Animal Rights Needs Anti-Racism: Thoughts and What I Am Learning

Stock photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash

A book I read in 2021 made me passionate about anti-speciesism. As I wrote here, it feels easier for me to talk about speciesism than veganism. The pain of a dog, mouse, or chicken should not be ignored because of their body type, size, or lack of advanced intellect. If we can first see that we are discriminating against nonhumans when we disregard their suffering, I suspect it gets easier to open our minds to ideas like veganism.

I was compelled by this idea, and it made me think about the discriminations within our species as well. As I challenge myself to be anti-speciesist, I wish to also be a better proponent of anti-racism, -sexism, -ableism, -classism, and so on.

Anti-racism has gone big, at least compared to before, and it is being discussed amongst vegans and anti-speciesists. There is a book of essays called Antiracism in Animal Advocacy: Igniting Cultural Transformation, which is even available for free in written or audio form.

Here is what I am learning about anti-racism, especially as it relates to animal advocacy.

POC Are Underrepresented in U.S. Animal Rights Groups

40% of the U.S. human population are people of color. Yet it turns out only 11% of folks at the biggest U.S. animal organizations are. Many have reported leaving the movement due to burnout.

This is coming from the website of Encompass, a nonprofit that since 2017 has guided animal rights groups to have better racial diversity, equity, and inclusion.

They also host a community for activists of the global majority (non-white) to connect and be supported in their careers.

Encompass points out that POC are disproportionately affected by the side effects of our food system. For example, the lactose intolerant, slaughterhouse workers, those who struggle to access healthy food, and folks living in areas polluted by animal agriculture, are generally more likely to be of racial identities other than white. (Linking to research essays by Food Empowerment Project.)

Why Racial Equality Is Important For Helping Animals

People of color are overall more victimized by various issues we animal advocates fight to change. So how does it make sense for POC to be so underrepresented in the movement? It doesn’t.

If animal rights is white-dominant and fails to meaningfully engage black, indigenous, and other types of people, then you might predict it to be less effective.

I think the thinking in the past was that animal rights groups should focus on “influencing the influencers,” and it didn’t matter if this reinforced a white bubble, so long as we could create change for nonhuman animals faster.

But people of all races and backgrounds are more and more empowered to influence the world’s outcomes. Society at large is rising up for intersectional justice. Perhaps we are more likely to be persuaded by nonhuman advocacy if it authentically defends and includes the most vulnerable humans as well.

Furthermore, Encompass cites that diverse and inclusive companies “are smarter and more creative, insightful, effective, and productive than homogenous ones.”

I can also relate the anti-racism discussion to a 2016 analysis of “air rage” on flights. The study found that airplanes with equal seating had nearly 4x fewer incidents of air rage than planes with a “first class” section.

Feeling equal is important for our ability to trust one another and cooperate.

In general, it seems that when we equalize things, we are giving resources to those who are struggling the most — and who would probably benefit the most from having more.

In a more egalitarian society, the least powerful are more likely to be spoken up for. We also have a greater diversity of perspectives this way, and can make more deeply informed decisions.

And certainly, if we can all be more equal and cooperate better, we will be in a better position to help non-human individuals too.

“I founded Encompass because I knew that for the animal protection movement to be effective, it needs to reflect the diversity of the society it sought to change.”
—Aryenish Birdie in her essay

With human-specific discriminations, of course, there are extra considerations. There is not only our shared basic need to be healthy and avoid hurt — which applies to all sentient animals — but also issues like income equality, voting rights, and access to jobs and education.

There is lots more to learn about and read!

If You Are White or More Conservative, Read About Anti-Racism With an Open Mind

If you are someone who does not experience racism—like many of European descent—be aware if you have a tendency to “nitpick” anti-racist content.

As a white person, anti-racist content will tend to challenge me. It is important I stay cognizant. When my mind starts looking for flaws, I can suspend judgment, and seek first to understand, and empathize.

I can learn to enjoy the challenge of engaging with ideas that call out my racial group’s unfair advantages. Our complicit behavior.

Even for people of the global majority (Asian, Mixed-Race, Black, Pacific Islanders, Indigenous people of all lands and tribes, etc.), I imagine it is possible you would need to give anti-racism a fair hearing if you grew up in a more politically conservative area. Or if you feel you internalized racism and learned to agree with a White-dominant view in order to not rock the boat.

Of course, this does not mean just accepting everything at face value. Later in this article, I will try to respectfully share my disagreements within anti-racism, or ask questions to hopefully get feedback and better clarity.

Given my white-defensive bias, I try to recall how it feels when *I* am on a marginalized side. Being transgender, I don’t agree with everything in the trans movement or see eye-to-eye with all other trans women. We are not a monolith, and I don’t think there is an official stance on each issue that a cis ally must have. Still, I would hope for allies to listen to our experiences and find ways to support.

I hope I can become a racial equality participant who is sincere and overall helpful, even if I am not perfect and must adapt.

People of the Global Majority

Encompass taught me the term People of the Global Majority. This is an alternative to people of color, which is more associated with the U.S.

It’s good to refer to people’s specific racial identities, so as not to erase their individuality and heritage. However, there is a reason for terms like the above. People have wanted a way to say “non-white” without using the word white. To talk about their shared experience of not being in the most privileged racial category… without verbally centering everything around said category.

Meanwhile, people of the global majority reframes the word “minority.” Doesn’t minority sound… I don’t know, weak and unthreatening? Indeed, marginalized folks often find themselves in a position of feeling subservient and looked down upon, yet at the same time viewed as a potential threat, as if they must reassure everyone in the dominant group that they are not an “angry _____ person.”

People of the global majority turns everything around. It centers black and brown folks and the world’s diversity.

Another term I have found is “people who experience racism.” While “people of color” still subconsciously means non-white, “people who experience racism” just refers to a common experience of discrimination. It could include people who are considered white but have experienced discrimination, such as white Latinxs in the United States, Jewish people, and others.

POC and people who experience racism have diverse ways they describe themselves. I am trying to diversify the terms I know and adjust to the situation.

A Little “Reverse Discrimination” Could Be Good

Okay, so I’m guessing this isn’t the way most anti-racists would say it. But I want to respond to the concern that anti-racism goes too far and is discriminatory against white people.

Discrimination against people of the Global Majority has already existed, and continues to. It is worse than what most White people want to believe. So how do we confront it and change it? It might be hard to do so without becoming “favoritistic” towards the currently less racially privileged.

For example, just this week I was looking at my old YouTube playlist. Most of the music videos feature young, white, thin, cisgender females from North America. I want to explore artists who happen to be of other colors, sizes, genders, and nationalities. Because if I can, I think it will send a message to my brain that all types of people are important and worthy.

Is it best to just hope my video library will be more diverse someday? Or is it better to do something proactive about it?

Athough my YouTube playlist is a trivial example, it helps me feel more confident that diversity measures are a good thing. By temporarily favoring the opposites of what the historical favoritism has been, we make a more inclusive future.

I don’t know how to tell what is the right amount of affirmative action, however. Which diversity efforts are effective? It should be up for debate.

As far as just taking ownership of my own actions, I feel like I want to reverse-discriminate maybe 10 or 20%. I would never want to tokenize — where people feel like they are chosen only for a single aspect of themselves, such as their race. Nor would I wish to act scornful towards somebody just because they are white or what have you.

So yes, I am googling around to find more music by BIPOC artists, to try a bunch and see which songs become new favorites of mine. I am checking out more of Erykah Badu’s hits because I already liked her anyway. And when voting in an election, I would only want to express favoritism towards a candidate of color over a white candidate if I perceived them to be roughly equal in their aptitude.

The point is not to suddenly be less warm or empathetic towards those who are well-off or overrepresented, but to be extra kind, open-eared and supportive towards those who are marginalized.

I’m thinking of it not as a redistribution of love, but as a net increase in love.

But what do you think? I am curious for your thoughts.

Some Anti-Racist Concepts I’m Not Sure I Fully Agree With

Writing this article helped me work through some of my “yeah, buts” and be more on board with anti-racism. I was pleased by the inner conflicts that got resolved.

Still, a lot of things remain that I am unsure about. I will present them below for your review.

One term that I feel partially on board with is “white supremacy culture.” It conveys the truth that racism is baked in our institutions, with many subtle aspects.

Tema Okun—who dedicated the article to Kenneth Jones—advises we watch out for the following attributes of white supremacy culture:

• Perfectionism
• Sense of urgency
• Defensiveness
• Quantity over quality
• Worship of the written word
• Only one right way
• Paternalism
• Either/or thinking
• Power hoarding
• Fear of open conflict
• Individualism
• Progress is bigger, more
• Objectivity
• Right to comfort

This list made me ponder some of the psychological obstacles that can get in the way of anti-racism.

Fueled by a sense of urgency, people may think, “We either help non-human animals or we focus on anti-racism.” They fear the conflict involved in confronting racism. White people in particular must be willing to give up some unearned advantages and entitlement, to allow for greater equality.

I do see value in the concept.

However, when I read the article about white supremacy culture (linking it again here), not everything on the list was talking specifically about racism. It also seemed to be talking about the general problems of perfectionism, power hoarding, and so on — even though these issues apply to so many other things.

Is white supremacy culture an encapsulation of everything else that is wrong with the world?

I’m not saying this isn’t a valid way of looking at our situation — especially as those directly hurt by racism are literally “the global majority” of humans. However, some would surely argue for a different “ism” being our #1 ill, such as classism or wealth disparity.

Beyond that, I feel concerned about “white” being overused in a negative context. “White” these days is usually a pejorative — perhaps making up for the long history of all other racial identities being disparaged.

Again, I’m not against “reverse discrimination.” It’s just that in our current politics, there is a not insignificant backlash against anything perceived as attacking white people. Such as the Critical Race Theory bans in U.S. schools. In such an environment, it seems helpful to make it clear that we are not putting down any ancestral identity, including European ones.

Words like racism and racial privilege feel more uniting. They are pointing a finger at the unfair system itself, rather than at the general beneficiaries of it whom we are asking to be allies—but whom struggle with defensiveness and shame as a primary problem that gets in their way.

More specific to animal advocacy, I can give an example of another term I’m unsure of: white veganism.

Black veganism is awesome. From what I understand, it not only refers to the existence and amplification of Black vegans, but to certain intersectional concepts. Black veganism connects the abuse of non-human animals with racism, cultural food traditions that have been suppressed, and other issues Black plant-based philosophers have a lot to say about.

Logically, I would say I also support Asian veganism, Arab veganism, White veganism, and so on. But what “White veganism” actually refers to is when vegan representation is overly white. Or when white-predominant vegan communities act racially exclusionary.

I would personally lean towards the latter language. Just so it’s clear, again, that we aren’t putting down White people. We’re speaking out against racism and exclusion.

Then again, racially exclusionary overly white veganism is quite the mouthful, isn’t it? Touché. 😆

Am I sure about anything I have written here? No. Maybe white supremacy culture, white feminism, white fragility, and all this abundance of white-critical vocabulary is fine.

Maybe I just have to accept that these terms will generate controversy—controversy that is necessary for us to grow. Maybe the “heat” that white people feel from these terms is important, because otherwise we wouldn’t be motivated enough to change our behavior and become more inclusive.

I have such a hard time making up my mind about these things. Is there data that suggests a clear answer? Let me know your ideas.

What do anti-racist groups have to say about other approaches?

Finally, a question I wish I could ask organizations like Encompass is this:

What is your response to other approaches to anti-racism, ones different from the Ibram X. Kendi model? Do you find any merit to critiques of anti-racism that have been made by certain Black scholars and other thinkers of color? (Coleman Hughes and John McWhorter are a couple of examples.)

In addition to the more “standard” anti-racist events I’ve attended, I once went to a group called a racial healing circle. The facilitators were of an older generation, and they took a distinct approach. They had a “we are one human race” sort of philosophy about dissolving the illusions of racial separation.

Of African descent, they had suffered greatly from racism, but they were less keen on identifying strongly with labels like “black” and “white” which are not so meaningful in a scientific sense. Overall, I would say honesty and forgiveness were major themes of their book Color Theory: Race is a Powerful Illusion as well as the healing circle I got to go to.

When it comes to not only race but other social justice issues, I appreciate the dual approaches. I like “let’s confront inequality and talk about identity.” I like “let’s remember we are one humanity.” Overall, I feel like I resonate smack dab in the middle of those two.

I Am Joyful to Participate in Anti-Racism

To summarize my article, I am excited to keep learning about anti-racism. I look forward to better applying anti-racist frameworks as a participant in human and animal rights.

There are countless incredible vegans and animal rights folk of every racial identity. Yet, the movement as a whole — especially leadership — does not reflect the diverse humankind whom we are helping be kind to other animals.

I believe it is worth deliberate effort to make things diverse and inclusive. It will make our intersectional dreams come true faster.

Certain things in anti-racism I have been unsure about. My misgivings mirrors how I have felt about trans activism and feminism, as I wrote about here.

I hope that both my support, and my critique and questions, could be useful to people with different opinions on these issues. Your feedback will help me!

If you, too, have felt held back from engaging fully with anti-racism, see if you can write out your thoughts like I did here. Perhaps you can find a welcoming group—or even a single friend—with whom you feel comfortable enough to have an honest conversation.

What’s next for me?

Well, the diversification of my music video playlist has been going well. Blowing my mind, actually! It was an easy win. Now I am excited to keep thinking about how I can reflect better Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in each and every area of my life—the materials I read, businesses I buy from, events I attend, and more!

I barely mentioned any of my fellow animal advocates in this article—nor did I talk specifically about the amazing Encompass and Apex Advocacy essays I read lately. Mostly I did this because I didn’t want people’s names associated with my article that they may or may not vibe with. Also, this is hella long. Let me write more later! 😄

It makes me immensely happy every time I see someone who—despite their own struggle—sees their equality with other vulnerable beings who are very different from them, including nonhuman ones. And who acts and speaks with a heart that is both intersectional, and interspecies.

In all your colors, cultures, and diversity, you are so very beautiful to me.