In a Washington Post article called “How Dangerous Is It when Trump Calls Some Immigrants ‘Animals’?” from May 2018, the connection between dehumanizing propaganda and participation in violence is analyzed, showing that while dehumanizing discourse does not directly cause violence, it prepares the way for the violent actions against immigrants. While President Trump’s descriptions of undocumented immigrants as “animals” or “rapists and criminals” alone do not motivate people to participate in violent actions against immigrants and only has a momentary impact on public opinion, repeated use of such language dangerously normalizes extreme perspectives by making the immigrant threat seem real, creating a path that makes violence a more acceptable behavior. News media coverage of Trump’s repeated use of such descriptions of immigrants means Trump’s language choices significantly influence American views towards immigrants and can promote negative perceptions and even violent actions against them.
Discussion question: Because Americans tend to have very strong and polarized opinions about President Trump, is repeated usage of dehumanizing language by Trump more or less dangerous than similar language usage by news media coverage of immigration that’s not directly related to Trump?
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