Dog Whistle or Double Entendre
Francis Galton, 1876, that wonderful scientific experimentation of double checking, found that dogs and cats really do perceive disciple ranges which human beings do not hear.
The Oxford English Dictionary takes the dog whistle even further with the pseudo science we all understand, the double entendre. This is used to indicate an indelicate meaning. Grandmother's first used such in describing pregnancy, "wearing her apron high" or "expecting." Most entertainers, stand up comedians, would be unable to perform without the use of these double entendre words, since many words are not permitted in polite society and public airways. You see, this writer first encountered such hyperbole-hypocrisy in college. I actually thought everyone spoke the truth, they meant what they said and said what they meant. My first exposure, my brown and white saddle oxfords, for which I had worked very hard. I threw away a perfectly good pair of shoes simply because I heard some college friends say that only "queers" wear saddle oxfords. Jumping through the hoops created by society, young folks now more interested in brand names on their shoes-clothing than their own good honest reputation. willing to run the risk of jail, some children arrested for cutting labels out of clothing in stores to put these labels in their own clothing. Fortunes have been made by manufacturers, sports stars, just to use their names on clothing or even cereal boxes.
Lives have been smashed from embarrassment, the cruelty of others, that all knowing wink between two associates, a form of communication showing that you are not up to their standards. With the election season, everyone so careful about racism, afraid to even use the word "Chicago" because it indicates a city from which a black President comes. Afraid to use the words "inner city," "basketball," "golf" (simply because Obama is known to like basketball and play golf excessively).
I was at UNCCH during the Charlie Justice era. I heard Dr. Roland Giduz, Charlie's Spanish professor, say one day, "Senor Justice must pass Spanish whether he plays football or not." Now, according to the newspapers, there is an entire department of African Studies so black athletes, "pets" of African professors, can keep them academically eligible for play. Mr. Julius Pepper's record leaked to the news media and it shows university academia at its worst. But, who cares? He was with Carolina's Tarheels to make money, not compete for Phi Beta Kappa...and I suppose this is racist.
This writer's worst embarrassment concerning bigatry-upity-mean glances, long after the war, on a trip with my driver, I stopped by to see one of my classmates whom I had been told, with his father, enjoyed a VERY successful practice. They both put on a performance of being very happy to see me. The father of my classmate said, "I want him to take you to his house for lunch, I want you to see his beautiful home." In the meantime, my driver went on an errand for me and I rode with my successful classmate to his home in the hills above the city. He had called his wife and told her that he was bringing a guest for lunch. Although blind, I could sense her distain for her hubby and even more for his guest. She was the typical JAP (Jewish American Princess). The home was spectacular, she had opened a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup and served us soup with crackers in the dining room. I knew he was embarrassed at her attitude towards both of us and even more so at her attempted culinary skills. Dog whistles are not always sounds, usually looks...the "Big I, Little You" mentality. The double entendre, vernacular, has its own vocabulary...jock, pansy, empty suit, living across the tracks, country, jet-set, rednecks, wetbacks, bluebloods, etc.
There is one place where the redeemed of God are on equal ground..the foot of the cross-when one realizes that mankind, all men, black, white, yellow, red, made in the image of God. It is from an acorn that the great Oak grows. From the poorest backgrounds, poverty beyond description, have come some of our nation's-the world's greatest citizens. Margaret had a hard life, her husband left her with three small children which she had reared. "Through it all" she had maintained her dignity and used her still wonderful voice to sing in the church choir. One of her supposed "friends" said to me, "Margaret is from a terrible background, she does not measure up to the rest of us but we think it is our Christian duty to be kind to her." Margaret never knew that her "friends" had that attitude towards her. After all, she was a child of God, doing the best she could with what she had. Those of us who have seen our own dear parents embarrassed because they were not "schooled" in the delicate acceptable scales of sophisticated living, just hard working, tax paying, God fearing, people..and what else does God require? " He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8)? So, let the heathen laugh, let those who think they stand so tall, so great in their own eyes, toss around their double entendres. "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).
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