We have gotten really good at dehumanizing people over the past 10 years. So much so that it is affecting people’s lives.
When people can take a video of someone being beaten in the street instead of helping or even calling 911, or sitting and watching someone being beaten bleed out on a transit, with no emotion we have a serious problem.
Society has gotten good at framing certain groups as oppressors vs the oppressed in a way that reduces people to stereotypes it leaves little room for nuance.
The media and both parties of government use dehumanizing rhetoric that denies the humanity of a person or group that portraying them as less than human and placing them outside the bounds of moral consideration. This can create distance and erode empathy, making it easier to justify violence, discrimination, and neglect against a targeted group. This dehumanizing rhetoric is not just insults, it’s a powerful psychological tool that enables perpetrators to overcome moral objections to inflicting pain and suffering on others.
America was founded on free speech. It doesn’t give someone else the right to murder another, just because you disagree with their view. Too many people have lost their lives because others didn’t agree with their stance on life. As a society, we need to relearn that just because someone disagrees with you, it doesn’t give you the right to harm or murder them.
Dehumanization is used to normalize and legitimize actions like torture, aggression, or discrimination. It creates a climate where extreme actions are seen as a necessary response to a subhuman threat.
I believe over the last few years, we have seen the effects that dehumanization has caused. It’s time we learn to be cautious of the metaphors used in any speech and media, as they can shape perceptions and foster animosity.
However we may differ in opinion, we should all be able to agree that violence and the dehumanizing and bigoted rhetoric have to stop if we are going to survive as a nation.
“When we engage in dehumanizing rhetoric we diminish our own humanity in the process”
When we reduce people to terrorists it speaks volumes about who we are and the degree to which we are operating in our integrity.
From Pity to Praise 