Race and racial appeals have been a common feature of American politics and political campaigns since its founding. Since the African-American civil rights movement in the 1960s, overtly racist appeals have declined and been replaced by more subtle racial appeals to white voters. These 'dog whistles' became a regular feature of both parties, although the Republican Party made the heaviest use of them. Yet the rise of Trump has upended this and stripped the subtlety from these racial appeals. This lecture examines that shift, and how the undemocratic nature of the American political system has enabled this process even as the United States of America becomes a more racially and ethnically diverse country.

Prof. Chris Danielson is a specialist in the civil rights movement and modern American politics. A native of Houston, Texas, he received his BA and MA from the University of Houston, and his PhD from the University of Mississippi. He is the author of two books, After Freedom Summer: How Race Realigned Mississippi Politics, 1965-1986 and The Color of Politics: Racism in the American Political Arena Today, as well as several articles and book chapters. He is a professor of history at Montana Technological University on Butte, Montana, and is currently a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pecs in Hungary.

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