Live Free or Die Critique

The Semantics of Oppression by William Brennan

"When we question whether someone is a person, it is because we want to kill him. We do this with our enemies in wartime, or with anyone we would like to enslave or exploit. Before we can feel comfortable treating others this way, we have to expel them from the human community." --Frederica Matthewes-Green

This table is an excerpt from Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives by William Brennan (Chicago: Loyola University Press), 6-7. This is only an excerpt, not the entire table. The table has been adapted so "Victims" are listed along the top, "Dehumanizing Terminology" down the side.

Native Americans African Americans Soviet Enemies European Jews Women Unwanted Unborn

Deficient Human "Indians [are] inferior to the Anglo-Saxon." (Henry Clay, Sec. of State, 1825) "A subordinate and inferior class of beings." (U.S. Supreme Court on the status of Black people, 1857) "The uncivilized, stupid, turgid people in the Russian villages." (Author Maxim Gorky, 1922) "The inferior Jewish race." (Dr. Rudolph Ramm, Nazi medical educator, 1943) "They [women] form... the second sex, inferior in every respect to the first." (Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, 1851) "The fetus, at most, represents only the potentiality of life." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1973)

Nonhuman "The life of these [aborigines] is... not human." (Author Hugh Brackenridge, 1779) "The Negro is not a human being." (Buckner Payne, Publisher, 1867) "Kulaks are not human beings." (Lenin & Stalin, 1918-34) "Jews are undoubtedly a race, but not human." (Adolf Hitler, 1923) "Women are not seen as human." (Report by women's group on pornographic images, 1980) "A fetus is not a human being." (Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, 1984)

Animal "The Indian is... an untamable, carnivorous animal." (Dr. Josiah Nott, 1847) "The negro is... one of the lower animals." (Professor Charles Carroll, 1900) "[Peasants are] beasts of burden." (George Plekhanov, founder of Russian Marxism, 1823) "The prisoners here are animals." (Nazi anatomy prof. Dr. August Hirt, 1942) "Women are domestic animals." (19th-century poet Charles Baudelaire) "Like... a primitive animal that's poked with a stick." (Dr. Hart Peterson on fetal movement, 1985)

Parasite "Clear the country of that vermin [Indians]." (Colonel Henry Bouquet, 1763) "They [Negroes] are parasites." (Dr. E.T. Brady, 1909) "The kulak, the parasite." (Lenin, 1918) "The Jew is a parasite." (Nazi propaganda booklet, 1944) "Women's sexual parasitism is innate." (Philosopher Rene Guyon, 1950) "The fetus is a parasite." (Professor Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, 1984)

Disease "The Iriquois had proved more deadly... than the pestilence." (Historian Francis Parkman, 1902) "Free Blacks in our country are... a contagion." (American Colonization Soc., 1815-30) "Every religious idea [is]... a contagion of the most abominable kind." (Lenin, 1913) "Some day Europe will perish of the Jewish disease." (Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister, 1939) "The worst plague Zeus has made--women." (Ancient Greek poet Semonides) "Pregnancy when not wanted is a disease... in fact, a venereal disease." (Professor Joseph Fletcher, 1979)

Inanimate Object "[Indians are] anthropological specimens." (American press coverage, 1904) "A negro of the African race was regarded... as an article of property." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1857) "[Gulag slave laborers are] raw material." (Author Maxim Gorky, 1934) "Transit material." (Portrayal of Jews dispatched to Nazi death camps, 1942-44) "I considered my wife... my property." (Former wife abuser, 1989) "People's body parts [embryos] are their personal property." (Attorney Lori Andrews, 1986)

Waste Product "[Indians are] the very dregs, garbage... of Earth." (Poet Christopher Brooke, 1622) "The negro race is... a heritage of organic and psychic debris." (Dr. William English, 1903) "A foul-smelling heap of human garbage [Purge Trial defendants]." (Prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky, 1938) "What shall we do with this garbage [Jews]?" (Christian Wirth, extermination expert, 1942) "Emptying refuse into a sewer [the woman's body]." (Author Henry Miller, 1965) "An aborted baby is just garbage... just refuse." (Dr. Martti Kekomaki, 1980)

Nonperson "An Indian is not a person within the meaning of the Constitution." (George Canfield, Am. Law Rev., 1881) "In the eyes of the law... the slave is not a person." (Virginia Supreme Court decision, 1858) "Unpersons who had never existed." (Designation for people purged by the Soviet government) "The Reichsgericht itself refused to recognize Jews... as 'persons' in the legal sense." (1936 German Supreme Court decision) "The statutory word 'person' did not in these circumstances include women." (British voting rights case, 1909) "The word 'person,' as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1973)

This table prints best when the printer is set for "landscape" rather than "portrait" orientation.

Human embryos and fetuses are individual human beings. For further reading, c.f. "When Do Human Beings Begin? 'Scientific' Myths and Scientific Facts" by Dr. Dianne Irving.

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	Native Americans	African Americans	Soviet Enemies	European Jews	Women	Unwanted Unborn
Deficient Human	"Indians [are] inferior to the Anglo-Saxon." (Henry Clay, Sec. of State, 1825)	"A subordinate and inferior class of beings." (U.S. Supreme Court on the status of Black people, 1857)	"The uncivilized, stupid, turgid people in the Russian villages." (Author Maxim Gorky, 1922)	"The inferior Jewish race." (Dr. Rudolph Ramm, Nazi medical educator, 1943)	"They [women] form... the second sex, inferior in every respect to the first." (Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, 1851)	"The fetus, at most, represents only the potentiality of life." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1973)
Nonhuman	"The life of these [aborigines] is... not human." (Author Hugh Brackenridge, 1779)	"The Negro is not a human being." (Buckner Payne, Publisher, 1867)	"Kulaks are not human beings." (Lenin & Stalin, 1918-34)	"Jews are undoubtedly a race, but not human." (Adolf Hitler, 1923)	"Women are not seen as human." (Report by women's group on pornographic images, 1980)	"A fetus is not a human being." (Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, 1984)
Animal	"The Indian is... an untamable, carnivorous animal." (Dr. Josiah Nott, 1847)	"The negro is... one of the lower animals." (Professor Charles Carroll, 1900)	"[Peasants are] beasts of burden." (George Plekhanov, founder of Russian Marxism, 1823)	"The prisoners here are animals." (Nazi anatomy prof. Dr. August Hirt, 1942)	"Women are domestic animals." (19th-century poet Charles Baudelaire)	"Like... a primitive animal that's poked with a stick." (Dr. Hart Peterson on fetal movement, 1985)
Parasite	"Clear the country of that vermin [Indians]." (Colonel Henry Bouquet, 1763)	"They [Negroes] are parasites." (Dr. E.T. Brady, 1909)	"The kulak, the parasite." (Lenin, 1918)	"The Jew is a parasite." (Nazi propaganda booklet, 1944)	"Women's sexual parasitism is innate." (Philosopher Rene Guyon, 1950)	"The fetus is a parasite." (Professor Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, 1984)
Disease	"The Iriquois had proved more deadly... than the pestilence." (Historian Francis Parkman, 1902)	"Free Blacks in our country are... a contagion." (American Colonization Soc., 1815-30)	"Every religious idea [is]... a contagion of the most abominable kind." (Lenin, 1913)	"Some day Europe will perish of the Jewish disease." (Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister, 1939)	"The worst plague Zeus has made--women." (Ancient Greek poet Semonides)	"Pregnancy when not wanted is a disease... in fact, a venereal disease." (Professor Joseph Fletcher, 1979)
Inanimate Object	"[Indians are] anthropological specimens." (American press coverage, 1904)	"A negro of the African race was regarded... as an article of property." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1857)	"[Gulag slave laborers are] raw material." (Author Maxim Gorky, 1934)	"Transit material." (Portrayal of Jews dispatched to Nazi death camps, 1942-44)	"I considered my wife... my property." (Former wife abuser, 1989)	"People's body parts [embryos] are their personal property." (Attorney Lori Andrews, 1986)
Waste Product	"[Indians are] the very dregs, garbage... of Earth." (Poet Christopher Brooke, 1622)	"The negro race is... a heritage of organic and psychic debris." (Dr. William English, 1903)	"A foul-smelling heap of human garbage [Purge Trial defendants]." (Prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky, 1938)	"What shall we do with this garbage [Jews]?" (Christian Wirth, extermination expert, 1942)	"Emptying refuse into a sewer [the woman's body]." (Author Henry Miller, 1965)	"An aborted baby is just garbage... just refuse." (Dr. Martti Kekomaki, 1980)
Nonperson	"An Indian is not a person within the meaning of the Constitution." (George Canfield, Am. Law Rev., 1881)	"In the eyes of the law... the slave is not a person." (Virginia Supreme Court decision, 1858)	"Unpersons who had never existed." (Designation for people purged by the Soviet government)	"The Reichsgericht itself refused to recognize Jews... as 'persons' in the legal sense." (1936 German Supreme Court decision)	"The statutory word 'person' did not in these circumstances include women." (British voting rights case, 1909)	"The word 'person,' as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn." (U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1973)