#DEI dogwhistle

[abigailspinach]

Multiple outlets reported that Republican leadership has implored the conference to quit attacking Harris in racist and gendered ways, encapsulated by the shorthand of calling her a “DEI hire.”

Republican lawmakers…aren’t listening.

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) today: “Intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel,” she said, adding: “I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that’s what we’re seeing, and I just don’t think that they have anybody else.”

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) Monday: “The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington. The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president.”

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) over the weekend: “A lot of Democrats feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.”

Bonus from former Trump administration official and now Fox Business commentator Larry Kudlow: “Her whole history is DEI.”

We’ve been talking about this since way back when Harris was elevated (ha). Racism and sexism are baked into the MAGA movement; “fuck your feelings” and the freedom to express those bigotries are part of its appeal. Trying to get its members to sublimate those beliefs for a general electorate is a toothpaste/tube situation.

[cranberrysaucebauce]

Me watching more older “centrist” blogs I used to follow get sniped during election year because they finally said “fuck it” and got more racist on main

[renmorris]

ableism in the disco elysium fandom is fucking crazy because you like, can’t even talk about Harry and Jean shooting up a church, or the hole in reality that exists there now, and how Sacred and Terrible Air confirms that trauma and death accelerate the growth of the Pale, or crazy shit like that Dora actually was confirmed by Luiga and Kurvitz to be Dolores Dei

because you’re stuck taking baby kindergartener steps with cruel morons as you have to walk them through concepts like 'disabled people aren’t evil' ‘flanderizing Kim into an emotionless or cruel or predatory person is racist' 'maybe the ableist cop who drops right wing dogwhistles and uses his position to punch down on vulnerable people isn’t a reliable source on Harry’s character' etc etc

there are so much more interesting conversations we could be having but I feel like I can barely get to them when so many people think Harry’s a bad person because he’s sick and poor as opposed to he’s a bad person because he’s a fucking cop that brutalizes civilians

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

A completed draft Texas Republican Party platform refers to homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice,” gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” and Drag Queen Story Hour as “predatory sexual behavior.” The platform has been voted on by state party delegates and will be formally adopted on Wednesday after a final vote count. The list of state party priorities calls for an end to legal same-sex marriages, same-sex parenting, all LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws, all transgender rights — including gender-affirming care for children and adults — a ban on LGBTQ+ content in schools and libraries, the defunding of all diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and legal protections for anyone who discriminates against queer people based on “religious or moral beliefs.”

Furthermore, the Texas GOP platform calls for a complete end to all of the following: pornography, federal welfare programs, minimum wage laws, mandatory sick or family leave policies, net neutrality, removal of Confederate monuments, pro-immigrant sanctuary cities, public education of undocumented children, no-fault divorce, non-abstinence sex education, abortion, birthright citizenship, professorial tenure in colleges and universities, cannabis legalization, anti-climate change legislation, contact tracing for the tracking of communicable diseases, federal regulations ensuring safe farm food production, and U.S. participation in the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The platform also calls for fertilized human egg cells to be legally recognized as people, the passage of a “state electoral college-style” law that would make it nearly impossible for Democrats to win statewide office, a ballot measure for Texas to secede from the United States, the invalidation of all federal laws not approved of by county sheriffs, and for Christianity to be inserted into public schools and government buildings.

[...] “Homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice,” it continues. “No one should be granted special legal status based on their LGBTQ+ identification…. We are opposed to same-sex parenting, intentionally subjecting a child to the loss of their biological father or mother, and other non-traditional definitions of family.” “We oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity,” it adds. “There shall be no attempt to engage in so-called ‘gender affirming’ medical or mental health intervention for persons between the ages of 18 and 26,” including the use of names and pronouns associated with trans people’s genders. The platform would require health insurance companies covering gender-affirming care to also fully fund de-transitional procedures. The platform says that any professionals who aid a minor’s gender transition in any way should face professional, civil, and criminal penalties, as well as lawsuits from anyone affected by their behavior. Furthermore, it calls for all gender-segregated facilities in prisons, schools, and government buildings to only be accessible to people based on their biological sex assigned at birth.

[...] It also calls for laws prohibiting the exposure of minors to “social transitioning” (that is, exploration of a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth), “predatory sexual behaviors” like Drag Queen Story Hour, and “the desensitization of children to sexual topics.”

The Texas GOP's platform reaffirms and expands its war on LGBTQ+ Texans, such as including anti-LGBTQ+, anti-trans, and anti-drag planks like baselessly calling Drag Queen Story Hours "predatory sexual behaviors" and gender-affirming care "child abuse".

This is in addition to calling homosexuality "an abnormal lifestyle choice" (a bigoted dogwhistle term used against recognizing LGBTQ+ identity) and opposing trans identity.

[determinate-negation]

i saw someone put the frankfurt school on a list of nazi dogwhistles lmao

please send me lmfaoo. to be fair whoever made that list might have mixed up the term actual nazi dogwhistle term cultural marxism with the people it refers to. right wingers are completely obsessed with the frankfurt school for inventing 'cultural marxism' and they think that theyre responsible for like sex ed and DEI trainings

[silentreigns]

Trying to downplay the racial implications of what happened is so tired. If y'all don't go congratulate that Romanian girl and leave the rest of us alone.

And if you don't understand what I mean, it's that as soon as the Floor competition ended, many people pointed out how the Romanian girl was bursting into tears after the final scores came through. This resulted in a lot of people calling Jordan every slur in the book. Also it downplayed all the hard work Jordan put in, saying that they only gave her the bronze originally because of "DEI" and because they wanted an all black podium for a moment. Do not try to ignore all of the dogwhistles thrown at Jordan

[vanilla-voyeur]

That's because they took our term. For once, we picked something that doesn't make us sound unhinged and now they sound unhinged for being against it. This and DEI are the rare times where we just described what we wanted straightforwardly instead of those horrible reverse dogwhistles we're always using.

the fact that there is an anti-intellectual fascist movement that uses "woke" as a word to rally against is so cartoonish. like a serious fraction of the population is fervently opposed to the idea of their ignorance being challenged. like if u were to write a dystopian novel with fascists decrying the very idea of being more enlightened and that was the terminology it would come across as too on-the-nose

[zencribnotes]

The fact that we have people both online and offline regularly using “degenerate” or the r-slur in everyday speech and as a response to normie internet posts should be the loudest dogwhistle for when people are getting steadily radicalized.

If its revitalization came from some kind of fandom, it’s definitely the fandom of right-wing streamers and people who profit from agitating people into a frenzy against “DEI” or being anti-MeToo, trickling down to the middling podcasts and streamers who try to court that audience by adopting and normalizing the language.

[fooligandan]

OH i know what dei means i was just like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CHIN IS DEI ITS A CHIN AND ALSO CHUBBY? WHERES THE BEEF" lol

AHHH OK LOL i see but no yeah me too, i have NO clue what "diverse chin" even means (regardless of being just, like, dogwhistling to its audience, like it just straight up makes no sense) also right lolll

[acolddarkwalkintherain]

Racists have started really liking the term "DEI" and it's clear that they think it's a good dogwhistle but everyone knows they mean "a race I don't like"

[faelynnupward]

DEI hire has always been a dogwhistle. Always.

Vote for Kamala

[loudtitan]

"DEI Hire" is the new "Affirmative Action Hire" #dogwhistle #dwightmann ...

[persephonis-gardens]

"Look at this scene from Conservative Show Made By And For Conservatives Hosted On The Conservative Propaganda Platform dude! It's SOOO Qweer! They ACCIDENTALLY made Conservative Show gay, wow right wing FAIL amiright? I bet the people on the animation team were ALL SECRETLY LGBTQ, it's the only explanation for how GAY Conservative Show is. Really goes to show how all conservatives are REPRESSED SEXUAL FREAKS, huh. The main character, Mr. Manly Conservativeman is SOOO homoerotoc and the show is BASICALLY about his secret queer romance with Professor Soybun Wokeford-Groomington trust me bro, Conservative Show is secretly Qweer Media and Mr. Manly Conservativeman is a Qweer ICON. You NEED to watch Conservative Show we can totally RECLAIM Mr. Manly Conservativeman that's why it's actually PRAXIS to purchase a subscription to Conservative Propaganda Platform and POST about Conservative Show on Xwitter. It will totally piss off all the right wing chuds how much money and attention we give to their GAY show"

>Looks inside

>Professor Soybun Wokeford-Groomington is limpwristed woke gay groomer teacher DEI dogwhistle and main series antagonist. big surprise

>Mr. Manly Conservativeman's "homoerotocism" is just hegemonic masculinity, "I hate my wife" boomer humor, patriarchal gender norms and dick jokes

>"Gay scene" is blatantly homophobic reactionary joke scene played for laughs and shock value

Are we really that desperate for queer rep? C'mon people

[cherryblossombombs]

So "DEI" is the new "woke" or "CRT" they're using as a dogwhistle. Or in translation: if there's more than one colored person or more than one woman in the group, I don't like it.

[arueshalaetablebuildingsociety]

Yeah, the phrase "DEI" (referring to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is one of the most obvious dogwhistles on the planet and I'm kinda surprised that slipped by people. "DEI-infected" might as well be the triple-parentheses on 4chan for how horrifically blatant it is.

i think men should be locked up and incinerated

[pretty-weird-ideas]

This and also... POC can disagree on solutions and critique each other on the basis of what solutions are needed. But surprisingly, EOTWR didn’t even do that. They have been supportive of what the candidates have said they have done, at best you could state that they ended on a low note on the candidates with, “Yes this is good but they didn’t mention one of our three demands”. But like, I cannot stress this enough that if this wasn’t an antiracist movement that called itself such, people would not be upset that a single issue campaign kept hustling about a specific policy they wanted. 

Like. I’m not asking why a problack prison reform campaign hasn’t said anything about other black issues (lest they be antiblack). Nor would I call said prison reform campaign critiquing Kamala Harris antiblack posers. Another example, if an anti-puppy mill campaign was working with Vegans and they reblog, support and join in their action. The campaign can support them, but still ask whether or not they support puppy mill regulations. People flipping out that POC question other POC about their specific antiracism policies as if that is calling their experiences into question is against progress. I promise you that these candidates do not give a flying and flipping fuck that other people said, “They didn’t say anything about the DEI consultant in this interview. Let’s ask them next time.”.

Also I’ve noticed people specifically making antiblack dogwhistles regarding who the mods might be. Which is... no don’t do that. You can have genuine critique of unequal treatment of candidates by the mods without going “I know what race the mods are teehee (they’re black because I think Black people are inherently ignorant)”.

you know what’s fucking wild? when @end-otw-racism’s first action started in may, they were incredibly clear that they had narrow and specific demands for the otw, and that their demands were commitments the otw had already made. if you need a refresher, here are their demands:

Harassment policies that can be regularly updated to address both on-site harassment and off-site coordinated harassment of AO3 users, with updated protocols for the Policy & Abuse Team to ensure consistent and informed resolutions of abuse claims

A content policy on abusive (extremely racist and extremely bigoted) content; by abusive, we are talking about fanworks that are intentionally used to spread hate and harassment, not those that accidentally invoke racist or other bigoted stereotypes

Hiring a Diversity Consultant within the next 3-6 months

Committing to a policy of transparency on this topic, with quarterly updates on the progress of these projects including challenges and their plan for overcoming those challenges. These quarterly updates should be published on OTW News page and newsletters, not solely discussed in Board meetings

and despite the fact that these were taken specifically from the otw’s own commitments, a lot of people immediately decided that this was an overreach on the campaign’s part. they fabricated supposed secret agendas that the campaign must have; they invoked slippery slope fallacies to say that this would lead to mass content removal for anything on ao3 that even skimmed the line of racism; they claimed to know who was leading the campaign and tried to discredit the campaign based on that, because they claimed that those people had larger agendas.

despite all of that, otw themselves came out reaffirming their commitment to these priorities. which is great, but that was not the end of the work, because those commitments were made by the existing board, which is about to turn over in the upcoming board elections. it's essential to hold the incoming board accountable to the previous board's commitments.

but when @end-otw-racism’s second action around otw board elections has continued to keep those specific, clear demands in their focus, they’re getting hounded for it from the other side: by people claiming that this analysis they did of the otw board candidates – in which eotwr made it clear that they were looking at whether the candidates talked about any of the eotwr demands or not – was racist for not counting the work asian candidates raised around reaching out to non-western and non-english speaking fans as fulfilling eotwr’s demands.

(which, let’s be clear, they don’t! issues around access for non-western and non-anglophone fans, around the way chinese and chinese diaspora volunteers have been mistreated by otw, around translation, are all worthy issues to be pushing on. eotwr has even uplifted some of them. but they are separate from eotwr's core demands.)

so first eotwr is overreaching and trying to bring down every fanwork that could be even slightly misconstrued as racist, even though they’ve always been clear about their narrow and specific goals…and now they’re racist for not addressing every form of racism, even though they’ve always been clear about their narrow and specific goals?

it is completely valid for eotwr to look at the board candidates’ platforms and say “they did not mention these things that we are looking for”, because the things that eotwr is looking for are commitments otw has already made. it is not eotwr picking out certain “keywords” that they’d like to see – they are looking at whether potential incoming board members are prioritizing those specific commitments and will uphold them. and otw has had those commitments for three years! this is not new stuff!

also, if you read that analysis again, eotwr is not even criticizing the candidates for not mentioning their demands! they are simply pointing out what we can glean about the candidates from their platforms and bios, because the platforms are the main information we have about the board candidates right now. eotwr has been incredibly clear that they want to talk to candidates and learn more about their priorities. they've also been clear in urging other people to come up with their own analyses of the board candidates, and they have in fact reblogged and uplifted other people’s perspectives on the candidates.

i cannot stress enough that we need more folks in this space to be pushing on anti-racism, and eotwr having a narrow scope is not a bad thing. there is endless work to be done, and others who disagree with eotwr’s tactics should start their own campaigns! eotwr literally only started like two months ago with a call to action. it’s very possible to emulate them and push for parallel priorities.

advocacy work also needs groups with different tactics and approaches. my day job is in climate change advocacy, and we do our most effect work when multiple organizations are representing different perspectives and pushing in different ways. i'd love to see that kind of advocacy ecosystem built up in fandom.

but right now, eotwr is the only campaign i know of trying to do large-scale anti-racism work around otw at all. and to actively push against the campaign because you think it’s racist to focus on specific goals and gently critique board candidates based only on those specific goals? is, i'm sorry, fucking ridiculous.