0.88) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 488
• Right-wing politics rearticulated white supremacy into code words rather than overt racism #corroborates (0.85) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 191
• Racial reaction mobilized via code words instead of repression alone #corroborates (0.82) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 196
• Reagan’s national ‘we’ implicitly constructed Americans as white #expands (0.80) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 293
• Reagan used color-blind rhetoric to commemorate a sanitized King #exemplifies (0.80) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 287