In my Advanced Composition class, we get what's called the "Text of the Week (ToW)", where my teacher gives us a short story or an article to read based on the unit we are on. The current unit that I'm doing in class is called Dehumanizing "the Other", and if you put it together already, our ToW was called "Dehumanizing Always Starts with Language."
Usually, ToW of the weeks for many literature classes are monotonous and talk about the same thing, but this time, this article captured my attention. It spoke of many topics that need to be addressed and massively heard in the population, especially based on the current state. The article is written by Brené Brown, who is a research professor at the University of Houston. She has done many speeches like TED Talks and written books and articles such as this one all focusing on the topic of equality and dehumanizing.
"Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver," said Brown.
This sentence is so powerful because we are taught from a young age to be respectful and lift each other but don't do that as we mature and grow up. Ironic how we move backwards.
I read two articles by Brown, one called "Dehumanizing Always Starts with Language" and another one called "The courage to embrace our humanity." Both of them with powerful words in the titles that already speak a lot.
The main idea of the articles is how dehumanization has been created by humans through language and images, such as propaganda, causing many hate crimes around the world, and this is recurring. She mentions how the population throughout history has been brought up in a way where many of us believe in dehumanization. The Holocaust, slavery, bullying all have occurred because of language and how humans don't learn from their mistakes. We are brought up to where we believe what we hear, see, and cling to the meaning of them.
We, as a population, engage in promoting or joining in dehumanization, and we only hurt ourselves and our humanity in the process. There is nothing that anyone gains from being ignorant, mean, and encouraging dehumanizing.
The more hate you put into the world, the more you get back.
Dehumanizing and inequality are topics that need to be addressed in the world today. Social Media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram make it easier to do this online, in your comfort, and anonymously. We are a society that, to break this problematic cycle, needs to respect everyone's differences in perspectives, opinions, and human rights. We need to not use hatred as a way to express anger. We need to treat everyone the way we want to be treated.
It's the basic principle, "Give respect, get respect!"
Draw boundaries and limitations for yourself, be open-minded, respect everyone no matter their beliefs. Reading these articles has given me a chance to reflect and understand the concept of dehumanizing. We need to all come together and save our humanity. The first step to do that is recognizing that we are living in a toxic environment. So go do it, spread the word! Be the change that the world needs.
Want to read the article? Click here.
