Stop Dehumanizing People

I was having a conversation with a good friend the other day over a cup of coffee. We mostly talked about our lives — what we were up to. health issues we were dealing with, a trip she recently took and so on. At one point, we veered into politics.

It’s interesting for me to see what other people think because I consider myself a classic liberal. That means I am sometimes at odds with modern liberals.

At one point, she brought up Donald Trump, and how awful he was and how she couldn’t understand how anyone could vote for him. Which I sympathized with, but the thing is — while most of my friends are liberal, some are independent or conservative. I have a few friends who consider themselves bona fide socialists. And, from my perspective, it’s all good.

“So here’s the thing,” I said to her. “You and I don’t agree on everything but we love and respect each other.”

She agreed, but pointed out I was not a Trump supporter.

“Well, what if I was?” I asked. “Would that dehumanize me?”

She looked irritated.

“No, of course not.”

“Because,” I said. “We are ALL human beings. We all bleed when we are cut. We are all born and die. Most people love their children and want a better life for them. That is one of the main reasons people immigrate. None of us want our kids to die in a war. We have a lot more in common that we think.”

I told her that on the one hand, I believed in the right of free speech, so I believed in peaceful protest, but the minute violence was involved, it ceased to be a civil right, and she agreed with me.

She’s a lawyer. “I’ve defended clients that I didn’t like or agree with, but when I do my job, I have to put the emotions aside. I represent my client to the best of my ability even if I find him reprehensible. I believe that everyone has the right to a defender.”

We talked about a black lawyer I saw on TV many years ago. I think it was on 60 minhtes. Anyway, he defended a white Klansman. Living in the South, the black man belonged to a church, and he took his faith seriously. I used to live in the South, and so I’ve seen this.

The attorney defended the racist. And he forgave him. That was powerful.

By the end of the episode the white man had left the KKK. His attitude towards other races had changed. He gave up lifelong friendships and relationships because he no longer tolerated bigotry.

Now, the lawyer had to work very hard to create a change in someone’s heart.

However, whenever I come across prejudice, regardless of the target, it reminds me that we are all human and people can become better. We don’t have to like others, but we need to recognize they are human beings.

The consequences of not seeing the humanity in others has led to genocide and it could lead to our own extinction.

The Holocaust is an example, but so was the Holodomor in the Ukraine, the Armenian genocide, and what we did to the natives of our own country.

We took their land, often stealing it, breaking treaties, and using germ warfare. We killed their elderly, their women and children. We stuck them on reservations.

How do we justify it?

I’m not even going to address how long it took for us to stop dehumanizing black people. Why did it take so long for that to happen? Or to treat immigrants as people? Or to realize that women, gay people, etc., also have rights.

Again — it really comes down to ONE THING.

Do we recognize the humanity in others?

When we dehumanize other people, we can justify any evil. And we have, and we do.

When will we ever learn?

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This post was previously published on Shefali O’Hara’s blog.

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