A friend of mine recently said something that made me reflect on my recent words and actions regarding politics and social justice.
I heard her say that we need to be careful about using dehumanizing language when talking about those with differing political/ideological beliefs. All sides of the political spectrum tend to fall into the trap of “othering” those who don’t agree with them.
When amongst our friends and groups who agree with us, we do this because we know we are right, and they are wrong. We believe strongly in our convictions, and we know that we are on the right side of history. Consequently, we also know that they are monsters for not believing the facts. They are crazy and evil for speaking and acting as they do.
This sort of othering, dehumanizing language is easy. It makes us uncomfortably comfortable, because even as we point out the ways in which they hurt and dehumanize us, we don’t have to face the fact that the people who are saying and believing these things are just as human as we are. Often, they are our family or our community. Facing this truth is painful and difficult.
Of course, we as humans have been doing this since the beginning of civilization. We find our tribe, and anyone who’s not in the tribe is less-than-human. This helps us cope with our own behavior and speech toward them, and it reinforces our status as the best and correct tribe to belong to. There’s a reason Nazi propaganda made Jews look and sound like animals—it made the concentration camps more palatable for the average German. There’s a reason Trump and many of his supporters consistently use language like “libtards” and “crazy Nancy” and “evil democrats”—it makes the plans to abduct and assassinate members of Congress more rational, more noble.
The alternative, as my friend pointed out, is to acknowledge and honor the other side’s humanity, no matter how heinous their actions. Perhaps counterintuitively, honoring their humanity allows us to also honor the true power and consequences of their actions. To dehumanize them is to reduce their power, and therefore to reduce their agency and responsibility. To humanize them is to hold them to a standard, and then to hold them accountable for violating that standard.
Consider the impact of the following statements:
“Those crazy, messed up lunatics just tried to tear down our democracy. They have to be stopped!”
Or:
“Each of those people is the product of a unique background and experience, and like us, they did what they believed was right and correct. The fact that a fellow human can believe such actions are the proper course of action is evidence of a deeper systemic flaw that needs to be addressed and dealt with. They were doing the best they could do in that moment—and that best ultimately led to destruction, terrorism, and death. Therefore, they need to be held accountable and prevented from any future similar action.”
The former statement is quick, easy, and retweet-able. The latter takes emotional intelligence, emotional labor, critical thought, and empathy.
We need to honor and protect ourselves and each other as we grapple with the existence of such beliefs, as well as the policies and systems that led to them—while also refraining from giving the perpetrators of such violence the free pass of being monsters.
As a side note, I know this is all rich, coming from a white, cisgender male from Iowa who has rarely, if ever, been the intended target of such violence. As such, I welcome any and all disagreement and discussion—please reach out, if you are inclined. I would love to talk.
(Social sharing image by Mark Stoop on Unsplash)