Author: Dan Peterson Category: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Sex and Gender Wordcount: 1000 History is full of atrocities. These evils are often accompanied by language comparing victims to animals. For instance, white southerners compared lynching Black men to killing chickens, snakes, and fleas.
For instance, white southerners compared lynching Black men to killing chickens, snakes, and fleas. Nazis called Jews “vermin” during the Holocaust. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Hutus referred to Tutsis as “snakes” and “cockroaches.
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Hutus referred to Tutsis as “snakes” and “cockroaches. ”[1] Perpetrators of mass violence have also called their victims diseases—like viruses and cancers—demons, and monsters.