Racism depends logically on the prior devaluation of animals.

Evidence

Ethnocentrism is the idea that some people or groups of people are naturally superior to others. The very possibility of the concept “race” rests on this root metaphor. “White” and “black,” for example, or the idea of the “red man” are all historically adopted metaphors that are only possible based on the acceptance of this root metaphor and it’s very important relationship to anthropocentrism. What does this mean? Think back to the ways that the Indigenous People encountered in North America were defined by the Europeans who encountered them. What words were used? They were likened to “Savages.” “Barbarians.” “Uncivilized.” “Animals.” The same is true for the rationalization of the act of slavery. People of African descent were seen as enslavable precisely because they could be defined as not quite human. Now consider this: Upon what discourse and set of assumptions does the use of these metaphors rely? It would not have been possible to inferiorize some people by comparing them to animals if we did not first have the idea firmly engrained that animals are inferior to humans. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 576

Categorization

• XREF: Directly pays off the ch1/8 claims that marginalization and ecological exploitation share one root; also connects to the polyad’s settler-colonial thread via who gets called animal. — connects to: Sexism, racism, and anthropocentrism all share a value-hierarchized logic of domination — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 322; Manifest destiny deployed civilization-savagery metaphors tying racism to anthropocentrism — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1194; Racism logically depends on the prior belief that animals and nature are inferior. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1110 (+4 more)
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Racism logically depends on the prior belief that animals and nature are inferior. #corroborates (1.00) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1110
• Placing humans in the animal kingdom enabled scientific racism justifying slavery and conquest. #expands (0.90)
• Scientific racism followed from placing humans in the animal kingdom #expands (0.85)
• Racism can operate through claims of developmental inferiority rather than fixed biological inferiority #qualifies (0.80)
• Racist ideologies can rest on cultural or economic grounds, not only biological ones. #qualifies (0.75)