Huppenthal either says too much, or purposely dog whistles exactly what he means

by David Safier

For me, this one of those . . . Wow, just Wow! . . . stories, and Steve Nuñez of KGUN9 deserves credit for reporting it so well.

John Huppenthal has a campaign radio ad in which, according to Nuñez,

the announcer declares John Huppenthal, '"One of us."

Who is "us"? The ad states the answer almost as clear as day.

Huppenthal then states his own declaration to, "Stop La Raza."

Huppenthal is "One of us." "La Raza" is "them."

The ad goes on.

The announcer then continues, "Huppenthal voted to end bilingual education," and again, proclaims, "He'll stop La Raza."

Huppenthal's "Us" are against Spanish being spoken in ELL classes, and against "La Raza."

Nuñez points out that "La Raza" means either "race" or "the people."

So the literal translation of the ad is: Huppenthal is "one of us" because he'll stop that "race," that "group of people" — in other words, Hispanics.

Huppenthal's direct reference isn't to all Hispanics, of course. He's referring to TUSD's Raza Studies. He just doesn't make that absolutely clear.

But even if he did make it clear and said "Raza Studies" rather than "La Raza," if Huppenthal's platform is based around keeping Spanish out of ELL classroom and ending Raza Studies, and that's what "One of us" will do, he's still making his point pretty damn clear.

"Us" = Real [white] Americans.

"Them" = Brown people and the anti-American whites who support them.

John Huppenthal, by the way, is campaigning to be the state superintendent of all Arizona's public schools, which includes all the students who attend them and their teachers. Though it may be the only students and teachers he plans to support are those who fit neatly into the category, "One of us."

NOTE: Many of the inferences I drew go beyond what Nuñez stated in the article. I want to make it clear that the story is his, and my conclusions are my own.