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STEMMING THE TIDE OF DANGEROUS SPEECH AND DEHUMANIZATION, BUILDING A PEACEFUL SOCIETY

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  “Dogs”, “Animals”, “Shithole”, “Cockroaches”, “Wacky”, “Not smart”, “Niggas”, and so on. These are ugly words to use on anyone . You know what makes them uglier? That it comes from the mouths of leaders or people of influence whose utterances or opinions can cause others to act in certain ways that will leave the society making up for the damages many years after. These are the same leaders who should act to keep flaring tempers under control , calm frayed nerves and be highly diplomatic. To know that they are the ones stoking the fear and hate is extremely concerning. Dangerous speech, is defined by The Dangerous Speech Project as “ any form of expression (speech, text, or images) that can increase the risk that its audience will condone or participate in violence against members of another group. ” Dehumanization, on the other hand, implies perceiving other people to be less than humans, and in many cases, referring to or treating them as such. In research works carrie