In a column published in the May 22, 2025, edition of The New York Times, Emma Goldberg notes that "everything is 'coded' now." She is talking about "politics," with clothing choices, movie preferences, and other cultural "signifiers" now being associated with a person's political predispositions:
Chick-fil-A is right coded. “Rent” and “Hamilton” are left coded. Comedy and wrestling are right coded. Independent movie theaters and capoeira are left coded. “Yellowstone” is right coded and “White Lotus” is left. There’s a case for the HBO show “Girls” being right coded. “Superbad” is a little unclear.
I have inveighed against "polarization" before. The Goldberg column provides me with this opportunity to do so again. Individually, every one of us is way too complex to be categorized by trying to associate various cultural preferences with our political allegiances. I am not a MAGA supporter, but does that really mean that I won't enjoy "Yellowstone?" I don't think so.
Furthermore, our ability to exist as a nation depends on celebrating, not suppressing, our incredible diversity. Regular readers of my daily blog postings may remember my several discussions of the following saying from our one-dollar bill: "E pluribus unam." Literally, that means, "out of many, one." I usually translate that, "we're in this together." Let me remind you of that basic truth. We ARE, absolutely and indubitably, "in this together." I think it is particularly advisable to remember this when we hear calls to deport "immigrants," or to ignore what the Constitution says about birthright citizenship.
We ARE "in this together," and buying into coded messages about those whom we should scorn, or mistrust, or deport, is a real "coding error."
Foundation of Freedom
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