I suppose that any time that I speak or use words I am using a kind of code. Words may imply what I am thinking, but they are only useful to the degree that they come close to what is in my mind. I value clarity, and appreciate it when someone’s words clearly code what is in their mind. This doesn’t always happen.
When I hear people speak about issues involving race, the meaning is often hidden in a code that has meaning only to those of us who have been trained and initiated. Rather than speak openly and clearly, people often speak in a code that somewhat shields them from being called racist.
An article recently appeared in the Southwest Journal that included a quote from a resident that was racially coded. I send the author a message that addressed this issue:
“I was interested in the quote from Sean Thorud about ‘what kind of element’ light rail will bring into the Bryn Mawr neighborhood. The reference to North Minneapolis is clear race code meant to raise fears and uneasiness in white readers like me.
I appreciate the problem that a newspaper has in reporting quotes such as that. But while it may be a correct representation of someone’s opinion, it also gives such racial agitation a broad audience. I am willing to wager that any white reader of your reporting of that quote will feel the racial meaning and experience the racial uneasiness associated with it. I think that the newspaper, perhaps unwittingly, reinforces the racial bias by stoking the racial fears of white readers like me. I can only guess about the offended feelings your black readers might experience.
If the newspaper is going to report those kind of comments, I would appreciate a comment by the writer that it is a racial slur. The quote might be couched in soft language, it might pretend to be subtle, it might be even be disguised as “nice”, but it is easily felt as racially coded and meant to stir fear and anxiety. I don’t think that the newspaper should participate in that kind of complicity any more than it would quote language that is blatantly offensive.
I for one am offended by the quote you included from Sean Thorud. I am offended that you would use a quote that would seek to stir racial unease in me as one of your readers. I am offended that a quote like that would be used because of a belief that readers like me might be disturbed by it. I am offended that such a quote might be associated with my neighborhood.
We white people have learned how to talk with one another in a coded way that conveys a racist message without blatantly appearing to be racist. We deftly and subtly pluck at the anxieties and discomforts that we have about people of a different color, without experiencing the embarrassment of displaying our full intent. I encourage the newspaper not to participate in this charade and either avoid statements that are racially coded or call them out for what they are: racially based slurs. “
I am satisfied that the editor responded favorably but the issue will continue to be a part of my life. I intend to be more alert to this kind of coding, in myself and others. I will attempt to clarify what it is people are actually saying and push for clarity when anyone is making a racially tainted comment. By paying attention to how I feel when I hear such a suspicious comment, I will know whether it has a racial meaning.