TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
BY SHIBANI MAHTANI
AND TIMOTHY MCLAUGHLINhong kong — The riot police,
dressed in green fatigues, ad-
vanced down a central city street.
Some of the officers wore black
masks, while others held shields
or shotguns loaded with rubber
bullets and tear-gas grenades.
As a few dozen protesters
jeered, police fired back with
their own insults.
“Remember, you are not a
person, you are not even worthy
as an animal!” an officer shouted.
“You are not a person, you’re a
cockroach!” Soon, police un-
leashed tear gas at the crowd
from close range — one of almost
400 canisters fired on Saturday.
Derogatory language — with
protesters terming officers dogs
and gangsters, and police calling
demonstrators subhuman and
cockroaches — has become a
hallmark of Hong Kong’s pro-
tests as clashes have escalated.
Police put up a massive show
of force this past weekend— even
against peaceful protesters — as
authorities grow more deter-
mined to end the months-long
unrest. Between Friday and Sun-
day, more than 300 people were
arrested, according to police. On
Sunday, a man armed with a
knife attacked pro-democracy
demonstrators and left three in
critical condition, including one
who had part of his ear bitten off.
In this deteriorating climate,
the dehumanizing language em-
ployed by police is especially
troubling, experts say, as it can be
a precursor to more indiscrimi-
nate violence toward civilians.
The use of “cockroach” — a
slur used by the Nazis against
Jews and by Hutus against Tutsis
in the Rwandan genocide —
often provides the rationale for
harsh and cruel treatment
against a group of people and
serves to further polarize society,
these experts say, especially
when used by state actors.
“There is the notion of an
infestation, that there’s some-
thing here you need to snuff out
before it takes over,” said Allison
Skinner, an assistant professor of
behavioral science and social
psychology at the University of
Georgia.
In July, the Junior Police Offi-
cers’ Association, a union that
represents many front-line offi-
cers, started referring to protest-
ers in its official statements as
cockroaches. In an Aug. 4 state-
ment, the association wrote:
“Even though the rioters don’t
like being called ‘cockroaches,’
how you’re acting is indeed like
cockroaches. Cockroaches,
please stop.”
“This sort of derogatory lan-
guage can lead to a deeper kind
of genuine dehumanization,”
said David Livingstone Smith, a
professor of philosophy at the
University of New England who
has written books on dehuman-
ization and violence. “You call
people cockroaches a lot, you
start thinking that they are sub-
human.”
Such language, he added, must
be viewed “either as a symptom
of an increasingly dangerous sit-
uation, or a promoter of one, or
both.”
Asked in August about the
matter, Kelvin Kong, a senior
superintendent with the police
public relations branch, told re-
porters that such language from
front-line officers was “not ideal”
but added that all parties “are
under a lot of stress.”
In an emailed response to
questions from The Washington
Post, the police public relations
branch said the department is
“aware of such a term used by
certain officers and are of the
view that the language is not
appropriate.”
“Officers have been reminded
to always present themselves
professionally and to use re-
spectful language to address
members of the public,” the re-
sponse added. “However, offi-
cers’ interaction with members
of the public is based upon
mutual respect. It is understand-
able that given the vulgar verbal
abuse from certain radicals tar-
geting the police, officers may
have ups and downs in their
emotions.”
Trust in Hong Kong’s police
force, once deemed “Asia’s Fin-
est,” has collapsed in recent
months. In polling conducted
last month by the Center for
Communication and Public
Opinion Survey at the ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong,
51.5 percent of respondents said
they had zero trust in the police
force, compared with 6.5 percent
in May and June.
On Sunday, a 24-year-old who
gave only one name, Lau, for fear
of repercussions, attended an
unsanctioned rally in Victoria
Park with her aunt and friend.
They left before police stormed
in. The three were stopped by
officers as they were exiting, she
said, and told to walk in another
direction.
The trio tried to explain that
they lived only one block away, in
the direction they were headed,
but officers searched their bags.
As the search was finishing,
Lau said, an older male officer
told them: “Okay, let me give you
some advice. Go back up [to your
home], stop being cockroaches,
and just become humans again.”
Lau was stunned. “I’ve heard
them say it on TV, and I’ve heard
people describe how they were
called cockroaches, but I guess it
was like getting the wind
knocked out of you,” she said. “I
felt cold because he said it so
matter-of-factly.”
As concerns have grown that
the police are operating with
impunity, even moderate politi-
cians and pro-Beijing lawmakers
have urged the city’s leader, Car-
rie Lam, to open a fully indepen-
dent investigation into the force,
which is one of the protesters’
demands. She has refused.
The language from the police
underscores the lack of account-
ability under Hong Kong’s un-
democratic system, said William
Donohue, a professor of commu-
nication at Michigan State Uni-
versity.
“If the state actor comes from
a democratically elected system,
you typically don’t get this kind
of language [as] there is the
assumption that the government
is accountable to the people,”
Donohue said.
“But when you have a govern-
ment that is not elected, when it
rules by other means, they feel
less restricted, they are not ac-
countable to anybody.”
[email protected]Tiffany Liang and Anna Kam
contributed to this report.Hong Kong police, protesters insult
each other with dehumanizing terms
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