Your comment reminded me of number stations. They are radio broadcasts with seemingly random numbers getting transmitted every now and then. A well known one is “The Russian Buzzer”
They are really long range, and just about anyone can listen in to these transmissions. But only a tiny number of people (in the buzzer’s case maybe Russian spies) know the meaning and act on those signals.
I guess my point is that ultimately nobody can really stop the signals, including dog whistles. And I think it’s silly when people try to make some of those words taboo. For example if “roommates” is a code word for a queer couple living together the legit use of the word doesn’t just disappear
Your comment reminded me of number stations. They are radio broadcasts with seemingly random numbers getting transmitted every now and then. A well known one is “The Russian Buzzer”
They are really long range, and just about anyone can listen in to these transmissions. But only a tiny number of people (in the buzzer’s case maybe Russian spies) know the meaning and act on those signals.
I guess my point is that ultimately nobody can really stop the signals, including dog whistles. And I think it’s silly when people try to make some of those words taboo. For example if “roommates” is a code word for a queer couple living together the legit use of the word doesn’t just disappear