In this episode of Achieve Great Things, we talk with Ian Haney Lopez, Director of the Racial Politics Project at the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at Berkeley Law about insights and ideas from his new book, Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America.
In 2014, Lopez introduced an important new term to the field of political communication with his book, Dog Whistle Politics. In it, he explained how politicians have used carefully coded language to stir up racial anxiety and resentment to divide Americans and win elections. Political strategists and progressive leaders are struggling to counter the insidious power of racial appeals in American politics, but Haney says that a race-class approach might be the solution.
“Racial division has become the principal weapon in the class war,” said Lopez. “The rich are winning and naming that allows the broadest possible progressive coalition.”
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