Anti-Asian Prejudice, A Collection of Images

anti-japanese war propaganda, with a mixed message

Indiscriminate targeting of the Japanese during WWII was apparently OK, but well-meaning people thought there was a risk that some of the Chinese in the US would be mistaken for Japanese. Hence this:

1941 Time Magazine infoblurb showing how to tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese (with racist overtones)

Not that the Chinese were generally better treated in the US. Anti-Asian sentiment in the US and elsewhere dates from well before WWII. For example, there was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a ban on Chinese immigration that lasted until 1943:

the chinese must go

The Chinese must go, because we don’t need them anymore; technology will replace them

The original Yellow Peril rhetoric focused on the Chinese, not the Japanese. Chinese immigration into the US – and other Western countries as well – was important in the 19th century. The term refers to skin color and the fear that the mass immigration threatened white wages and standards of living and that the immigrants would eventually take over and destroy western civilization. The notion continued to have some currency until late in the 20th century, when it became associated with fears of Chinese overpopulation.

Satirical cartoon depicting anti-Chinese “native born citizens” (Irish, German, Italian and black) hanging a Chinese immigrant, 1880s

Artist George Keller illustrates tension between a white laborer and a Chinese immigrant. From The First Blow at the Chinese Question (1877)

“Hands off, gentlemen! America means fair play for all men”.

And did they need protection. Here’s the story of the Denver riot of 1880:

Denver had a section of town, populated by Chinese laborers, known as “Hop Alley”. The name was in reference to the widespread use of opium amongst the “Celestials” as some people referred to the Chinese at that time. A group of railroad laborers entered a bar in the area and confronted two Chinese men playing pool, hit one of them with a cue stick, and was promptly shot at by the other pool player. He missed, but word quickly spread that a Chinaman had killed a white man. A large crowd gathered with the intent to destroy the Chinese, along with all their possessions. (source)

Denver riot of 1880

Another example is the Asiatic Exclusion League, an organization formed in the early twentieth century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of Asian origin. In 1907, riots erupted in Vancouver when League members besieged Chinatown. Shouting racist slogans, as many as 10,000 people marched into Chinatown, vandalizing and causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. A small Kristallnacht. The mob then rampaged through Japantown, where they were confronted by residents armed with clubs and bottles with which they fought back (source).

Here’s a print from Mexico about the “terrible diseases of the Orient”, from 1932:

And here’s one from New Zealand:

Here’s another fine illustration betraying prejudice:

Sentiments like these have become rare nowadays, but haven’t totally disappeared. Here’s an Australian job ad:

More collections of images are here.

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (6)

“worshipping their god, hate”

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“Here, kids, I have some candy for you. But you both have to come with me…”, suggestion of blood libel

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(source, read the story about Dreyfus here)

Sexism, A Collection of Images (5)

women clean the house, and stay slim at the same time

women make breakfast

women work in the kitchen

women do the dishes

women are responsible for educating their children

in China, beautiful women serve coffee on international women’s day

women look old rather quickly

women smell

some women can project their equipment

More sexist images here, here and here.

International Intervention, A Collection of Images

Unsurprisingly, representations of international intervention often include a world map or a globe. And since these representations are almost always dismissive of intervention (even though in theory intervention can be a good thing), you’ll also see some awful creature with tentacles grasping the globe. It used to be common to depict the communist threat in this way:

Even post-communist Russia sometimes gets the same treatment, deservedly or not:

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The image of the globe-spanning octopus was also used to condemn the so-called global Jewish conspiracy:

Jewish imperialism, Danish version

(more here)

Amazingly, this red herring is still in use today:

Israeli intervention in US politics

Images condemning international intervention were common during the era of colonialism:

If it’s not the globe that’s carved up by the imperialists, it’s some kind of pizza/cake thing:

China is well-known for its desire to intervene in Taiwan in order to undo the intervention of someone else:

“We must liberate Taiwan”, 1958

The US as the “policeman of the world” is another famous anti-interventionist metaphor:

Feminism, A Collection of Images

Some remarkable images by photographer Liora K:

(source, source)

More on contraception, rape, abortion and wage discrimination.

Suffragettes, A Collection of Images

Actually, I want to focus here on the anti-Suffragette backlash. Around the turn of the 1920th century, women advocating for the equal right to vote and to get elected in western democracies were often depicted in a negative and derogative fashion by both male and female opponents of equal suffrage. Here are a few examples:

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(source; Suffragettes on hunger strike were occasionally force-fed, see here; ICWT stands for International Council of Women)

More on the suffragette movement here. More collections of images here.

Work, A Collection of Images

The images below are fun but they’re really just an excuse to link to my latest book about the importance of work in our lives and about the ways in which bad work ruins everything (some excerpts are here and here).

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Gender Equality, A Collection of Images

Betty Boop in a traditional gender role

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gender roles in a scene from the movie “Up”

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reversed gender roles in a video for “Army of Me” by Björk

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reversed gender roles in a cartoon by Angel Boligan

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cartoon mocking both western and muslim views on women

(source unknown)

who wants to be a man’s equal when you can just be a woman?

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a career or a rich husband?

(source)

Child Labor, A Collection of Images (3)

(Previous collections here, here and here. More informative posts on child labor are here and here).

Protest by BBA – Bachpan Bachao Andolan – the pioneering child-friendly organisation of India working to end child labour, child trafficking, and provide free education for all children since 1980

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child labor in the U.S.

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Child miner in the 1900s, U.S.

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Child miners in the 1900s, U.S.

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John Howell, an Indianapolis newsboy, makes $.75 some days. Begins at 6 a.m., Sundays. 1908

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Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents a day. 1917

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Capital Punishment, A Collection of Images

Mansur al-Hallaj (858 -922 AD) was a Persian mystic, revolutionary writer and pious teacher of Sufism most famous for his poetry, accusation of heresy and for his execution at the orders of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir after a long, drawn-out investigation.

(source, where you can read the full story)

The precise story about this picture is unknown, to me at least. I couldn’t find any reliable references. It’s assumed that this is an image of a public execution in China.

(source unknown, more on capital punishment in China is here)

“Pieta”, Jesus in the electric chair, by British artist Paul Fryer, in the private collection of François Pinault in France

(source, no doubt inspired by Lenny Bruce)

Francisco Goya, The Shootings of May 3, 1808. Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s armies during the occupation of 1808 in the Peninsular War.

(source unknown)

Cook County kept a gallows around until 1977 in case “Terrible Tommy” O’Connor, who escaped on the eve of his execution in 1921, was ever apprehended

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More images of capital punishment are here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. More on capital punishment in general here. Some data are here. And other collections of human rights images are here.

Sexism, A Collection of Images (4)

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(I have no information about the sources of these images. If you can help, add a comment).

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More sexist images here, here and here.

Animalization, A Collection of Images

Depicting the enemy as some kind of animal is a time-honored method of dehumanization. And once the enemy is no longer human, a lot of our usual moral inhibitions fall to the wayside. Here are some examples:

this anti-immigrant ad from Hong Kong reads: “Do you want Hong Kong to pay 1 million HKD per 18 minute raising illegitimate child from mainland? Hong Kong people have had enough of it! We understand that you suffer from contaminated milk powder, so we tolerate your raid upon our milk powder; we understand that you don’t have freedom, so we receive you over here through “free pass”; we understand that your education is poor, so we share our educational resource with you; we understand that you don’t read traditional Chinese, so we use “cripple” Chinese character (simplified Chinese) in the following: “Please respect our local culture when you are here, without Hong Kong you are all doomed.” Strongly demand the government to amend the 24th clause of Basic Laws! Stop the massive invasion of double negative pregnant women from mainland. (double negative = none of the woman’s parents are from HK)”

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American World War Two propaganda poster depicting the Japanese as rats

(source unknown)

Anti-German image from World War One depicting Germans as … some kind of animal

(source unknown)

Nazi cross kills a jewish rat

(source unknown)

Nazi propaganda depicting Jews as bacteria and disease carriers (“Krankheitserreger”)

(source unknown)

It seems Charles Darwin descended from monkeys, hahaha

(source unknown)

the more common objects of monkeyfication are of course Africans and African Americans

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The Obamas in the Planet of the Apes

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and in the interest of objectivity, Bush as a loving monkey

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More on animalization here.

Homelessness, A Collection of Images (2)

Lee Jeffries’ wonderful portraits of homeless people:

(source, source, source)

Another collection of images about homelessness is here. More on homelessness here. More collections of human rights images here.

Inequality, A Collection of Images (3)

Kiev, Ukraine, on February 6, 2012 (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)

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The New Yorker “Occupy Wall Street” cover

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Eton boys, 1936, Photograph Jimmy Sime/Hulton/Getty

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More images here and here.

Child Marriage, A Collection of Images

Some amazing photos by Stephanie Sinclair:

Tahani – in pink – married her husband Majed when she was 6 and he was 25; poses with her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair

(source)

Child marriage in Afghanistan. Ghulam Haider, 11, is to be married to Faiz Mohammed, 40. She had hoped to be a teacher but was forced to quit her classes when she became engaged. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/The New York Times

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Roshan Qasem, 11, will join the household of Said Mohammed, 55; his first wife; their three sons; and their daughter, who is the same age as Roshan. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair

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Delhi, India. Kishore (13) and his new wife Maya (8), inside their home. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair

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More on child marriage here. Some data are here. And more here about the human rights implications.

Female Objectification, A Collection of Images (2)

(A previous collection is here).

Apparently, Durex thinks women are tunnels

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And just to show that it’s mostly but not always women who suffer this treatment:

Racism, A Collection of Images (2)

the black servant stereotype (in case you're wondering why there's a mannequin at the table: it's Cynthia, a major 1930s celebrity, fixture of the trendy dinner parties and gossip columns of the day; read more about her at the source link below)

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the black servant stereotype seems to be very much alive

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and of course there's also a black male servant stereotype

(source unknown)

Turkish news anchor appears in blackface in the coverage of President Obama’s trip to Turkey

(source, more on blackface here)

macabre and racist valentine card with lynching theme

(source unknown)

African Americans aren't the only victims of stereotyping

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Mexicans it seems are sombrero wearing, violent, fat, moustachioed goofs (re: silly laugh) fond of conspicuous wealth (aka golden tooth)

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1882, Strong anti-Chinese sentiment in California leads to the federal Chinese Exclusion Act, which suspends immigration from the East. The political cartoon above, titled "The Only One Barred Out," mocks the legislation.

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More collections of racist images here and here.

Child Soldiers, A Collection of Images (2)

Child soldiers in the Congo

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A former abductee of the Lord's Resistance Army

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Probably not a child soldier, just a studio portrait of a child dressed in military uniform, possibly the son of Private Eldershire, from the Australian War Memorial's collection (1915)

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This Chinese soldier, age 10, with heavy pack, is a member of an army division boarding a plane returning them to China, following the capture of Myitkyina airfield, Burma, under the allied command of US Major General Frank Merrill, May 1944. Chinese and allied troops had earlier crossed through the treacherous jungle of the Kumon Bum Mountains before attacking Japanese troops to the south. Exhaustion and disease led to the early evacuation of many Chinese and allied troops before the coming assault on Myitkyina town.

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A "son of the regiment" wearing the Red Star for bravery, surrounded by his admirers. "Sons of the regiment" were orphans adopted by Soviet regiments, and were looked after like the soldiers' own sons. They lived with the soldiers and fought alongside them in front-line actions.

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Child soldier in the US Civil War

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Child soldiers of the Finnish Red guards in Kymi

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Warsaw Uprising: Soldiers from the "Radosław Regiment" after several hours marching through sewers from Krasiński Square to Warecka Street in the Śródmieście district, early morning on September 2, 1944. The boy wearing a helmet is Tadeusz "Maszynka" Rajszczak from the Miotła Battalion.

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More images of child soldiers here.

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (5)

Blood libel is an old and prominent theme in anti-semitism, and still in use today.

Blood libels typically allege that Jews require human blood for the baking of matzos for Passover, although this element was absent in the earliest cases that claimed (the contemporary) Jews reenacted the crucifixion. The accusations often assert that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and, historically, blood libel claims have been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. (source)

Here are some historical and contemporary images invoking blood libel explicitly or implicitly:

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"the only democracy in the Middle East"

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More images here.

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (4)

There are many themes in anti-semitism. A prominent one, at least in contemporary anti-semitism, is nazism and the holocaust: Israel and the Jews in general are often depicted as imitators of the Nazis, with the Palestinians in the role of the Jews and the Jews in the role of the Germans:

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And then there’s this image, inspired by an iconic photo of the Warsaw ghetto:

This is the original:

Photo from Jürgen Stroop's report to Heinrich Himmler from May 1943, titled “The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw is no more!”. One of the best-known pictures of World War II.

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More images here and here.

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (3)

Conspiracy is a common theme in anti-Semitism. Hence the recurring use of the image of the octopus, often depicted spanning a globe with its tentacles, such as in this picture. The globe then represents the worldwide nature of the supposed conspiracy. This theme has of course some variations:

(French cartoon from the end of the 19th century; more variations here)

Sometimes also without animalization, as in this Nazi era image:

I think it says: "You will destroy all nations and spare none" from Deuteronomy 7:16

The tentacles image is still used today:

classic anti-Semitic caricatures of a Jew - religious, hook nosed, wearing glasses, ugly and with tentacles; published in the Al-Watan (Qatar) on June 2, 2010; the tentacles form the words "terrorist state"

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The conspiracy theme often has a capitalist or a communist subtheme. Antisemites often viewed the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, for instance, as inspired by the Jews. Trotski, a Jew, came in handy:

Anti-Bolsheviks claimed the uprising in Russia was the work of jews; the Chinese soldiers in the image were hired mercenaries for the Jewish Bolsheviks, doing their dirty work

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But, again, the Jews are not content with a conspiracy in one country only:

More images here and here.

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (2)

More descriptive information on antisemitism is here. More on the related topics of the holocaust, holocaust denial and animalization. Another collection here.

These are some images from the infamous Der Stürmer:

"The Vermin: Life is not worth living when one does not resist the parasite, never satisfied as it creeps about. We must and will win."

More here and here. More on animalization here.

Human Rights Maps (126): Layout of Execution Rooms

This post isn’t about maps in the geographical sense, as is normally the case in this blog series about human rights maps. Still, I think it’s interesting to have a look at the topography of the death penalty, given that few among us actually know a lot about the actual practice of an execution (it’s not done in public anymore, at least not in most parts of the world).

Some are reconsidering the death penalty because of the costs involved, but not California. Here’s an image from Ari Kohen’s blog:

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How nice of them to separate the two families. Let’s just hope that they won’t think that having a bigger room means having to use it more often.

An interesting setup is this one from Japan:

(source, source)

This is the execution room in the Tokyo Detention House. Notice the three buttons in the second picture, placed on the wall in a room adjacent to the actual execution room. The setup is designed in such a way that the executioner doesn’t have to come face-to-face with the convict. Moreover, the three buttons have to be pressed simultaneously by three officers, but only one button actually opens the trapdoor (red square on the floor, below the hook in the ceiling). None of the officers is told which button is the live one that will cause the prisoner’s death.

The red square on the white floor marks the spot in the windowless room where convicts stand with the noose around their neck, before a trapdoor opens below them and they plunge to their deaths. The noose is hung from the hook in the ceiling just above the trapdoor. I suppose the rings in the wall and floor are for restraining the prisoner temporarily.

Below is a floor plan of the execution room in the prison at Terre Haute, Indiana:

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If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the viewing rooms have toilet facilities. I’m sure there’s a good reason for that.

Below is the hanging room in the Washington State Penitentiary (also called the Walla Walla State Penitentiary):

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The curious thing here is that the viewing area seems to be positioned at a height that makes it possible to see the face of the convict after the drop. That’s not something I understand, or want to understand.

Between 1991 and 1998, Lucinda Devlin photographed in different penitentiaries in the U.S. She called the resulting series The Omega Suites, alluding to the final letter of the Greek alphabet as a metaphor for the finality of execution. The series includes numerous photographs of execution chambers. Here are a few:

Electric Chair, Greenhaven Correctional Facility, Greenhaven, New York, 1991

Notice the air filter just above the chair. I imagine the rubber on the floor is there to protect the executioners. The same room viewed from the executioner’s booth (notice the large switch):

Executioner's Room, Greenhaven Correctional Facility, Greenhaven, New York, 1991

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Some more from the same series:

gallows at the Smyrna, Delaware prison

gas chamber in Baltimore, Maryland

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There’s also this innovative approach in China.

More about capital punishment is here. More maps about capital punishment are here. More human rights maps in general are here.

Related Articles

• Japan opens up death chamber to media for first time (alternet.org)
• Human Rights Maps (116): Life Without Parole For U.S. Teenagers (filipspagnoli.wordpress.com)

Inequality, A Collection of Images (2)

(A older collection of images on inequality is here. Similar collections: sexism, segregation, antisemitism, discrimination, caste, and racism).

by Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press

(source, more on income inequality)

Muslim veil cartoon by Olle Johansson

(source, more on the Muslim veil here, more on gender equality here)

segregation cartoon by Nate Beeler

(source, more on segregation, Jim Crow and Rand Paul’s objections to the Civil Rights Act)

by Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press

(source, more on same-sex marriage rights here)

More collections of human rights images are here.

Related Articles

• The Causes of Wealth Inequality (12): Immigration (filipspagnoli.wordpress.com)
• The inequality that matters (marginalrevolution.com)
• Human Rights Facts (211): U.S. Public Opinion on Income Inequality (filipspagnoli.wordpress.com)

Racist Stereotypes, A Collection of Images

It was and still is quite common to see non-whites depicted as dumb, evil, lazy, poor, cannibalistic, uncivilized and un-Christian savages with stuff sticking through their noses. Or as odd-looking servants, comical figures, dimwitted people scared of ghosts (and turning white out of fear). As overly joyous fools or overly sexual deviants, bare breasted, heavily hung or with fat buttocks. Such representations serve to signal, confirm and spread the conviction that blacks are inferior. This conviction in turn justifies all sorts of discrimination.

Very common is the caricature of funny looking big-lipped black folk:

The big lip stereotype is of course closely connected to the monkey stereotype:

And a monkey isn’t really that much different from a savage:

The text reads: “Just leave that cigar with me! Leave, go of it, you chimpanzee”. Most racial prejudices are present in this one: the big yellow eyes, big lips, funny hair, savage customs (cannibalism), leopard skin dress, beads etc. Surprisingly, the savages did manage to produce a professional looking banner announcing the banquet.

And just to show you that we’re not talking about ancient history:

(I think the original non-photoshopped image is actually of a South American Amazonian Indian, by the way)

The savage nature of blacks wasn’t believed to be limited to their jungle life and cannibalism. Often they were also depicted as being fond of bestiality:

It’s not just male blacks who are deemed to be sexually deviant. There’s also the stereotype of the oversexualized black female. Typical is the so-called Jezebel stereotype. The Jezebel, named after the Bible figure, is a loose woman who wants sex all of the time. Of course, the usual racist stereotypes are also included: big lips, funny hair…:

Apart from the Jezebel stereotype, there’s also the Sapphire and the Mammy stereotype, both quite common. A Sapphire is an overbearing woman who, often holding her hands on her hips and talking all the time, bullies her man:

The Mammy figure (also called the “Aunt Jemima stereotype”) is a domestic servant, good-natured, overweight, loud and a good cook, invariably wearing a headscarf:

Male blacks as well were often depicted as servants:

“Rastus,” the Cream of Wheat Cook, created in 1893 as a likable image to help sell packages of “breakfast porridge.” Rastus is marketed as a symbol of wholeness and stability. The toothy, well-dressed Black chef happily serves breakfast to a nation. The language that he uses is typically “simple”.

And then there’s the strange watermelon stereotype. The origin of the link between blacks and watermelons is unclear. Maybe it has something to do with slaves stealing food from the field:

 

Whatever the origin, the stereotype does serve to make them look stupid and childlike. And, of course, there’s the black athlete, again highly animalized:

(source)

Other collections of racist images are here, here, here, here, here and here. The whole series of human rights images is here.

Related Articles

• ‘Training away stereotypes’: People trained to think in opposition to stereotypes are more receptive to advertising starring minority actors (sciencedaily.com)
• Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life (learning.blogs.nytimes.com)

Child Labor, A Collection of Images (2)

(An older collection of images about child labor is here).

According to Time, Kazakhstan tobacco farms contracted by Philip Morris have allowed children to work alongside their parents. This practice is outlawed because of the hard nature of the labor, the harmful pesticides used to protect the tobacco, and the fact that nicotine is absorbed through the skin. Last year Human Rights Watch completed 68 interviews with workers, documenting 72 cases of child labor. (source)

Many of the people working in the tobacco farms are migrant laborers from neighboring Kyrgyzstan. They are accompanied by their children, who help their parents harvest the crops. Below a few pictures taken by Moises Saman/Magnum for Human Rights Watch:

child labor in Kazakhstan's tobacco fields, photo by Moises Saman / Magnum for Human Rights Watch

child labor in Kazakhstan's tobacco fields, photo by Moises Saman / Magnum for Human Rights Watch

child labor in Kazakhstan's tobacco fields, photo by Moises Saman / Magnum for Human Rights Watch

child labor in Kazakhstan's tobacco fields, photo by Moises Saman / Magnum for Human Rights Watch

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A more detailed discussion about the pros and cons of child labor is here. More collections of human rights images are here.

Related Articles

• Does the Marlboro Man Use Child Labor? (motherjones.com)
• Philip Morris Said to Benefit from Child Labor (nytimes.com)
• Lawmakers Seek Overseas Labor Data From Tobacco Company (prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Reports of Child Labor Rise in Namibia (humantrafficking.change.org)
• “Human Rights Watch: Kazakhstan: Migrant Tobacco Workers Cheated, Exploited” and related posts (huffingtonpost.com)

Infantilization, A Collection of Images

There’s something particularly reprehensible about infantilization. With all respect to children, but when you treat another adult like a child you actually say that she isn’t really an equal human being. Maybe you want to imply that she doesn’t have moral agency, that she’s not responsible for her actions, that she can or should be easily dominated (which is perhaps why some infantilizing images also have a sexual character, see below). Or maybe you imply that she is somewhat stupid or uneducated.

And I’m using the politically correct female pronoun for the other adult on purpose here, because it is usually women who are infantilized in our culture. Here are a few examples of female infantilization (I guess I don’t have to point to the sexual nature of most of them):

(source, complete with the thumb going to the mouth…)

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Reille Hunter is posing with Kermit the Frog, Barney the Dinosaur, and Dora the Explorer

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However, since it’s not just women who have to be kept down, it’s not just women who are infantilized either. There’s blacks of course:

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And Native Americans who, it seems, needed to learn to wash themselves:

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And the Chinese, maybe because they’re sooo small:

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And, surprisingly, even the occasional white male:

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And then there’s the opposite deviancy of pretending that children are adults, often female children, and often – again – in a sexual light:

(source unknown)

It’s all pretty sick.

More on the related subjects of paternalism, instrumentalization, objectification and animalization. More collections of images are here.

Sexism, A Collection of Images (3)

(Previous collections of sexist images are here and here).

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More on stereotypes, prejudice, feminism, women’s rights and gender discrimination. More collections of images.

Related Articles

• The Nation: Sexism Creeps Up Again For Kagan (npr.org)
• CU’Independent : Sexism [Image] (scaryideas.com)
• Sexism in the Workplace Hurts, New Study Finds (livescience.com)

Slavery, A Collection of Images

More on slavery here (and on modern slavery here). Other collections of human rights images are here.

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(source, more on human branding)

Scene from the TV-series "Roots"

(more on this series)

(source, more on the origins and significance of this image)

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(more on dehumanization and human commodification)

Segregation, A Collection of Images

More on segregation here. Something on the Little Rock Nine, on Rosa Parks, and on Jim Crow. Other collections of human rights images are here.

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African-American citizens sitting in the rear of the bus in compliance with Florida segregation law

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And here’s one making fun of it all:

(source unknown)

Antisemitism, A Collection of Images

More descriptive information on antisemitism is here. More on the related topics of the holocaust, holocaust denial and segregation.

(source, jewish world domination)

(source, I like the “caution” ribbon; more about Israel and Palestine)

(source, more about antisemitism in Arab countries)

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(source, nazi caricature of jewish banker sitting on a bag of money; more about antisemitism and banking)

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(more on blood libel)

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Asylum Seekers, A Collection of Images

More here on political asylum and why this is a human rights issue. More on asylum in general is here. Some statistics are here. Other collections of human rights images are here.

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(source, more on Dungavel here)

Discrimination, A Collection of Images

More on discrimination here. Another set of images on discrimination is here. And other collections of human rights images are here.

(source, other signs like this one are here)

(source, other images on racism are here)

Swedish anti-discrimination campaign

(source, more on the differences in poverty levels across races is here)

(source, more on homosexuality in the military is here)

(more on the concept of a fair trial is here)

Xenophobia, A Collection of Images

Anti-immigrant headline in British newspaper

(source, more on the KKK here)

xenophobia in Russia

(source, more on xenophobia in Russia here)

(source)

Attack with a burning rubber tire ("necklace") in South-Africa

(source unknown)

Anti-immigrant bumper sticker and plate

(source)

anti-semitism

(source, more on anti-semitism)

a campaign poster from the right-wing Swiss People's Party, aimed at deporting foreigners - residents without Swiss citizenship - who commit crimes

(source, notice the pun: schaffen/to make or create is similar to Schaf/sheep)

More on xenophobia, on anti-semitism, and on anti-immigration. More collections of human rights images.

Inequality, A Collection of Images

More on inequality, and the differences between types of inequality, is here. Other collections of human rights images are here.

(source, more on income inequality here)

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(source, more on income inequality here)

marriage inequality protest in Long Beach

(source, more on same-sex marriage rights here)

(source, more on capitalism here and here)

(source, more on gender discrimination here)

(source unknown, more on global inequality here an here)

Female Animalization, A Collection of Images

Female animalization is the depiction of women as animals, or as hybrid human-animals. It’s in fact a subgenre of female objectification, which is itself a subgenre of dehumanization (see also here). Depicting a woman as an animal means taking away her human characteristics and can lead to gender discrimination. It’s easier to deny the rights of an animal than the rights of an individual human being.

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snake woman

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frog woman

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pig woman

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Hillary Clinton as a pig

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dog woman

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And of course there’s this infamous example of Michelle Obama’s face turned into a monkey face:

Michelle Obama monkey face

(source, examples of Bush and Osama bin Laden as monkeys are here)

Some time ago, this image was the first to appear when people googled for images of Michelle Obama. Because of this Google issued this statement:

Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google.

Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. A site’s ranking in Google’s search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page’s relevance to a given query.

The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results. Individual citizens and public interest groups do periodically urge us to remove particular links or otherwise adjust search results. Although Google reserves the right to address such requests individually, Google views the integrity of our search results as an extremely important priority. Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it. We will, however, remove pages from our results if we believe the page (or its site) violates our Webmaster Guidelines, if we believe we are required to do so by law, or at the request of the webmaster who is responsible for the page.

We apologize if you’ve had an upsetting experience using Google. We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results.

Sincerely,

The Google Team

At this point, I should probably mention that men as well can be animalized, and have been to great political effect throughout history. Here’s one example:

More examples featuring hated outgroups here.

More on advertising.

Sexism, A Collection of Images (2)

(See the previous collection of sexist images here). More on sexism, feminism, gender discrimination and women’s rights. Other collections of human rights images are here.

(this example is in fact also a case of objectification)

(an unusual example of sexism targeting males)

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(source, for the innocent among us there’s an explanation here)

gender discrimination in paper routes

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The Indian Caste System, A Collection of Images

More information on the Indian Caste system is here. Other collections of human rights images here.

Dalit or "Untouchable"

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Brahmin, member of the priest caste

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Indian caste system

Immigration, A Collection of Images

There’s more on immigration here (including a discussion of the links between migration and human rights). Other collections of human rights images are here.

U.S. ark welcoming immigration

(source unknown)

Canada welcoming immigrants

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(source unknown)

Female Objectification, A Collection of Images

Female objectification (male objectification also exists, but is much less common) occurs when you regard or treat a woman as a thing or an object, separate from her personal and human attributes or characteristics. It’s often but not always sexual objectification, the reduction of an individual to a sexual object or instrument with no other purpose than the sexual gratification of male subjects. Sexual objectification and female objectification in general are tools of gender discrimination. It’s easier to deny the rights of an object than the rights of an individual human being. Objectification is a concept that’s closely linked to dehumanization (see also here).

Here are a few examples of objectification:

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More on objectification here and here. Here‘s a collection of images on the related topic of sexism. And here are other collections of human rights images.

Slums, A Collection of Images

From a human rights perspective, slums pose a variety of problems: the rights to housing and healthcare (art. 25 of the Universal Declaration) are only the most obvious ones. We can all imagine how the rights to education, standard of living, privacy, property etc. are violated as well in slum conditions.

More on slums here, here and here. Something about the related topic of overpopulation is here.

Lights in homes illuminate the barrios of Caracas, Venezuela, at dusk. In 2008, the number of people living in cities for the first time exceeded those in rural areas worldwide, a historic turning point. One-third of urban dwellers, approximately 1 billion people, live in slums. The United Nations predicts that number will double in the next 25 years. Photo by Jonas Bendiksen.

(source, source)

What is a slum? The definition is hazy. The United Nations' definition of a slum encompasses several factors, including the kind of building construction, the level of services provided by the municipality, land ownership, and the rates of crime and poverty. "With 1 billion people living in the slums worldwide, there's no way that they all relate to their surroundings in the same way," Bendiksen says. In the Caracas barrios, pictured above, "the building construction is more solid, but crime is much worse than in other slums; there is more lawlessness." Photo by Jonas Bendiksen.

(source, source)

Other collections of human rights images are here.

Homelessness, A Collection of Images

In the U.S., approximately 1.6 million persons experience homelessness and per year. This number only includes persons who used shelters or transitional housing programs at least once during a year). Almost 20% of those are chronically homeless (source). Almost half of the homeless population is African-American.

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Homeless people live on a street corner, Monday, May 9, 2005 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa (Karel Prinsloo/AP Photo)

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A homeless man, like many in Xinjiang, Hotan China

(source, source)

Homeless man, Amman, Jordan

(source, source)

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More on homelessness. More collections of human rights images.

Child Soldiers, A Collection of Images

(Other collections of human rights images are here).

Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Although most child soldiers are between 15 and 18 years old, significant recruitment starts at the age of 10 and the use of even younger children has been recorded.

Around the world, children are singled out for recruitment by both armed forces and armed opposition groups, and exploited as combatants. Easily manipulated, children are sometimes coerced to commit grave atrocities, including rape and murder of civilians using assault rifles such as AK-47s and G4s. Some are forced to injure or kill members of their own families or other child soldiers. Others serve as porters, cooks, guards, messengers, spies, and sex slaves.

More on the problem of child soldiers here. Here is a map pinpointing the places in the world where children are used as soldiers. And here and here are adverts that are part of a campaign against child soldiers. Something more general on children’s rights is here.

Child soldiers – stolen innocence, by Sarah Hollick

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Child soldier in Northern Uganda

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A child soldier wearing a teddy in Liberia, Photo by Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images

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Last public appearance of Hitler, decorating Hitler Jugend

More on child soldiers.

Child Labor, A Collection of Images

A young girl sells popcorn on a sidewalk in Patna, India, on October 9, 2006, the day before a federal ban went into effect in India prohibiting employers from hiring children under 14 to work as maids or in restaurants, tea shops, hotels, or roadside eateries

(source, more on India)

Young mill worker, unknown city in the United States, 1918

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A group of boys after a 10-12 hour shift in the factory

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A silk factory worker at the Yodgorlik Silk Factory in Margilon, Uzbekistan is distracted from work at her machine for a moment, May 2008. By Gerard Lazaro via Getty Images.

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More on child labor. More collections of human rights images.

Free Speech, A Collection of Images

There’s more on free speech here, and more on limiting free speech here. Other collections of human rights images are here.

Detail from "Rush City" poster by Gus Heege, "A Dose of Pepper Causes the Orator to Loose His Voice", from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

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"Free sepech doesn't mean careless talk", a WWII poster against loose talk which might benefit the enemy (another one says "Loose lips shink ships")

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Free speech zones (also known as First Amendment Zones, Free speech cages, and Protest zones) are areas set aside in public places for political activists to exercise their right of free speech in the United States. The government may regulate the time, place, and manner but not the content of expression. Critics suggest that such zones practically render speech harmless and are therefore akin to censorship, because they put protesters literally out of sight.

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Homophobia, A Collection of Images

(source, it says – in Polish: “No being gay”, “Healthy, normal families guarantee the future”)

(source)

(source, more on incitement to violence)

(source, I like the “enter wrong way” sign and I wonder if this person consciously chose this particular spot for his anti-gay protest)

More on homophobia. More on same-sex marriage. More collections of images.

Islamophobia, A Collection of Images

Islamophobia is an interesting phenomenon from the point of view of human rights. The “fear of Islam” has many different causes:

• outright racism
• Muslim terrorism, resulting in genuine fear combined with unwarranted generalization
• Muslim immigration, resulting in worries about employment and about cultural survival
• certain Islamic practices and values related mainly to the rights of women, homosexuals, convicted criminals, apostates and those who criticize Islam
• the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the way in which many Muslims deal with the Holocaust.

(Click on the links above for more information). What you see in islamophobia is that certain elements of a religion that deserve criticism are blown out of proportion, become an obsession, eclipse other problems in other cultures or civilizations that deserve equal criticism, and are mixed with prejudice, racism and generalization. You end up with a “clash of civilizations” that is in fact a self-fulfilling prophecy. The targets of islamophobia see some of their own prejudices against the West confirmed and step into the roles written for them by the other side.

Here are some images depicting islamophobia:

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(source, sic)

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More on islamophobia. More collections of images.

Prison Conditions, A Collection of Images

Fyodor Dostoevsky

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. Fyodor Dostoevsky

No matter how much we agree that putting people in prison is often necessary, we shouldn’t forget that in doing so we limit their human rights. Such limits are not impossible in the system of human rights, but should be kept to a minimum necessary for the protection of other rights or the rights of others. Hence, arbitrary arrest, or arrest for “crimes” which do not violate other people’s rights – such as political “crimes”, speech “crimes” etc. - is unacceptable. Moreover, in those cases in which imprisonment is an acceptable measure in view of the protection of the rights of others, there’s no reason to accept prison conditions that add human rights violations to the human rights limitations already inherent in the fact of incarceration itself.

Inhumane prison conditions are often the result of the general poverty of a country. A poor country will have poor prisons. But poverty doesn’t explain everything, as is shown by the problems in some of the prisons in relatively wealthy countries. Prisoners are often viewed as subhuman, deserving not only imprisonment but imprisonment under any condition. However, such a view is self-defeating: bad prison conditions create subhuman behavior. The ripple effects of bad prison conditions do not stop at the prison walls; they reach every corner of society. Not a lot of imagination is required to see what happens when prisoners leave the hell holes that are used as prisons in some countries. Or better, if they leave. If they leave, it’s often in a coffin, or at best with their mental and physical health destroyed.

More on prison conditions here (on overpopulation in prisons), here (prison conditions in Iran), here (prison rape), here (again on overpopulation), here (solitary confinement), here (juvenile incarceration). Here are some statistics. And here’s an collection of images on prison conditions, past and present:

illustration of the prison conditions abord the wretched Prison Ship Jersey

(source, read the full horror story about this prison ship, used by the British during the American Revolutionary War)

A prison cell in Tbilisi, Georgia, photo InterPressNews

(source, full story here)

prison conditions in Iraq, prisoners say that some have to stand to make room for others to sleep

(source, full story here)

Rodrigo Abd, Associated Press, a dead inmate is seen at the local morgue after a prison riot caused by a fight between rival gangs in Escuintla, Guatemala

(source, full story here)

prison slave labor

(source, read more on prison labor here)

juvenile incarceration, photo by Steve Liss

(source, read more about children in prison here)

Other collections of human rights images are here.

Violence, A Collection of Images

More on violence here. Other collections of human rights images are here.

Violence in Iraq, Photo: Reuters

(source, more on Iraq)

COE campaign to stop domestic violence against women

(source, more on violence against women)

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Columbine shooters Eric Harris (L) and Dylan Klebold, Getty Images

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Sudanese child draws image of rape

(source, more on Sudan)

Prejudice, A Collection of Images

More on prejudice here.

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