Bryce VomBaur

SOC 2630

10.12.2017

From Theory to Practice Exercise 03

Coded racial language surrounds us. Give some examples of times when you have

heard someone use coded racial language. Identify what was said; then unpack the

utterance, explaining how the speaker was able to collude with racial domination

without explicitly doing so. How should we respond when met with coded racial

language?

Whether we realize it or not, we come into contact with coded racial language all

the time. The general public is prone to hearing coded racial language almost every time

President Trump speaks on an issue. One term he uses quite frequently is inner cities.

He says it so much, in fact, that the Los Angeles Times constructed a video compilation of

every time Trump said the term inner cities in a single presidential debate against

Hillary Clinton. By the end of the debate, he had said the term 9 times. In a recent

interview, Trump said, Don't forget, the Democrats have ruled the inner cities for 100

years. This is their rule. Very rarely do you have a Republican that but this is their

rule. In saying this, President Trump is obviously referring to the urban black population

as the inner cities. While its true that African-Americans are more likely to vote

Democrat, it doesnt mean that the party rules those populations. President Trump is able
to impose racial domination on black populations by grouping them all together with a

single phrase. He is constantly talking about the problems that people in Chicago face;

however, instead of referring to Chicago as an entire city with many cultures, he uses the

term inner city to describe the African-American population that is the majority. Since

inner city and urban black population are interchangeable in Trumps book, hes

essentially blaming city violence on the fact the the population is mostly African-

American. When these coded racial terms are said by anyone, whether it be Trump or

someone you talk to on a daily basis, the language needs to be addressed. We cant stand

idly by while people utter offensive terms that are racist at their roots. We need to correct

people when coded racial language is used; otherwise, we are consciously letting racism

continue on in the world.