Political dog whistles are everywhere and serve a clear purpose: to sow divisions. Oe normal or go out'. Three years ago, Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed this sentence in an open letter that was published in almost all the morning newspapers. A few years earlier, the VVD Rotterdam had the electoral slogan 'In Rotterdam we speak Dutch. ' At the announcement of Rutte III, both the Prime Minister and CDA leader Sybrand Buma spoke about the 'ordinary Nederlandlander'. Sometimes it is called the 'hardworking Dutch'. Also often heard: 'our culture', 'our norms and values' and 'border guarding against the 'illegal migrant'.

These terms are not as harmless as they seem: they act as a so-called political dog whistle (dog whistle).“Like a dog whistle gives a high tone that only dogs can hear, so a political dog whistle is a two-level message: at the first level it looks like it's not about breed at all, but for a select audience it's a sharp reaction,” says Ian Haney López, professor of law at California Berkeley University. One #politiek Dog whistle can also be gay, transphobic or mysogyn (anti-female).On racial dog whistles, López wrote the book Dog Whistle Politics in 2019 and the sequel Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America in 2019.

Political dog whistles are everywhere and serve a clear purpose: to sow divisions.

TREINTJE BAUDET: Baudet still has credit with his own supporters, even after the 'train tweet' with which he dominated the news this week. A stupid mistake, the sympathizers call that NRC reporter Philip de Witt Wijnen spoke the false accusation Baudet made on social media, but it is good that he mentions cases. Because: “It could have happened.” Like Baudet himself, they call the reproach of racism absurd.



What politicians actually mean when they say, 'Save this country! '