EXAMPLE ESSAY:
Dehumanization
 Why would someone dehumanize another?
 How might being dehumanized affect a person’s behavior?
 Can you think of examples that illustrate dehumanization?
INTRO:
“All men are created equal” is often quoted as a reason that each human
being deserves a certain level of respect. But what makes us human? Many
things set us apart from our animal brethren and mark us a “human”. Our
personal style and appearances, our relationships with others, our rights and our
freedoms, and even our names are all characteristics that make each one of
distinct individuals separate from any other species and separate from each
other. As human beings, we have individual identities, we have pride, we have
privacy. Dehumanization is the act of stripping an individual of these distinctly
human characteristics; it’s to treat one as if he is an animal, to take away all of
his dignity and self-respect. To dehumanize someone sounds like a cruel task
that only a monster could be capable of committing. However, what is most
interesting is that average people engage in this behavior, not even realizing,
maybe, what they are doing.
Why would someone strive to dehumanize another? One reason
might be that people who think lowly of themselves are easier to boss around
and manipulate. It is much more difficult to get a proud, self-assured person to
do what you want than it is to get a weak, broken-down person to do your will. A
person who has been broken down and feels worthless will not stick up for
himself; he may even believe that he does not deserve to be treated with
respect. Another reason someone might seek to dehumanize an individual or
group is to then justify ill treatment of that person or group. Why care if someone
is being abused if that person is not a person—if that person is a nothing? Just
as one might thoughtlessly pass a suffering animal or road kill, he may ignore the
suffering of those deemed less than human.
2) Being treated as less than a human can affect a person in many
ways….
3) A few examples in our country’s own history illustrate the process
and damaging effects of dehumanization. …
I’m sure dehumanization was an integral part of the Nazis’ plan to
exterminate (a word we often use to describe killing pests) the Jews and the
other groups they deemed unfit. Perhaps one way the Nazis were able to recruit
soldiers and gain the public’s support for their gruesome and inhumane mission
to rid the world of “undesirables” was to dehumanize the groups. The person to
be killed was not a person: head shaved, name erased, identity deleted; this
being was just one of the countless nameless impurities ruining German’s
chance at greatness. It is sick to think about, but the dehumanization of the Jews
and others is what enabled their destruction to proliferate.