President Obama trades in this kind of talk without any shame. His words stand as the flip side of the racial dog whistle. It’s not that he seeks to trigger the racism of whites with coded language, as Republicans do with their talk of entitlements. Instead, with these words, Obama assuages, or so he hopes, the fears of white America. He confirms, at least for those who are listening, that he isn’t some Manchurian candidate for black revenge.
