Dehumanization is a time-tested strategy of autocrats everywhere. It provides them with a ready-made scapegoat for unemployment, crime, and a struggling economy; builds national unity by identifying who belongs and who is “other”; makes thorny, complicated issues like immigration appear simple; and rationalizes disgusting policies like family separation, indefinite detention without due process, mass deportation, and violence.
Autocrats strip away the humanity of vulnerable groups to justify their repressive, unconstitutional, abusive, and sometimes murderous actions. And it all begins with their language.
– Hitler dehumanized Jews by calling them “rats” and “vermin”
– During the Rwandan Genocide, the Tutsi were called “cockroaches”
– In the United States, portraying African Americans as inferior humans using Sambo, Jim Crow, Mammy, and Jezebelle caricatures justified slavery and systemic racismthe human i newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, a host of Trump cohorts and MAGA faithful have been injecting hateful language straight into the veins of America for years, and voters enjoyed the subsequent rush enough to elect him:
– Trump accused undocumented immigrants of wanting to “rape, pillage, thieve, plunder, and kill the people of the United States of America,” and called them “monsters,” “stone-cold killers,” “vile animals,” and “not people.”
– Using established Nazi hate speech, he claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
– Echoing fascist and white supremacist rhetoric, Trump told supporters that migrants and certain minority groups are genetically predisposed to commit crimes.
– Both Trump and JD Vance spread false stories based solely on urban legends about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats, with Vance tweeting, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
– Stephen Miller wants to associate migrants with disease. He cites “severe strains of the flu, tuberculosis, other respiratory illness like RSV … or just a general issue of mass migration being a public health threat and conveying a variety of communicable diseases” as reasons to turn migrants away.
The non-MAGA Americans who voted for Trump because they wanted a change, were pissed off about the price of eggs, or simply couldn’t stomach the thought of a black female Commander in Chief don’t consider themselves hateful people. But if they aren’t influenced by Trump &Co.’s language of loathing, then why do they parrot his language?
In his 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell examined how political language and critical thinking often eat away at each other. “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought,” he writes. “Political language—and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists—is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.”
We must not let the hateful language of immigration continue to corrupt our thoughts, bury the facts, incite violence, and desensitize us into believing that immigrants are less deserving of empathy, basic human rights—and, yes, mercy—than we are. Because, sadly, it’s already had a marked effect. Hate crimes against Latinos have spiked. According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, these hate crimes tend to increase when reports of “immigrant caravans” and “immigrant invasions” increase.This “invasion” language now appears in official government documents.
READ: Central Bucks Community Grapples with the Specter of ICE Raids at Local Schools
When people aren’t people, it’s easy to rationalize atrocities like Gov. Gregg Abbott did after his state set up miles of barbed wire and buoys to prevent river crossings that entangled a pregnant woman while she was having a miscarriage and caused multiple drownings. Unfazed, Gov. Abbott tweeted, “Texas is stepping up to address the crisis. We will seek to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans—and the migrants risking their lives.” It’s hard to imagine a woman experiencing a medical emergency surrounded by wire posing a threat, but here we are.
Dehumanization thrives on fear, division, and a lack of awareness. And the first line of defense against it is us: Normal American citizens. Here are some ways to fight back.
- Take inventory of the phrases you’ve picked up and are unconsciously repeating such as “illegals” and “migrant caravans.” Strive to eliminate this language from your daily conversations and social media posts.
- Educate yourself on the facts. It’s much easier to counter, “I’m worried about vicious illegals” with “Statistically, you are more likely to be harmed by the man you’re sleeping next to than an undocumented immigrant.”
- Have awkward or uncomfortable conversations with your friends and neighbors that challenge their use of stereotypes and overgeneralizations. Highlight our common humanity and share the stories of marginalized groups.
- Push for the media to use accurate language.
- Hold public officials, from congresspeople to township supervisors to school board members, accountable by calling them out on their derogatory rhetoric.
The hateful language of immigration is a weapon used by this administration to distort our perceptions and blunt our empathy. We must acknowledge it, reject it, and actively challenge it whenever we see it happen. It may feel like it’s already too late, but it’s never too late to advocate for kindness and human dignity.
This article was originally published at the human i™ newsletter, and is republished here with permission.
