New York Times staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones said Monday on CNN’s “The Lead” that she believed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) uses coded language while former President Donald Trump and former FNC host Tucker Carlson were pretty “openly white nationalist.”
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “The wedge issues are discussed differently today. In 1963, we were three years away from Lester Maddox, a proud, racist segregationist in Georgia becoming the governor of Georgia. Lester Maddox could not exist today. But Lester Maddox would not talk the way he did then today were he running, right? It’s different. What are the wedge issues today that you hear?”
Hannah-Jones said, “Yes, absolutely. So since 1968, it is no longer legal in this country to explicitly discriminate against black Americans. So of course, we’ve learned over the last 60 years that you have to use different language, that you have to use language that appears to be race neutral but sends the same dogwhistle.”
She continued, “We can look at Ron DeSantis running on this platform against what he’s calling wokeism, but where those of us who study history, who understand the societies we live in, understand that’s often coded as language against black Americans, as language against other marginalized groups. How do we know that? He also banned the teaching of African-American advanced placement studies in the state.”
Hannah-Jones added, “Yes, we do see a more coded language. It’s also a language that’s not often that coded. Donald Trump came to office on a pretty openly white nationalist campaign. We see people like Tucker Carlson who are allowed to have a major platform on the most watched cable news television in the country and who openly talked white nationalist talking points. We kind of have this wink and a nod racism. It’s barely concealed. All of us can hear it.”
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