Dehumanizing targets as non-human makes racist violence self-excusing

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. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1873

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to philosophical work on dehumanization and moral exclusion, plus the deniability logic familiar from discourse on torture and targeted killing. — connects to: Dehumanizing the victim precedes atrocity through ‘pathic projection’ of the perpetrator’s own image — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 119; Dehumanizing contained groups lets perpetrators deny racism is even possible — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1873; Dehumanization of targeted groups makes violence against them seem reasonable. (+1 more)