By Trevan Householder

Today, we are mourning the tragic loss of Charlie Kirk — a peaceful moment turned devastating. In the wake of this tragedy, I’ve witnessed disturbing responses: not sorrow, not outrage at violence — but celebration. This isn’t just unacceptable — it starkly reminds us why labeling others is dangerous, especially amid politics.

1. Labels Kill Curiosity and Humanity

Labeling gives us certainty — but it kills curiosity. Once we’ve labeled someone, our brain tends to only see what confirms that label. We stop listening, learning, engaging.

As Psychology Today puts it:
“Once we label people… we process additional information to justify the label, not to learn.”

2. Labels Become Self-Fulfilling and Toxic

Labeling theory shows that we often treat others in line with a label — and they may come to embody it. For instance, children labeled as less capable can end up doing worse academically, not due to ability, but because of reduced attention and expectation.

Similarly, tribal labels like “hater,” “Nazi sympathizer,” or “pedophile defender” don’t just oversimplify — they dehumanize. Once that happens, empathy fades and extreme reactions become easier to rationalize.

3. Powerful Labels Overwhelm Identity

Gordon Allport coined the term “labels of primary potency” — labels so charged that they drown out every other facet of a person’s identity. They don’t just categorize someone; they erase them.

4. Labels Harm — Especially When Dehumanizing

Words shape how we see people — and whether we see them as people at all.

• In Rwanda, government radio labeled the Tutsi minority as “cockroaches.” That label made it easier for neighbors to kill neighbors in the genocide of 1994.
• In Nazi Germany, Jews were labeled “vermin” and “rats” in propaganda. That label stripped away their humanity in the public mind, paving the way for the Holocaust.
• In America, when political opponents are labeled “Nazis,” “pedophiles,” or “terrorists,” it sends the same signal: This person is not just wrong — they are evil, dangerous, and not worthy of basic decency.
• Even in everyday life, labels like “loser,” “illegals,” or “deplorables” don’t just describe — they reduce entire people to caricatures.

History shows us that dehumanizing labels are the first step toward dehumanizing actions. Once we put people in a box and slap a label on them, it’s far too easy to stop seeing their humanity — and far too easy to excuse mistreatment or even violence against them.

5. Flexible Labels Reduce Stress — and Open Minds

Holding onto rigid labels is stressful. But believing that people (and groups) can change — not labeling them as “forever” something — is linked to lower stress and better health.

This applies not just to others, but to ourselves. The moment we stop labeling ourselves in rigid, limiting ways, we allow growth.

6. Labels Create Divide, Not Community

Labels in themselves are neutral. They’re shortcuts our brains use to organize the world. A label like “doctor,” “mom,” or “athlete” can give us quick understanding and even inspire respect or belonging. Sometimes, labels unite us — “patriot,” “veteran,” “teammate” — because the meaning behind them carries honor or shared purpose.

But the danger is this: the same label can either connect or divide, depending on the meaning we assign to it.

• Patriot: To some, it means “someone who loves their country.” To others, it has been twisted into meaning “violent extremist.” The word didn’t change — the meaning assigned to it did.
• Immigrant: To some, it means “hardworking, hopeful, pursuing the American dream.” To others, it has been assigned the meaning “illegal,” “burden,” or even “threat.”
• Even political labels like liberal or conservative started as neutral descriptors. But when we load them with assumptions — “all liberals hate America” or “all conservatives are Nazis” — we turn a simple label into a weapon.

When labels are assigned hostile meanings, they don’t just describe a group — they define that group in opposition to “us.” That’s how in-groups and out-groups are formed. Once people are sorted into “good” and “bad,” “safe” and “dangerous,” it becomes much easier to justify ignoring, mocking, or even harming “the other side.”

That’s exactly what we’ve seen with Charlie Kirk. To those who disagreed with him, labels like “hater,” “Nazi,” or “fascist” weren’t just words — they became definitions that erased his humanity. Once those meanings took hold, it became easy for some to celebrate violence against him, as if harming him was somehow righteous.

That’s the deadly power of labels when we assign them meanings that strip away human dignity.

7. The Cost of Stigma and Stereotypes

Once someone is stigmatized, their self-image shifts. They feel devalued and may internalize the negative perceptions — leading to low self-esteem, depression, disengagement.

That’s what labeling — and celebrating violence against a labeled target — does to our collective psyche.

The Heart of My Message

Labeling is human; it simplifies. But in politics — especially now — it’s also lethal. When we label people based on agreement or caricatures, we stop being curious. We stop listening. We stop seeing another human.

We must do better:

• Pause before labeling. Ask: What am I missing? What stories am I ignoring?
• Remember complexity. Real people are never fully captured by soundbites or hashtags.
• Reject dehumanizing labels. When we reduce people to caricatures, we open the door to excusing mistreatment and even violence — something no human being deserves.
• Hold out space for change. Allow people to evolve — for their ideas to shift, for dialogue to happen.

Conclusion

Let’s honor today not with labels — but with curiosity. Not with division — but with shared humanity.

In this moment, I mourn not just a person, but a culture that makes it so easy to hate — by labeling and discarding. We cannot function as human beings if we’ve forgotten how to see each other.

Let today be a wake-up call: let’s stop labeling, start listening, and hold onto the truth that beneath every label lies a person worth understanding.