Historically, the term cockroach has been used as dehumanising label by powerful groups like governments, military forces, dictators and political movement to marginalise, decimate or control people. Calling a group “cockroaches” frames them as pests rather than human beings, making harsh treatment appear more acceptable.
The term “cockroach” (or equivalents like “inyenzi” in Kinyarwanda) has been used historically as a tool of dehumanization in propaganda, making targeted groups seem like vermin that can—or must—be exterminated. This rhetoric psychologically justifies violence, repression, or genocide by stripping people of their humanity and equating them with pests that are routinely crushed without moral qualms.
Primary Historical Example: Rwandan Genocide (1994): The most notorious and well-documented case occurred in Rwanda. Hutu extremists used the term “inyenzi” (cockroach) to refer to Tutsis, particularly through state-aligned media like Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and publications such as Kangura. This language built up over years but intensified after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invasion in 1990. Tutsis (and moderate Hutus) were portrayed as an existential infestation. Propaganda included phrases like “A cockroach cannot give birth to a butterfly” (implying Tutsis were inherently evil and irredeemable) and calls to “exterminate the cockroaches,” “crush them,” or “search for cockroaches and make sure you find them.”
Dehumanization was made systematic: it framed killing not as murder but as pest control (e.g., killing “eggs and larvae” too, meaning women and children). This contributed directly to the genocide, in which around 800,000–1 million Tutsis and moderates were killed in about 100 days. This is a classic case of how such language, broadcast widely via radio, normalized mass violence.
Other Contexts
Libya (2011): Muammar Gaddafi
Gaddafi called anti-regime protesters “cockroaches” and “rats” during the uprising, urging supporters to attack and capture them. This echoed repressive rhetoric to delegitimize dissenters as vermin.
Nazi Germany: Adolf Hitler
Nazi Germany promoted broader antisemitism. Claims exist that Nazis used “cockroach” alongside “rats,” “vermin,” “parasites,” or “disease” for Jews (portraying them as subhuman infestations to justify the Holocaust). While vermin/pest metaphors were central to Nazi propaganda, “cockroach” appears more as a general association with dehumanizing language rather than the dominant term (rats and parasites were more common). Similar insect/vermin rhetoric has been linked to other repressive regimes or hate speech.
Other uses
The term has appeared in anti-immigrant or anti-minority rhetoric (e.g., migrants called “cockroaches” in some UK media debates, drawing explicit comparisons to Rwanda/Nazi language). In the U.S., it was sometimes applied derogatorily to groups like Mexican Americans or African Americans in certain contexts, though these were less systematic. Oppressed groups have occasionally reclaimed it (e.g., Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta’s The Revolt of the Cockroach People, turning it into a symbol of resilience).
Why This Rhetoric Works
Cockroach, vermin o insects, these metaphors exploit disgust psychology. cockroaches are seen as resilient, swarming, filthy, and hard to eradicate completely—implying the targeted group is a persistent threat that justifies extreme measures. Historians and psychologists note this as a common precursor to atrocities, as it excludes people from the “moral community.” It has appeared in various authoritarian or conflict settings beyond the examples above. Similar language continues to appear in modern hate speech and repression, often flagged for its dangerous precedents. Psychologists says that disgust is a form of emotion, which can be triggered by interpersonal and moral events.
How this is linked to Kafka’s metamorphosis
Many scholars connect this to a broader phenomenon sometimes called social disgust: treating certain people as contaminating, undesirable, or less worthy of concern. In Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa was initially valued because he supported the family financially. But after his transformation into giant insect, he becomes dependent and burdensome. Family members begin avoiding him. His needs and emotions matter less and less. Eventually his disappearance is treated as a relief. This mirrors real-world processes in which stigmatized groups can be viewed through disgust rather than through recognition of their humanity. History, insinuates that these rhetorical devices (calling people cockroach, vermin or insects) are employed to trigger genocide, rapes and other abnormalities in society
Chandra, D. 2026
References
BBC, 2024. Cockroaches: The insect we’re programmed to fear [online] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140918-the-reality-about-roaches
American Psychological Association, 2003. Ewwww, gross! Psychologist Paul Rozin offered insights into the science of disgust, [online] https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct03/gross
Mowarin, M. 2024. A linguistic reading of the metaphor of genocide in Hotel Rwanda [online] https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA374695684&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=02564718&sw=w&p=LitRC&userGroupName=anon%7E1569614c&aty=open-web-entry
The Atlantic, 2019. In Rwanda, We Know All About Dehumanizing Language [online] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/rwanda-shows-how-hateful-speech-leads-violence/587041/
