I would like those working to end the exploitation of animals to understand that as long as race is used as a tool to oppress, it will continue to limit our movement’s growth and our ability to help achieve liberation for all beings.
Christopher "Soul" Eubanks
As a child, I read about civil rights activists’ many experiences and the
onslaught of resistance they faced in their pursuit for equality and a just
world. Many of them were subjected to being water-hosed, having animals
weaponized to attack them, and racist mobs physically and verbally abusing
them as they advocated.
You know the story. Racist white folks in the 1960s embraced confederate
flags yelling slurs and chanting “white power, ni**er, fu**ing ni**er.” But
this abuse is not a thing of the past.
These same slurs were yelled at me at a rodeo protest in 2020. While the
racism I have experienced throughout my life has typically been more covert
and systemic, this was the first time I experienced hostile, overt,
aggressive racism directed at me.
After doing animal rights activism for over three years and attending over
100 events, I am used to being the only Black person in the room. But this
rodeo was the first time I was the only Black person surrounded by a growing
mob of white people who were becoming increasingly agitated and aggressive
as our protest continued.
At that moment, I couldn’t help but think about the civil rights activists
that I learned about in school who paved the way for me to be standing where
I was at that very moment. I felt a connection with them through this
experience—and I know I’m not alone. After the protest, I began to reflect
on how my experiences as a Black man in the United States shaped my passion
for advocacy work and prepared me for moments like this.
Growing up as a young Black adult in a racist society
During my teenage years, I became very aware of how race impacts not only
society but also my very own psyche. The more I began to self-educate and
learn about systemic oppression—such as the school-to-prison pipeline, the
transatlantic slave trade, the suppression of Black peoples’ contributions
to modern society, and more—the more I began to understand the totality of
white supremacy. My worldview became darker, and while I didn’t have hatred
towards white people as individuals, I did start to view white people
collectively as a group as oppressors.
Being raised in a low-income Black community and seeing predominately white
people hoard social, economic, and political power positions strengthened my
view of the US as the ultimate symbol of white supremacy. As I learned about
the FBI’s Cointelpro operations, the experiments done on Tuskegee airmen
without their consent, the hyper-criminalization of Black people with
Rockefeller drug laws, and more, I began to grasp how racism had now become
more entrenched than ever.
I also became much more aware of how often I was the only Black person
surrounded by mostly whites, and I became anxious every time I was in this
predicament.
I often told myself I was just being aware of my surroundings, but
eventually, I had begun to distrust white people. It took years for me to
understand and shed these feelings of bitterness, and I can honestly say
that without this extensive internal work to overcome my anxiety, there is
no way I would have been able to be a part of the animal rights movement
today.
Is this the animal rights movement or the movie Get Out?
Being vegan can be a lonely endeavor. But being Black and vegan,
specifically in the animal rights community, has brought me additional
isolation that I was unprepared for. Even though being the only Black person
in a predominantly white setting isn’t new to me, it’s perplexing to feel
this within a social justice movement.
Initially, this feeling of isolation was uncomfortable, but over time, it’s
become normalized—and I have found myself noticing it less. I have wondered
why there aren’t more Black people in the animal protection movement. On the
surface, I understood that many marginalized people don’t feel they have the
luxury of advocating for others when their own freedom is—and has
historically been—attacked. But what I hadn’t before considered was whether
the animal rights movement put much effort in making Black, Indigenous, and
people of the global majority feel included.
On several occasions, I have been asked by white folks how the animal
protection movement can include more Black people. I understand there are
good intentions behind this. But questions like this often give me mixed
feelings because while I believe I have valuable insight, I don’t want my
perspective to be seen as the definitive voice of all Black people. Black
people are not monolithic.
One time, a close friend saw me participating in an animal rights march and
was curious to know if any other Black people were attending because she
didn’t see any. There were only a handful of Black people in this march of
close to 100 people, but that moment reminded me why it’s essential for the
animal protection movement to understand how we are perceived.
To Black people and non-vegans of all races, the animal rights movement can
appear as an affluent far-left group who ignore the systemic oppression they
have benefited from while using that affluence to advocate for non-humans.
Far too often, white animal advocates are offended when inequity within the
movement is addressed, but this is constructive criticism which they should
heed to grow this movement.
Had I been vegan when I was 15 or even 25, there’s no way that I would have
gotten involved in this movement. Beyond my introverted ways, the anxiety of
being surrounded by whites would have deterred me from being involved in
animal protection. I am now strengthened by the understanding that while
racism has victimized generations of Black people, it has also cheated our
entire society.
We’ve all been raised in a culture that sanctions using our differences as
tools of oppression. This realization made me sympathetic towards
individuals who perpetuate oppressive thinking, and I now hope that one day
they’re able to grow beyond their toxic cultural conditioning.
While I am no longer triggered when I am the only Black person in the room,
I’m certain countless Black people currently feel the way I felt and are
apprehensive about participating in activism dominated by white people.
Ignoring other oppressions does not help our movement or the animals
When I first began doing animal activism, I was inspired by an incredible
Black woman working at a major animal rights organization. I met her at one
of the first protests I ever attended. It was comforting seeing another
Black activist amongst a predominantly white group.
We talked throughout the protest, and she told me about the struggles she
faced helping her co-workers understand why a plant-based diet wasn’t as
easily accessible to Black people in marginalized communities as they may be
for whites. She shared various tales about how insensitive many of her
co-workers were to the fragility that exists in predominantly white animal
protection organizations.
Although veganism can be achieved on a variety of budgets and in a variety
of ways, the lack of understanding towards systemic issues that persist in
communities of color is a prime example of why this movement has to be more
diverse to achieve animal liberation. We need representation at all levels.
Non-human animals are systematically killed by the trillions every year,
making them statistically the largest group of oppressed beings on the
planet. But as humans who are advocating for them, we have to be aware of
how human-based social issues impact the animal protection movement.
Ignoring social justice allows inequity to thrive, leading to turmoil and
internal conflict within the movement. Ultimately, ignoring social justice
deters the progress we can make for the animals.
Some white advocates feel that by addressing human rights issues in the
animal rights movement, we’re being counterproductive to our cause and doing
a disservice to the animals. This normalization of ignoring other forms of
oppression has been used to build the framework for much of the culture in
the animal rights community today.
While I don’t believe this exclusionary approach to activism is exclusive to
the animal rights movement, we see it starkly, especially in this moment of
racial reckoning our society is facing. I understand the importance of
making sure animals don’t become overshadowed in the movement dedicated to
them, but we must recognize that other forms of oppression further entrench
the oppression of animals we perpetrate against one another.
Fighting for equity in the animal rights movement is crucial in
fighting for the animals
Over the next ten years, if not sooner, I hope the animal rights movement is
represented fairly by Black, Indigenous, and people of the global majority
who make up most of the world’s population.
I hope that current and future Black activists participating in this
movement feel valued and have a safe space to share their efforts. I hope
that their insights and perspectives are valued and that they are not
tokenized or exploited.
The rodeo protest I attended—where I had been subjected to racial slurs—came
to a turbulent end when one of the rodeo-goers began cracking eggs in front
of us and throwing them on the ground near our feet. At this point, daylight
was long gone, and we began to hear even more intense racist, sexist, and
derogatory slurs as the crowd opposing our protest grew larger. The rodeo
protest organizer’s organizer ended up calling the police, which scared off
many of our detractors.
Shortly after we left, a fellow white activist attending the protest called
me, apologized for the racism I experienced, and told me he was truly
mortified about how I was treated. It was comforting to know that he cared
enough about my experience and wanted me to know that he appreciated my
restraint and dedication to the protest.
I would like those working to end the exploitation of animals to understand
that as long as race is used as a tool to oppress, it will continue to limit
our movement’s growth and our ability to help achieve liberation for all
beings.
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