The 5-Part Strategy That Defeats Divide-And-Distract Electoral Rhetoric

Did you catch our last online membership meeting? We learned how some politicians use coded racist rhetoric to shame and blame immigrants and divide and distract citizens. And we learned a strong, progressive message that can disarm dog-whistle racism.

Watch the video below to find out how you can disarm dog-whistle racism in electoral rhetoric.

In the meeting, we learned that a strong message that disarms dog-whistle racist rhetoric has five elements:

First, discuss race overtly.

Second, name scapegoating based on race as a tactic that is used to harm us economically.

Third, emphasize uniting across race and background.

Fourth, remind people that we have won before by uniting across race and background.

And fifth, make it clear that working together is how we make government work for all of us.

Click here to get two tools to help you use this messaging when talking to friends, family and decision-makers.

America’s Voice broke down the four most prominent dog-whistle xenophobic and racist images in political ads, including the one we looked at during the meeting.

Write a letter to the editor that disarms dog-whistle racism

Ready to disarm racist dog-whistles and change the conversation about immigration policy? How about starting by writing a letter to the editor! The more people we expose to a strong message that calls out scapegoating based on race, the more people we can innoculate against racist divide-and-distract rhetoric.

1. Write a letter to the editor of The Monitor newspaper or to your local newspaper. Choose a topic of your liking, it doesn't have to be about immigration or the border.
2. Use the sample messages in this guide as a model for your letter. Make sure to put it in your own words.
3. Letters should be 150-200 words and end with your name, address, city and phone number. Don't worry, your address and phone number won't be printed.
4. Email your letter to sergiot@lupenet.org so we can give you pointers before you submit it. If you don't know how to submit your letter, we'll help you find out.
5. When your letter is published, we will share it on our social media.