Animals Versus Aliens: The Language of Racism
In my last blog (5/27/18), I mentioned how difficult it is to be a thinking black woman during this absurd period in American history. I should have added "language-sensitive" to that most abused American profile. In two earlier blogs (2/12/17, 1/21/18), I discussed subliminally racist language, and I am still bombarded by it practically every day. Yesterday I was watching a rebroadcast of Brian Williams' Friday night show when he used the subliminally racist "dark" and "light" to describe the mood of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who had committed suicide (I don't blame people who commit suicide during this period; they're not weak or insane; they're wisely escaping, getting out). After hearing Brian's eloquent words, I decided I'd worry about the subliminally racist connotations of "dark" and "light" only when the words were used to describe evil and good. But there are other more overtly racist words that we need to condemn. Roseanne Barr's show was cancelled because she compared a black woman (apparently, Roseanne later claimed she didn't realize Valerie was black) to an ape while Trump was denounced for calling nonwhite immigrants trying to cross our southern border animals (he claimed he was referring to a violent gang). However, people seem less disturbed by the Homeland Security Secretary and Attorney General's use of the phrase "illegal aliens" to describe those same nonwhite immigrants.
To this racism-phobic, language-sensitive black woman, "aliens" is a more racist and dehumanizing word than either "animals" or "ape." After all, those of us who believe in evolution understand that we are evolved animals and that we are all, no matter what our race, in the ape family. However, an alien is by definition not human, so foreign that it is from another planet. And, except for ET, aliens are usually dangerous, trying to destroy our world, occupy our minds, take over our bodies. Aliens shouldn't just be chained and caged like animals; they need to be annihilated. Yet, when some intelligent MSNBC commentators recently discussed the phrase "illegal aliens," they focused on the first word, pointing out that the migrants who arrive at the southern border seeking asylum are not doing anything illegal, and ignored the more racist "aliens." In fact, they switched to discussing Trump's use of "animals" as if that was a worse word. Really? Then why are some of us saying that calling Trump a dog, a pig, or an orangutan is insulting to those animals? And why did some white people back in the day (and probably now) treat their dogs better than they did (do) their nonwhite slaves/servants? And why do some humans say if they came back for a second life, they would want to be a dog or a cat?
It's always been acceptable to compare white people to animals. During the 2004 election, for instance, Jay Leno performed a skit with a Bush supporter and a Kerry supporter. One of the questions he asked the supporters was: "Does Bush look more like a monkey, or does Kerry look more like a horse?" The Kerry supporter said, "Bush is a monkey"; the "Tonight" show audience laughed, and no one was offended. Now substitute Obama for Bush, and you'll see why we cannot be colorblind. I believe that often imitated sportscaster Howard Cosell was briefly colorblind when he called a black football player a monkey and was crucified for his alleged racism. He claimed that he called his grandchildren monkeys, but Howard, who was actually being the opposite of racist, needed to know that America's racist history means only black people can compare each other to monkeys or apes. I compared Kanye West to King Kong when he accosted young, skinny, blonde Taylor Swift during the MTV music awards, but if one of my white friends had used the same analogy, she probably wouldn't be my friend today.
There's a fundamental difference between the subliminally racist language that we all use without realizing how it affects our views of dark and light people and the use of words like "animals," "apes," and "aliens" to describe nonwhite people. Bigots like Trump and members of his Cabinet are using those words deliberately to dehumanize the nonwhite people whom they are cruelly torturing by caging them and separating them from their families. These words are used to both scare and comfort the bigots who voted for Trump to stop the browning of America. Aliens and some animals, the wild ones, are scary, so we need to take drastic steps to protect humans from them, but also because aliens and animals are not human, they aren't really suffering (although PETA and vegans certainly believe that animals suffer), so the bigots don't have to worry about small children being separated from their parents. Alien children and parents don't have the same needs and feelings as humans.
Immigration rights and human rights activists need to rethink their approach to language as they battle attempts to dehumanize nonwhite immigrants and refugees. They need to worry less about "illegal" versus "undocumented" and more about "immigrant," "migrant," "refugee" versus "alien." I encourage them to ask the President and his spokespeople a few questions: Is the First Lady a legal alien? Is the mother of Trump's oldest three children a legal alien? Was Trump's mother a legal alien? And were his paternal grandparents legal aliens? If the nonwhite immigrants are aliens, wouldn't all the immigrants to America, including the Puritans of New England and those thieves who settled in Virginia, be aliens? In fact, wouldn't all of us except the "red" Native Americans be aliens?
I'm not as polite as the human rights activists, so, if I ever discuss this issue with Trump, I will tell him that I'll admit that my family and I look more like apes than he and his family do if they'll admit that they look much more like aliens than we do. In other words, we black folks are more human than at least the white folks living in the White House now.
To this racism-phobic, language-sensitive black woman, "aliens" is a more racist and dehumanizing word than either "animals" or "ape." After all, those of us who believe in evolution understand that we are evolved animals and that we are all, no matter what our race, in the ape family. However, an alien is by definition not human, so foreign that it is from another planet. And, except for ET, aliens are usually dangerous, trying to destroy our world, occupy our minds, take over our bodies. Aliens shouldn't just be chained and caged like animals; they need to be annihilated. Yet, when some intelligent MSNBC commentators recently discussed the phrase "illegal aliens," they focused on the first word, pointing out that the migrants who arrive at the southern border seeking asylum are not doing anything illegal, and ignored the more racist "aliens." In fact, they switched to discussing Trump's use of "animals" as if that was a worse word. Really? Then why are some of us saying that calling Trump a dog, a pig, or an orangutan is insulting to those animals? And why did some white people back in the day (and probably now) treat their dogs better than they did (do) their nonwhite slaves/servants? And why do some humans say if they came back for a second life, they would want to be a dog or a cat?
It's always been acceptable to compare white people to animals. During the 2004 election, for instance, Jay Leno performed a skit with a Bush supporter and a Kerry supporter. One of the questions he asked the supporters was: "Does Bush look more like a monkey, or does Kerry look more like a horse?" The Kerry supporter said, "Bush is a monkey"; the "Tonight" show audience laughed, and no one was offended. Now substitute Obama for Bush, and you'll see why we cannot be colorblind. I believe that often imitated sportscaster Howard Cosell was briefly colorblind when he called a black football player a monkey and was crucified for his alleged racism. He claimed that he called his grandchildren monkeys, but Howard, who was actually being the opposite of racist, needed to know that America's racist history means only black people can compare each other to monkeys or apes. I compared Kanye West to King Kong when he accosted young, skinny, blonde Taylor Swift during the MTV music awards, but if one of my white friends had used the same analogy, she probably wouldn't be my friend today.
There's a fundamental difference between the subliminally racist language that we all use without realizing how it affects our views of dark and light people and the use of words like "animals," "apes," and "aliens" to describe nonwhite people. Bigots like Trump and members of his Cabinet are using those words deliberately to dehumanize the nonwhite people whom they are cruelly torturing by caging them and separating them from their families. These words are used to both scare and comfort the bigots who voted for Trump to stop the browning of America. Aliens and some animals, the wild ones, are scary, so we need to take drastic steps to protect humans from them, but also because aliens and animals are not human, they aren't really suffering (although PETA and vegans certainly believe that animals suffer), so the bigots don't have to worry about small children being separated from their parents. Alien children and parents don't have the same needs and feelings as humans.
Immigration rights and human rights activists need to rethink their approach to language as they battle attempts to dehumanize nonwhite immigrants and refugees. They need to worry less about "illegal" versus "undocumented" and more about "immigrant," "migrant," "refugee" versus "alien." I encourage them to ask the President and his spokespeople a few questions: Is the First Lady a legal alien? Is the mother of Trump's oldest three children a legal alien? Was Trump's mother a legal alien? And were his paternal grandparents legal aliens? If the nonwhite immigrants are aliens, wouldn't all the immigrants to America, including the Puritans of New England and those thieves who settled in Virginia, be aliens? In fact, wouldn't all of us except the "red" Native Americans be aliens?
I'm not as polite as the human rights activists, so, if I ever discuss this issue with Trump, I will tell him that I'll admit that my family and I look more like apes than he and his family do if they'll admit that they look much more like aliens than we do. In other words, we black folks are more human than at least the white folks living in the White House now.
No comments have been added yet.
