Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives. (Athenasom).

Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives. (Athenasom). by William Brennan, Ph.D. Loyola University Loyola University(loi-ō`lə), at New Orleans, La.; Jesuit; coeducational. The university was established through a merger in 1911 of the College of the Immaculate Conception (opened 1849) and Loyola College and Academy (opened 1904). Press, Chicago Spring, 1995 This wide-ranging study analyzes the extensive power of degradinglanguage to justify massive violence against a diverse spectrum ofcontemporary and historical victims. Professor William Brennan tracesthe name-calling juggernaut in paving the way for and perpetuating largescale oppression: discrimination, segregation, enslavement en��slave?tr.v. en��slaved, en��slav��ing, en��slavesTo make into or as if into a slave.en��slavement n. , andannihilation. He uncovers startling star��tle?v. star��tled, star��tling, star��tlesv.tr.1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start.2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. parallels between the wordsmanufactured to devalue today's most vulnerable individuals beforeand after birth and the words constructed to revile some ofhistory's most oppressed op��press?tr.v. op��pressed, op��press��ing, op��press��es1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny.2. groups: women, Jews and others in theThird Reich Third ReichOfficial designation for the Nazi Party's regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945. The name reflects Adolf Hitler's conception of his expansionist regime—which he predicted would last 1,000 years—as the presumed successor of the Holy Roman , the victims of Soviet tyranny, African Americans, andNative Americans. Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives alsoexposes the ideological underpinnings of the degrading designations,their devastating dev��as��tate?tr.v. dev��as��tat��ed, dev��as��tat��ing, dev��as��tates1. To lay waste; destroy.2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. consequences, and the pervasive extent to which theyhave penetrated the most influential cultural and institutional sectorsof society, including medicine, the law, politics, academia, and themedia. Furthermore, Brennan reveals how life-affirming languageemanating from secular and religious sources has played an indispensablerole in countering the dehumanizing rhetoric from antiquity to modemtimes. Dr. Brennan's timely and timeless findings are sure to raisepublic consciousness regarding the awesome impact of name-calling and toprovide essential insights into combatting the escalating semanticassaults on human lives.