It doesn’t take a political genius to figure out why a last-minute ad supporting Broward County Judge Nina Di Pietro featured a picture of her opponent, former County Judge Ian Richards.
He is Black.
Di Pietro’s ad, from a committee backing her, is an age-old political appeal to racism.
The only reason you would include Richards’ picture is that he is Black. The piece also includes a weird, uncomplimentary picture of her other opponent, Brenda Di Iola.
The picture is a hidden message to the small group who would vote against a Black for judge. To use the popular political phrase of the day, the picture of Richards is a dog whistle designed to be heard only by racists.
It is interesting that Richards is the target of this tactic. He largely hid himself from white precincts in an election eight years ago when he ran against incumbent County Judge Catalina Avalos. He counted on some Whites who didn’t know he was Black to choose an English-sounding Ian Richards over the Hispanic-sounding Catalina Avalos.
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