The idea that all people are born equal is written into the code of pretty much every religion, constitution and corporate code on the planet. To say you disagree with this notion is socially unacceptable, so people convey their prejudices another way, through metaphor...
Everyday the same few metaphors are repeated over and over again, in pop music, movies and the press. Poor are scum. Immigrants are vermin. Sick are vegetables. The elderly are a burden. Black people are animals. Conversely, entertainers are stars and business people are titans.
Studies show we only need to hear a word five times before it’s meaning sticks. One pop song can instil the idea that black people are animals or women are bitches in less time than it takes to boil an egg. This matters. Metaphors shape our responses to matters of life and death.
Studies by Stanford show black men are more likely to be described in ape like terms than white men. More worryingly, the number of ape metaphors predicted the likelihood they would be sentenced to death.
Laurence King, the notorious police officer who attacked Rodney King leading to the LA riots had been heard on his police radio earlier that evening describing a mixed race couple saying, ‘It was like Gorillas in the Mist.
Such perceptions are not restricted to America. Monkey noises are frequently heard at British football games. Successful blank women are heartily derided. Diane Abbott was described as an ape in lipstick. Gina Miller was described as a primate who should be hunted down and killed
During the Plebgate inquiry into the conduct of police officers in Downing Street, a text message was found by one officer which said, ‘These little black cunts are really fucking me off. If they want to act like monkeys why don’t they fuck off back to the jungle.’
I wrote a book about all this if you’re interested. You Are Not Human: How Words Kill amazon.co.uk/dp/1785904078/… We need to stop paying lip service to the ideal that we’re all equal and start tackling the real forces of oppression, which includes language.
