The Slippery Slope of Dehumanizing Language

[Judi Lynn]

WRITTEN BY
Allison Skinner , The Conversation
PUBLISHED
June 6, 2018

Comparing people to animals seems to increasingly be a part of our political discourse.

When Roseanne Barr tweeted that former White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett was the child of an ape, it came only a couple of weeks after Donald Trump called immigrant gang members, “animals.”

Trump has been a target himself: On the cover of its April 2 issue, New York magazine depicted the president as a pig.

As a psychologist who studies social attitudes and intergroup relations, I get a bit uneasy when I see these types of insults get normalized. At their core, they’re a way to dehumanize others – a practice that can have pernicious effects.

More:
https://truthout.org/articles/the-slippery-slope-of-dehumanizing-language/

[Haggis for Breakfast]

1. How about the time

Ted Nugent called President Barack Obama a "sub-human mongrel ?" Or any of the ugly nasty racist comments/memes/cartoons flung at the Obamas, even the First Lady (a woman of unbelievable grace) and their children (innocent little girls). This didn't start with trmp, but it seems to have become a favored republican past time.