Dehumanization of targeted groups makes violence against them seem reasonable.
Evidence
The consequent counter-violence of containments cannot possibly be racist not just because no races exist but also because the threatening expressions it seeks to contain are unrecognized as properly human. It – the projected action as metonym for the person, for the (national) character – is beastly, monstrous, mutant, after all. It places itself outside the bundle of legitimate human preference expression or instrumentalization. As such, we can’t be racist just as we don’t torture. Even as a bad apple, even two perhaps do. The individualization of wrongdoing, its localization as personal and so private preference expression, erases institutional racisms precisely as conceptual possibility. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1873 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Categorization
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
- XREF: connects to: Dehumanizing contained groups lets perpetrators deny racism is even possible — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1873; Collective violence requires dehumanizing victims into abstract categories; Dehumanizing entire groups makes persecution of them socially acceptable (+10 more)
Broader Connections
- Dehumanizing entire groups makes persecution of them socially acceptable
#corroborates(0.93) - Dehumanizing contained groups lets perpetrators deny racism is even possible
#expands(0.92) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1873 - Perpetrators excuse harm by displacing blame and dehumanizing victims
#corroborates(0.90) - Dehumanizing targets as non-human makes racist violence self-excusing
#corroborates(0.90) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1873 - Collective violence requires dehumanizing victims into abstract categories
#corroborates(0.88) - Cinematic dehumanization of Muslims legitimizes violence as a right
#exemplifies(0.88) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 629 - Dehumanizing film narratives grant viewers a perceived right to kill the Other.
#exemplifies(0.88) - Imaginary dehumanization of Muslims links to real violence against them
#exemplifies(0.86) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 747 - Ordinary considerate people can commit atrocities under dehumanizing conditions
#expands(0.84) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 599 - Glorifying one’s own group drives dehumanization of victims and lowered justice demands.
#expands(0.82) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2118 - Racist reduction of enemies is tolerated when the target is deemed an enemy.
#expands(0.78) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 102 - Enemy depictions must balance dehumanization against valor so violence stays enjoyable
#complicates(0.74)