The Ethnic Experience in the United States - American Indians Studies, CSULB, Fall 2001 Dr. Johnson, Dr.

Henry, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Toji AIS, CHLS, B/ST, ASAM, W/ST 316 By James R. Walker

The Psychology of Hate

A document recounting my understanding of the speech given by Dr. Pamela Roberts regarding the psychology of hate.

California State University Long Beach AIS, CHLS, B/ST, ASAM, W/ST 319 Dr. Johnson, Dr. Henry, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Toji October 2001
By James R. Walker

I am a forty-four year old man who has childhood memories of the Viet-Nam war, the Granada military action and more recently the Gulf War. I have some
17 OCT 2001 Page 1 of 4

The Ethnic Experience in the United States - American Indians Studies, CSULB, Fall 2001 Dr. Johnson, Dr. Henry, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Toji AIS, CHLS, B/ST, ASAM, W/ST 316 By James R. Walker

understanding of the concepts and ramifications regarding war as I served in the United States Navy as a missile downlink data technician. However, I have never had experienced the feelings and thoughts that I now have regarding the terrorist attack against the United States on September 11, 2001. On October 10, 2001 I attended the Teach-In. I sat through the entire program and began to understand some of the facets of this quite complicated event. Dr. Roberts brought light to the subject of the psychology of war in her address entitled, The Psychology of Hate. In this writ, I will share what I learned from her presentation. Dr. Roberts explains the psychological precepts necessary to enable an individual or a nation to demonize an ideology, nation or an individual. As she unfolded the complex attributes of the psychology of hate, I began to see that this has happened before in my personal life and in this country during World War II. I also learned that these mental processes are not necessarily rational and are held by individuals without any critical analysis. In the words that follow I will recount, as I understood it, all of these percepts. In order for a person or a group of people to morally justify heinous acts against another person or group, moral disengagement must be fully developed in the mind. This is accomplished through the following mental processes: 1) Moral justification / rationale. This is the act of creating plausible, if not inaccurate, accusations against the target, that is the person or group. Political propaganda is the agent of this deception. The news media is the most likely vehicle of propaganda. In this stage, normal rules of justice and equality do not

17 OCT 2001

Page 2 of 4

The Ethnic Experience in the United States - American Indians Studies, CSULB, Fall 2001 Dr. Johnson, Dr. Henry, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Toji AIS, CHLS, B/ST, ASAM, W/ST 316 By James R. Walker

apply. It is an example of extreme subjectivism. People begin to believe just what their fiat dictates. 2) Labels. Here the perceived enemy is given an appropriate name to reinforce the evil attributed to the target. Furthermore, euphemisms are used to soften the emotional blow to the minds of the label makers to the aggressions they are heaping upon the target. 3) Advantageous comparison. This is simply a convenient reconstruction and distortion of a past event. The event is seen and described differently in order to draw parallels to the current event thereby further justifying the hate. 4) Displacement of responsibility. To displace ones' responsibility is to place it upon another. Consequently, people think to themselves, "I am not the one doing the act." This is a device to ease the conscience of the individual or group even though the individual may condone and even encourage the act. 5) Diffusion of responsibility. This is related to the above however, this mental construct dictates that the responsibility is shared across so many individuals that the full impact upon any one conscience is insignificant therefore, tolerable. 6) Collective action. Quite simply, this is the entire group inertia of single mindedness to one end. In other words, everybody desires the same outcome to his or her efforts. 7) Distortion of consequences. It is important to ignore any possible consequences of the aggressions taking place in order to continue the aggressive acts. Everyone does this to one degree or another. When a nation does this, the impact can be horrific.
17 OCT 2001 Page 3 of 4

The Ethnic Experience in the United States - American Indians Studies, CSULB, Fall 2001 Dr. Johnson, Dr. Henry, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Toji AIS, CHLS, B/ST, ASAM, W/ST 316 By James R. Walker

8) Dehumanization. Intimately entwined with labeling this is the cognitive development of an image of the target as being not like you, that is not worthy of being considered as human or humane. Again, this bolsters the uncritical justification of hate. And finally, 9) Blame the victim. It seems so outrageous as we consider this aspect of the psychology of hate; so illogical and inappropriate. However, often after an attackphysical or psychological the perpetrator assumes that the actions of the target person or people warranted the aggression again thus justifying both the hate and the act. I cannot help but reflect on how many times these mental processes pave taken place within myself. Due to this campus event, I am forever changed. Perhaps I am now in some small way edified by attending the Teach-ln. I am certainly grateful for the time and effort the professors invested into this event. I am left with an indelible enlightening perspective, which I will carry with me as an active component of my experience of life till the end of my days. I cannot express the depth of my gratitude for this priceless gift. To all those professors who presented speeches on that day I give my profound thanks. James R. Walker

The cursive writing below that praises my paper was written by Dr. Johnson.

17 OCT 2001

Page 4 of 4