And raging, fearful people from the right and left are crossing it at unprecedented rates every single day. If you’re offended by a meme of Trump Photoshopped to look like Hitler, then you shouldn’t have Obama Photoshopped to look like the Joker on your Facebook feed. When we hear people referred to as animals or aliens, we should immediately wonder, “Is this an attempt to reduce someone’s humanity so we can get away with hurting them or denying them basic human rights?” 5. When people call the president of the United States a pig, we should reject that language regardless of our politics and demand discourse that doesn’t make people subhuman. When the president of the United States calls women dogs or talks about grabbing pussy, we should get chills down our spine and resistance flowing through our veins. If you felt belittled when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables” then you should have felt equally concerned when Eric Trump said “Democrats aren’t even human.” 3. If you are offended or hurt when you hear Hillary Clinton or Maxine Waters called bitch, whore, or the c-word, you should be equally offended and hurt when you hear those same words used to describe Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway, or Theresa May. 'We are connected to each other in a profound way and the thing that moves us away from that faster than anything else is not politics – but fear.“Here’s what I believe: 1.

'If you go on Twitter today, or Facebook, or any social we see people on the left and right using dehumanizing language about each other like that. We have to move them out of what we see as humanity,' Brown said. Brown warns that dehumanization is a 'subtle process' and it starts with language.įor that to happen, 'We have to slowly move groups of people out of what we consider moral inclusion. We need reminders – collective joy and pain – reminders that we are inextricably connected to each other.'ĭespite the positive stories coming out of Houston, there remains a deep political divide marked by heated rhetoric on both sides. In the shelter, nobody said, ''I'll help you, what is your political belief?'' Brown said.įor Brown, human connection is not breakable but it is sometimes, sadly, forgotten.

Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown