Compassionate Talk About Whiteness in Veganism (Farm Sanctuary)
Update: July 25, 2012. I am reposting this content. This event happened over two years ago, but I thought it is timely to repost this in light of the significant number of ‘angry’ and ‘defensive’ white identified vegans who send me outright ‘hostile’ or ‘passive-aggressive’ messages about the content of my work and talks. There is a video and a more thorough transcript of the content of the talk that I gave two years ago. My talk is what can be referred to as performance ethnography. It is a way of taking academic scholarship and conveying the message through artistic forms such as music, story, art, etc..
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Original Post May 3, 2010 22:43.
On May 1, 2010, I gave a talk at Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA called “A Compassionate Talk About Whiteness in USA Veganism.” It is about 30 minutes long. I talk about the need for white middle class (to upper class) collectivity of vegans in the USA to reflect critically on how unacknowledgment of whiteness impacts their vegan and/or animal rights praxis.
Below is my doing the Sistah Vegan book signing after my talk. My son, Sun (13 months old) is in my lap, a little upset that I wouldn’t give him the sharp fountain pen to poke is eye out with.
- Breeze Harper and Sun Harper-Zahn at Sistah Vegan Book Signing, Farm Sanctuary (Orland, CA)
Below is the talk that you can read if you’d like. Yes I am nervous as hell and it’s obvious as you listen to me. I kind of speak a little too fast. I recommend listening to this through earphones! I also pasted the content of what I read (it’s not exactly what I read because I ad-libbed a lot, but it may help to look it over AFTER you listen to the video). I AM SUGGESTING YOU LOOK AT THE VIDEO FIRST BECAUSE I THINK ONE COMMENTER ALREADY MAY HAVE MISINTERPRETED WHAT I WAS TRYING TO CONVEY BECAUSE SHE ONLY READ THE CONTENT AND DIDN’T SEE THE VIDEO (MY BAD, AS IT WASN’T UP YET). I CAN SEE HOW READING THE CONTENT OF WHAT I SPOKE ABOUT CAN BE HEAVILY MISINTERPRETED BY CERTAIN WHITE IDENTIFIED PEOPLE AS, “BREEZE IS AN ANGRY BLACK MILITANT WHO HATES WHITE PEOPLE.”
Note: Desiree is not real. But the conversations are real from the past 3 months. They are compiled from my journals and set up in a narrative dialogue fashion. I should have made that more clear. Desiree is myself and many others who have engaged in deep reflection of race and vegan praxis.
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CONTENT OF THE TALK I PREPARED AT HOE DOWN.
“Wow, that’s pretty interesting. I mean, how do you feel about doing this?”
I pause, take a deep breathe and reply, “I am absolutely terrified. It makes no sense because it’s my PhD work; I am training how to understand how to compassionately talk about race and white privilege, I’ve studied for years, yet when I am finally asked to do it I start having panic attacks.” I am talking to my good friend Desiree. It is winter 2010 and I’ve told her that I have been invited to come to Farm Sanctuary to talk about why veganism/AR seems to be overwhelmingly white middle classed.
“Breeze, girl, why are you having panic attacks?”
“Well, I can’t stop thinking about the past, you know? I can’t stop thinking about how I was always punished for wanting to talk about racial healing, whiteness awareness, etc. I can’t stop thinking about how difficult it has been for me to try to talk about this subject because frequently, I am met with immediate defensiveness or outright anger. I mean, race simply is central to the USA. It’s a fact. Why do we have to walk on egg shells?” I ask.
“Breeze, you have to understand that if you want to approach most people about privileges they’ve had, due to race, or class, or gender, whatever, it’s going to be hard. This is not easy work. But you have to remember a few things: Let your audience know that you come from a place of love and compassion; that you see that there is are obvious problems of race and class privilege issues that are simply not being addressed in the USA, period; that you yourself, even though you have received years of anti black racism, sexism, and classist oppression, you have ALSO had very privileged experiences. You are not the black person who knows everything and is right, while a white person is wrong about everything. We all have privileges while simultaneously dealing with oppressions.”
“Huh?” I say.
She continues, “Girl, you went to Dartmouth College and Harvard. Ivy league privilege. You speak English in the USA as a first language. Anglophonic privilege. You are a healthy able-bodied human being, you have able bodied privilege. Not to mention that you a very slim, so in a vegan culture that is fatphobic and judgmental of anyone who doesn’t have a BMI of 18 or 20, you have had the luxury of never having to be attacked for being a fat black girl like me. You know how much static I get when I try and go talking about vegan food activism at largely white events!? Here I am, a dark black woman whose been vegan for 5 years now and I walk into a room with all of these curves and booty.” She stands up, and twirls her 5’9″ dress size 20 body around. She continues, “Breeze, you would not believe how many people approach me at these vegan and AR events, talking about how veganism is a great way to lose weight. They assume that because I must look like “Aunt Jemima”, I (a) am not vegan, and (b) I am totally unhealthy. Maybe you can start talking about that?”
“About what?” I ask.
“Well, so many white vegan folk be asking me why they don’t see more brown and black folk at ‘their’ events. I remember showing up to an event and they were really pushing Skinny Bitch, that book by those two skinny white women. I read Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven to help Lorenza prepare for a vegan pregnancy.” Lorenza is her wife and they just had a baby last year.
“I read that,” I said.
“Yea, and we both agreed that plugging this book to people outside of white middle class USA as a reason to go vegan is kind of offputting- especially to us sistahs! I don’t know if white folk know about how the collectivity of black people view skinny aesthetic. Maybe you can talk about Skinny Bitch as an example of how white middle class mentality unknowingly operates. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was helpful to read the book. But if one considers looking at Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven through a gender, racial, class, and sexual orientation analytical lens, the tone of book reveals that the book’s assumed audience is white middle-class heterosexual females who live in locations where a whole foods vegan diet is easily accessible (geographically and financially). At the beginning of each new chapter of the book, there is always a depiction of a white skinny pregnant woman. Throughout the text, the authors blame personal laziness as the reason why people are overweight. Maybe you can let folk know that this top selling title is an example of a “post-racial” approach to vegan living. There is never any reflection on how: (1) class and the racialized experience in the USA affect a pregnant woman’s access to healthful food and nutritional information; and (2) how the author’s white racialized and class privileged consciousness influence their perception of veganism as the resolution to obesity problems.”
I nod at Desiree and say, “Yea, I mean, they can’t write about everything. But though the author’s intent of the book was not to focus on racialized and classed experiences of veganism and pregnancy, the absence of this personal reflection and assumptions made about their audience, amongst these authors, who are white and class privileged, are intriguing and quite telling. Tracye McQuirter’s new book By Any Greens Necessary, a guide for black women who want to go vegan, is very clear about what it mean to be a black female in this country. That is what I likea bout Tracye’s book because she’s up front about race and talking about how whiteness affects are relationship to food and our bodies as black women.”
Desiree says, “I mean Breeze, texts such as the Skinny Bitch series engage in a “post-racial” approach to food politics that ignores the affects of race and class on an individual’s circumstances and the range of options available to her. Lorenza and I just couldn’t let that one go.”
I chime in, “Yea, in a post-racial or raceless society, it is believed that racism no longer exists because skin color no longer has social significance. For example, maybe I can explain to the audience, ‘if a white person were to tell their Chinese friend, “I don’t think of you as Chinese, I am post-racial,” I would argue that this Chinese friend would not be seen as race-neutral, but in fact seen by their post-racial friend as, “I don’t think of you as Chinese, I just think of you as if you were any other [white] person.”
“Exactly Breezie!” Desire says, stirring her chamomile tea. She continues, “And these concepts are part of a larger body of scholarly work around the issues of whiteness and white privilege. Whiteness is the ability of Whites to control the cultural discourse of racial equality—post-racialness rhetoric and “individual-group sleight of hand”—as well as Whites’ socialization to, and insistence upon, social preeminence. Collectively, whites operate within a “comfort zone” that renders whiteness “normal.” And when displaced, whites often employ strategies that reinstate whiteness at the center. Here the metaprivilege of Whiteness resides in the “absence of awareness of White privilege”… Whiteness does not acknowledge either its own privilege or the material and sociocultural mechanisms by which that privilege is protected. White privilege itself becomes invisible, not just in Bun in the Oven, but in most mainstream spaces in the USA that engage in alternative food practices. (Flagg 2005, 5-6) Breeze, you also need to explain that there is a huge non-white group of people in the USA who are vegans, vegetarians, and raw foodist, but their politics around why they do it are are significantly different from white middle class AR/Veg.” I nod in agreement, then sip my kale smoothie and say,”Hey, I have another example Des!”
“Go for it!” she says.
“Remember when I went to talk at Pitt in 2007? I presented a case study at Pitt University in the fall of 2007. The lecture centered on a plant-based diet as a way to help adjudicated brown and black youth at a rehab facility for minors. Using a bell hooks analytical lens, I suggested that nutritional liberation was a way to help shift these youths away from the path of the prison industrial complex. A white lady who was in the audience, told me that she was basically irritated that I didn’t mention animal rights at all as a reason to practice plant based diets in my presentation.
She told me that I should have mentioned that. In my talk, I mentioned that 19 brown and black boys in Miami were put on a plant-based diet. They were living in a rehab center for adjudicated youths. A food project organization based in New York, decided to see if they could help these youths by putting them on a plant based diet, teaching them how to cook their own nutritious vegan foods, and go out to gardens with them and work with the earth. All of the boys loved it and their health and grades improved. However, in my talk, I said that the woman who was the founder of the food project organization couldn’t get funding from the government, even though she had data that proved that such a program made more sense than wasting money on standard “rehab” programs for adjudicated youths. During the talk, I suggested that the government won’t fund such a project because they rely on these non-white boys to enter the prison industrial complex; it’s profitable and it’s what is called the modern day slave plantation for the working poor and black and brown in this country. I cited Angela Davis, bell hooks, and several other scholars doing anti-prison work. You know what this woman felt entitled to tell me?”
Desire squinted as said, “I think I can already guess, but you tell me anyway.”
I sigh, then say, “This lady in the audience who was irritated with my talk, told me that it was a “stretch” and a little “paranoid” for me to suggest that the government of the USA benefits from putting brown and black boys in jail, and that it is strange that I’d suggest that this is why the Miami program couldn’t get funding. It was an obscene display of white and class privileged entitlement; a white middle class epistemological understanding of the role of law, criminality, and prisons. I could not believe that she felt so entitled to tell ME that my talk should have mentioned the necessity of animals rights. She also told me that if I wanted to be taken more seriously, I should wear more professional clothing. I later found out through my friend Ed, who put on the event, that this woman is one of his animal rights class students and lives in a white middle class section of Pittsburgh. I mean, Ed was irritated, a white class privileged guy doing both anti racism and animal rights activism, he’s heard it all!”
“I’m sure he has!” Des says.
“Ed and I thought it was strange that a lot of the mainstream animal rights folk get so irritated that one isn’t entering veganism for animal rights first. It’s almost as if I tainted veganism by having spoken at Pitt about how it was being used, first and foremost, as an anti-racist tool to prevent black and brown boys from being part of the PIC.”
Des says, “People like this woman need to understand that eventually, most folk who engage in veganism for reasons outside of AR, will eventually see the connections to animal rights… Maybe some won’t, but by default they’re helping to alleviate animal suffering because they are now vegetarian or vegan. Brown and black folk are not foolish. It’s not like we necessarily need others to come and BRING us the message of veganism. You and I are doing this work, but we’re just bringing in from a different entry point that acknowledges racism and classism and how legacies of racialized colonialism have manifested as disease on our black and brown bodies and how a well planned plant based diet can fight this…”
I interrupt Des and say, “Okay, for my talk at ‘Hoe Down I’ll be using the above as an example of how whiteness operates in Veg/AR, and that due to the material realities of racism and classism and whatnot, certain groups of people will approach plant-based dietary lifestyles, not from a point of entry of “animal rights is priority”, but perhaps, “making sure our brown and black boys don’t end up in the prison industrial complex” or making sure we combat nutritional and environmental racism.”
Des smiles, “Girl, you are on a roll. Maybe you can talk about the Sistah Vegan project as well and how it was received. I know a lot of folk liked the idea of looking at race and gender- you know, black women living vegan in the USA. But look at all the folk who didn’t like what you were doing. That was the basis of your Harvard masters,” Des says to me. I sip some more of my kale smoothie, thinking about how , when I first proposed sistah vegan book project, it made it to an online forum called Veganporn, which had nothing to do with porn but everything to do with veganism. I had presented the call for papers, explaining that I was looking for black identified females who practiced veganism more to combat health disparities in the black community. Immediately, the CFP was attacked. A white identified male vegan said he was disgusted by my use of ‘sistah’ and was annoyed by people like me who don’t speak proper English. Another vegan person attacked me for not making animal rights the priority. The forum thread ended up being 40 pages of predominantly white identified vegans attacking the very notion that veganism could be experienced differently due to one’s lived realities of race and gender. Quite a few engaged in minstrel performance of white folk pretending to speak Ebonics or black English. For me, it was an upsetting and clear example of why such a supposed ‘race-neutral’ forum could be hurtful and offputting to any black person interested in veganism comes across it, and sees how black English and Ebonics are being lambasted, along with the notion that these people on the forum strongly felt that racial politics should be left out of veganism and that, quote, ‘it’s only about the animals first.’
I smile at Desiree and ask, “Do you think the talk will be productive? I mean, I am not sure what to expect at Hoe Down. I’m not really trying to shame or guilt trip anyone, but I think it’s important that if white identified people in vegan movement really want to understand why they think black and brown folk are not interested in their perception and praxis of veganism, they need to not look at us as necessarily the problem, or that we aren’t interested. I think there needs to be some deep critical reflection on how being racialized and socialized into whiteness has created, collectively, a very different relationship to consumption as well as how one constructs their sense of morals, ethics, social justice, etc.”
“Well, you gotta start somewhere. Let’s see how it goes.”
Now, I have some critical reflective questions for the audience:
(1) Fear: I lovingly understand and acknowledge that we all have fear of confronting and talking about racism and white privilege. What fears arise in you in cross-racial interactions? (From Unraveling Whiteness, Hefland and Lippin 2001)
(2)How does white privilege and lack of information come together to impede interracial communication? (From Unraveling Whiteness, Hefland and Lippin 2001)
(3) Do you ever feel like retreating from conversations around race and whiteness?
(4) How did listening to my narrative make you feel?
(5)What do you fear in cross racial interactions? For example, you may fear saying something insensitive. For people of color, specifically what do you fear in interactions with white people? For example, you may feel being ignored. (From Unraveling Whiteness, Hefland and Lippin 2001).
(6) Does fear of making errors keep you defensive, hostile, and unable to open up to other people. Many of you are animal rights advocates. Maybe you can think of how frustrating it is that people are hostile and defensive when you confront them about their speciest behavior.
(7) Sometime feeling of shame can turn into anger with the person who caused you to feel ashamed. Feelings of shame, guilt, and anger are NORMAL and can be productive if you are kind and gentle to yourself, and to the people who wish to dialogue with you about how lack of acknowledgment around your privileges have actually been perpetuating the very types of suffering you had hoped to alleviate. But just don’t lose sight that transformation is challenging and hard, but it’s not impossible. I am here to share my personal observations and journey with you, but I do not have all the answers. NOT ONE PERSON CAN EVER HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. If you want to engage more, I invite you to learn by reading about anti-racism and whiteness awareness, as well as how race experience intersect with vegan and animal rights activism. I recommend to start:
- Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health and Society, by Breeze Harper
- Unraveling Whiteness: Tools for Journey, by J. Hefland and L. Lippin
Breeze Harper
melissa danielle
I’m so sad I missed the talk in person, but really appreciate being able to read it here (and can’t wait to see the video). Having these conversations and understanding the intersectionality of oppressions is crucial. We need to do this work both to expand the vegan movement and to understand how much wider it already is than we can see if we only focus on the white, class privileged AR/veg world.
I think Desiree’s suggestion that one acknowledge his/her own privilege when confronting others with their privilege is an effective tool that we can all employ when doing anti-oppression work
Thank David. I am really trying to fix the audio of the video right now so you can hear and see it as well. Thanks for taking time to check out my blog, as I really appreciate it!
Very strange… I mean my friends are the united colors of Benneton anyway, but my vegan friends are deverse…. I live in metro Detroit, so it is a cultural and racial rich area. To be honest with you many of the vegans I have had the pleasure of meeting have been African American. Many of the vegan establishments I have visited here in Detroit, Atlanta, Philly and California have been owned and operated by folks of all color. In fact I have found veganism to be Something to unite cultures. As for an Anglo privlege, I see where your coming from being an open minded woman, but it does sound offensive. Generally speaking, there is a smoother path to follow when you look like the majority. As a child I attended a school in the the south where I was one of 3 white students, I feel like I had a glimpse of what it must feel like to be a minority. But “White Privelege” sounds as though we are all born with trust funds and silver spoons… That is a generalization, and I feel generalizations are negative.
The truth of the matter is that our veganism should unite us. We are all a minority in this country…. Tell someone quietly that you don’t eat what they eat, or ask for a dry baked potato… And be prepared to be met with the comments… “I love my meat” “I couldn’t live without cheese.” “Why don’t you eat this stuff” I often feel attacked for my choices. Persecuted for trying to better the environment, live healthfully and ethically. I think coming together might be an answer! I have met many Thai and Indian vegetarians, African American, and Chinese vegans!!! We need to celebrate our differences and be united in our vegan goals!
As for the book Skinny Bitch…. I am White and a skinny bitch I am not… 5’9 and I have curves. I read the book, not really a great weightloss plan. I work out, I can run 3 miles…I eat a healthy vegan diet of many vegtables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, but living this lifestyle does not garauntee a size 2 dress size…. Maybe instead of looking at it from a negative side, I am sure this book has incouraged people to become vegan which is benificial… I found it funny and interesting about artificial sweeteners ect.
Maybe I am naive, maybe I have my head in the clouds, but as Vegans we have the resposibility to unite, and encourage others to follow in our footsteps.
Please excuse my spelling, It is not my strong suit.
To Holly: I’m happy you’ve met vegans of different colors and ethnicities, but I feel that you’re misunderstanding what White privilege means. It’s easy to get offensive first without really giving thought as to what white privilege is. I feel the offensiveness is a hidden guilt and denial that acknowledges on a subconscious level that white folks do benefit from whiteness. It is quicker to deny and get offensive when white privilege is mentioned than to work through understanding it. I recommend looking up some videos on YouTube of Tim Wise, who does lectures on white privilege. It has nothing to do with “trust funds” or “silver spoons” as you’ve stated (although historically, whites have been given things by society simply for being white, such as the FHA housing loans following WWII. This helped create a white middle class and left many folks of color on the wayside who were denied these loans). WP is simply benefitting from what whiteness entails in U.S. society. Plain and simple, there are certain things as a white person that you just won’t have to deal with or even think about because you’re white. Even if you’re not a Skinny Bitch and fall outside the Barbie ideal of beauty. True, we’re both women, but as a Black woman (emphasis on Black), my experience in life is different from yours simply because I’m black. My psyche is different, my reactions to certain things are different because I can see race operating. Even if a woman/man of color and white woman/man were both working class and on the lower rung of the socioeconomic scale, a white woman/man still has racial privilege and does not have as much of a racialized experience as the woman/man of color. There are many types of privileges: heterosexual privilege, able-bodied privilege, male privilege. For example, take male privilege. Maybe you see how this operates in our partriarchial society as a female yourself. Male privilege has nothing to do with “silver spoons” or “trust funds” either; for males, there are things that aren’t going to come across their consciousness. As a woman, I know not to park my car in certain areas at night; I”m conscious of my surroundings when I’m walking in unfamiliar places; when I go out to jog I make sure I have my cell phone. I’m intuitive as to whether or not a male coworker or boss is coming onto me sexually with his words and tone of voice. These are things that women are attuned to because we don’t have the privilege of being in the place of power as men. That’s male privilege. Benefitting from whiteness in a racist Eurocentric society, whether you intend to benefit purposely, consciously or subconsciously, is the operation of white privilege, similar to how men of all colors and socioeconomic positions benefit from maleness in a patriarchial society. Do you ever worry about whether or not you’ll find make up in your shade? (For a period of time, there was no makeup to match complexions of color). That’s white privilege. Do you ever worry about whether you’ll find hair products for your hair type in a Walmart or Target? Ditto again. How often are you conscious of your whiteness on a day-to-day basis? Our society is quick to throw out the word diversity. Yes, diversity is important, but it does not address racism or the operation of white privilege. Even if all your friends are racial minorities and you consider yourself open to diversity, the real issue to tackle is white privilege. Numbers mean nothing if we don’t get to the root of it. Thanks for reading this. Feel free to email me if you’d like.
No, the real issue of veganism is protection and care of tortured and tormented animals. the issue of white privilege is irrelevant here and you are making it all too complicated. it’s human privilege that vegans concern themselves with, this is species-ism. putting young black or any other color men on a plant based diet may be very helpful on a number of levels but it does not make them vegan as they are likely still wearing leather shoes and otherwise consuming animal products or perhaps participating in other forms of animal exploitation not related to food. Veganism is ethical at its core, not just for humans to look thinnner or be healthier. i dont see why the middle class white community has to examine iself with regard to privilege and its implications for veganism while you don’t call on communities of color to examine why, in light of their history of oppression, they are not more avidly vegan in huge numbers. shouldn’t that community know firsthand what the animals go through and shouldn’t this make them the ideal empaths for the cause? With all due respect to your scholarship, I’m a scholar too and your work impresses as an enormous distraction from the true aims of veganism, which is to save as many animals as possible. one need not be any particular color to do this. the animals don’t care what color you are, that’s the great thing about animals. concern yourself with them, not with those you perceive as oppressing you because of privilege.
Very sad you took offense to my post. Maybe you should read it again, as I don’t think I was negative or offensive in any way. And yes I don’t like the term white privlege. And I did understand what you were talking about before the long explination. I think everyone makes assumptions, when it comes to race and cultural differences. Just as you assumed I could buy hair products at walmart, which I will respond by saying even if I did shop there, I couldn’t. My hair is dark brown and tightly curled. I am sorry that people make assumptions, about things. Maybe we all could look inward, and do some soul searching, after reading your response it sounds like you got very upset and angry over my comment. I think I was just giving you my opinion, I found it surprising that vegans are mostly white and thin and wealthy as in my travels and experiences I have found the opposite to be true. I was just offering my unique perspective on the subject. I wasn’t attacking you.
Addressing Donna’s comment that veganism is about saving as many animals as possible: It depends on what your definition of veganism is. The longer I advocate for veganism, the more I understand that people view veganism around the U.S.., and certainly around the world, in different ways. For instance, I believe veganism is a way of living which is in harmony with every other living being. That way of living manifests itself in the way I interact with my environment and my community. As a white woman, I believe it is my responsibility to understand my privileges and what bearing my whiteness, my being human, my being able-bodied, etc. have on the world. Opening people’s minds about the oppression of ALL beings is the path to veganism I choose. And one way that I can be effective in that goal, is to understand how I came to be who I am and where I am today. That includes acknowledging my slave-holding ancestors or the Native American blood in my veins that solely exists because my great great great great uncle raped a woman. All of this is in my white skin. And until white people can acknowledge our history in terms of veganism as a tool of anti-exploitation, we will never make this world one worth living in for humans and non-humans alike.
Found your blog through Google Alerts for the phrase “racial healing.” I would like to offer as a resource the book my husband and I (both middle-class, upper-middle-age white people) have just had published. “Longing: Stories of Racial Healing” is about our racial conditioning as whites in this country, specifically in relationship to African-Americans. It contains 30 personal, true stories about interactions in which we became aware of the stereotypes, fears, sense of superiority, and white privilege that we carry around in our subconscious minds, and how those attitudes affect – and create separation from – black friends and strangers. We have been doing “race unity” work full time since 1997, and have both come to the conclusion that most white people cannot hear this from black people, no matter how gently and lovingly it is communicated. It’s just too threatening, and the knee-jerk reaction is nearly always defensiveness. There are exceptions, though, and those are the folks that need to be educating other whites. The stories in our book are all about ourselves and our own mistakes, so people are able to hear the underlying message without feeling personally attacked.
I wish I had more time to write, but we are just days away from beginning a year-long book tour around the country in our RV, and I am swamped with preparations. Please check out our website, and if you think that we could be of service to you in some way, send me a message. I don’t know where you’re located, but we’ll be visiting cities in 35 states on our tour; maybe you could organize a gathering where we do a reading/presentation.
I just had a long talk a few days ago with a young black male friend who is doing research in the field of environmental studies, and he was saying the exact same things that you’ve expressed in your post – when you close your eyes and envision a group of environmentalists, what is their color? Our country cannot survive continued separation based on race. The problems we’re facing absolutely require the voice, the cultural strengths, the experience-based knowledge and intuition of every group of our human family, or we will find no solutions to the mess we’ve created. Until white people understand the personal liability of harboring unconscious racial attitudes and that they have a huge stake in healing those attitudes, we will not be able to move forward together toward an evolved society.
With my respect and gratitude for the work you are doing,
Phyllis Unterschuetz
http://www.StoriesofRacialHealing.com
@Phyllis, thank you so much! I am hoping people reading this blog will also see that you have commented and they work you have been doing. I truly appreciate this as a much needed resource to help all of us in this dialogue around racial healing.
@Holly, I appreciate your transparency of how you feel about my talk. However, please watch the video when you get a chance and let me know if you still feel the way. I think it’s hard to know my ‘tone’ if you are unable to hear or see me talking. Angela brings this up in her comment.
@christina, why do you feel that your black identified friends would be offended? I’m just curious.
@Adama: yes Adam, I chose the format I did because I felt it would be least offensive and folk would be more embracing of the message.
I was lucky enough to have attended the Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down and had the chance to hear Breeze’s talk and then meet her in person too! I really enjoyed her talk and it was really well received. What’s missing from the transcript was how she sang a song at the beginning and how great her voice is!
In response to Holly’s comment, I think she just found the term ‘white privilege’ too harsh. Maybe she thought it sounded like you were using ‘white privilege’ as a label. If that was the case, I can see where she’s coming from since I agree that labels are not the most useful thing. Labels can be very detrimental especially in regards to their use in mental health where they are stigmatizing.
I think reading a transcript is also different from hearing someone say it aloud. It’s easy to misinterpret meanings when you are missing the inflections of sentences and the expression of body language.
Anyways, as an Asian minority I just wanted to add that I personally did not find it harsh and rather really appreciated your insights!
Talk about thought provoking! I really loved this. Ironically, wanted to post it on my facebook-but was worried about what some of my African American friends would think of my (being said privileged white girl) posting it.
Breeze,
Loved the talk! Excellent job. I think the personal dialogue is an excellent way of situating a difficult (uncomfortable and potentially abstract) topic by appealing *both* to common/relatable experience *and* unbridgeable differences of experience. It leaves space open for laughter which mitigates the audience’s potential indigestion.
Instead of being seen as angry, hateful, and overly analytic, a (race-privileged) person receives the talk as sincere, inviting, and common sensical. While there is much at risk (i.e. devestating hurt, rejection, alienation), with enough mutual trust and openness, this approach is much more promising, rewarding, and transformative. At least that’s my own interpretation.
And thanks Breeze, Farm Sanctuary, and all the friends who helped organize this event. Wish I was there!
@Phyllis, thank you so much! I am hoping people reading this blog will also see that you have commented and they work you have been doing. I truly appreciate this as a much needed resource to help all of us in this dialogue around racial healing.
@Holly, I appreciate your transparency of how you feel about my talk. However, please watch the video when you get a chance and let me know if you still feel the way. I think it’s hard to know my ‘tone’ if you are unable to hear or see me talking. Angela brings this up in her comment.
@christina, why do you feel that your black identified friends would be offended? I’m just curious.
@Adama: yes Adam, I chose the format I did because I felt it would be least offensive and folk would be more embracing of the message.
What an amazing contribution Breeze – you made it a very inviting, and engaging opportunity to open up this dialogue. Wish I was a lot closer to have attended. Fortunately your blog goes beyond borders.
@jiselle thank you. I know the message isn’t for everyone but spoke about this topic because I was literally invited to shed my perspective. I was asked, “Breeze our event is overwhelmingly white each year and we’d like to know why, from your perspective.” So, I find it intriguing that @ Donna said I am distracting from the root goal of veganism (animal rights) by talking about race. I have received a plethora of emails, since the publishing of Sistah Vegan, from people who write me, saying that they didn’t see the connection to animal rights until they picked up Sistah Vegan and it helped them explore animal rights through the avenue first of veganism as a way to understand anti-racism, the black ‘oppressed’ collective experiences, etc. I guess I perceive these emails as telling me I didn’t distract people but brought people to an understanding of animal rights through me first acknowledging the racialized black experience, ‘normative whiteness’ in the USA and then making connections to health, eco sustainabilty, and animal rights. But, I can only do my best and I know I will never appease everyone or make everyone happy.
I want to thank you for this. It’s made me (a white, middle class Brit) think about many things that hadn’t occurred to me before, such as the mprisoning of black and brown people as a form of slavery. Veganism is white-dominated here too – something that should be changed. Thank you again.
A very interesting and illuminating commentary. As evidenced above, most people don’t understand the term ‘white privilage,’ and without this context, it can sound offensive. Unfortunately, the phenomenon is so pervasive – and I speak for myself during most of my life – that it’s basically like asking fish to be aware of water: It’s so all-encompassing that it’s nearly impossible to see unless you undertand the composition of water and how it relates to the function of your gills, etc. Fish just swim in it, unaware of, say, the world of airbreathers whose concern is so much different.
It’s also important to remember than generalizing any group, even your ‘own,’ is unfair. Everyone is an individual and in some sectors, class is a much stronger indicator than race. My triracial son insisted we become vegetarians when he was eight and it was entirely to support animal welfare; our burgeoning veganism is an extension of that. I admit, rather sheepishly, than heath probably wouldn’t have been motivating enough for us, though it’s certainly a factor now that we’ve experienced its benefits.
Perspectives like yours are very important and can be extended to various other pursuits (why do most meditators appear to be upper-middle-class and weathy caucasians? Etc.). Even the most well-intended people can’t see past their own sheltered existence and wear the blinders accompanying them. I never heard the term “white privilege,” for instance, until I was 48 years old, in a classroom environment. African American students understood it immediately; the white, Latino and Asian students had a lot of difficulty understanding the term. Continue to educate as you are doing and you’ll bring awareness of much more than veganism or white privilage to those who may have warped perspectives on both (or either).
YOu did fine Breeze! Thanks for the insights! Really got me to thinking!
And I loved the song!
I read through this quickly and I look forward to watching the video when I have more time. I found it fascinating and necessary. I think we live in a time when many people want to believe that racism does not exist. Many white people view their friendships with people of color as proof of this. We are in denial. I’m a white woman in my early 40′s. I read Skinny Bitch and (now after reading this blog) I admit I am slightly embarrassed to say I enjoyed it so much. On second thought, I’m not embarrassed so much for enjoying it as I am for not having noticed that it really was written for the white privileged. I didn’t even notice! And now it seems glaringly obvious. The fact that I didn’t even notice somewhat proves the point being made on white privilege. By the way, @ Annazette, I think you did a great job of defining white privilege. It was quite sobering. Thanks to Breeze for speaking on this important topic and to the others who had so much to contribute in this blog. I look forward to watching the video and reading more.
Debbie
@ Debbie Thanks for watching the video. I ask folk not to be embarassed or shamed. I know Skinny bitch was helpful for many people. I don’t deny that, but was just analyzing it through certain lens that shed light on why it is that a significant number of black women interested in veganism who are in the Sistah Vegan listserv )about 190 of us), didn’t find it as helpful. My talk reflects these very real conversations we all have had.
Wow. You have a beautiful voice. I’m very happy I got to see the video
(While I certainly don’t mean to suggest that your speaking voice is not nice, I want to clarify that I meant your singing. I don’t want to sound like a creep!) lol
By the way, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, did you write the music you sang?
@David You don’t sound like a complete idiot, David
I think people shouldn’t feel guilt or shame if they don’t know something. the first part was “We are the ones” from Sweet honey in the rock. The second part of the song was an excerpt from Panther soundtrack called “Freedom” . Thanks for asking.
Breeze,
We haven’t met yet but I have been enjoying your very important work. I am friends with Martin and he sent me a PDF of your book that I’m looking forward to reading, reviewing and helping to promote.
In Chicago, where I live, there is a very wide chasm between the white vegans and black vegans. We have a Soul Vegetarian restaurant here and a lot of the black community seems to be organized around that: it is a pretty dynamic and large group of people. There are few areas of crossover between the vegans who are white and black. I would say that part of it is that the whites have enough privilege to be able to organize behind the rights of other beings, and part of it is the focus you identified: the nutritional and health emphasis in the black community. With the influence of Soul Vegetarian and their spiritual emphasis, I would also say that this is a factor: most of the white vegans I know are atheists or agnostics; most of the black vegans I know, if not all, have more of a spiritual basis behind their practices. I think spirituality is also an essential aspect to be addressed.
Also, I loved your reference to the work of Dr. Antonia Demas and her wonderful work. I took her training and we talked about how she is able to do her work. If she made an animal rights focus her emphasis, she would never get in through the door to do her very important work.
I agree with you that post-racial means white. How convenient! Oh, and the skinny/misogynist BS coursing through the vegan movement is truly sickening and disturbing. I am always disappointed with how otherwise progressive people just run with it.
Last, I think you might find this piece I wrote last year interesting. It’s about my work with Rev. James Bevel. We worked together on a project called the Roots of Peace. It was a very meaningful time in my life and it was truly a group of blacks and whites sitting down together and talking about race and integrating veganism across racial lines. http://tinyurl.com/2fjk4f5
Thanks, Breeze, for everything! If people are offended, I’d say it’s their issue.
Marla Rose
Dear Breeze: What a beautiful and thought-provoking talk!! That took a LOT of courage. You unpack and handle some difficult, thorny issues with love and grace. Thank you so much for this. I wish I had witnessed this in person. You go, girl!
@jiselle thank you. I know the message isn’t for everyone but spoke about this topic because I was literally invited to shed my perspective. I was asked, “Breeze our event is overwhelmingly white each year and we’d like to know why, from your perspective.” So, I find it intriguing that @ Donna said I am distracting from the root goal of veganism (animal rights) by talking about race. I have received a plethora of emails, since the publishing of Sistah Vegan, from people who write me, saying that they didn’t see the connection to animal rights until they picked up Sistah Vegan and it helped them explore animal rights through the avenue first of veganism as a way to understand anti-racism, the black ‘oppressed’ collective experiences, etc. I guess I perceive these emails as telling me I didn’t distract people but brought people to an understanding of animal rights through me first acknowledging the racialized black experience, ‘normative whiteness’ in the USA and then making connections to health, eco sustainabilty, and animal rights. But, I can only do my best and I know I will never appease everyone or make everyone happy.
Breeze,
At the AR conference several years ago, I was told the same thing – that I was distracting from animal rights (as well as being “selfish”) – for taking exception to the rampant misogyny there. Sadly, this sort of thing is not uncommon, especially among those of us who work for animals, I think, who are expected to be willing to accept anything “for the cause.”
Marla
Thanks for the insights. We who are white have a huge difficulty understanding just how much power and privilege accrues to us simply based on an accident of birth. We swim in it and it feels natural – it takes a different lense to help us catch a clue. Thanks for bringing it up.
Musicians Ethan Miller and Kate Boverman (http://riotfolk.org/?m=katebovermanethanmiller) give a great analysis of white privilege in their song “White Lies” and the preceding discussion of white privilege. For those of you who are white (like me) and struggle with understanding/acknowledging what is meant by white privilege (as we all do), I highly recommend reading this.
White Lies
It is all-too-easy for white folks to see racism as simply a white-supremacist attitude (that we, of course, don’t have) or a set of overtly discriminatory actions (that we, of course, don’t do). What more difficult to see—and to acknowledge—is the racism that is built into the very structure of our “whiteness”: racism as a historically-constructed system of power which benefits some people (those marked as “white”) at the expense of others (those marked as “black”, “nonwhite”, or simply “other”).
Those of us marked as “white,” no matter how well-intentioned our anti-racist attitude, benefit in various ways (differently, of course, depending on gender, sexuality, age, class, and ethnicity) from “white skin privilege.” By our very birth into a racist system, we exercise this privilege. And we internalize this privilege, along with more subtle elements of racism (vague stereotypes surfacing in the back of our minds, unconscious fears and prejudices, etc). There is no neutrality in this picture, no white person who is “definitely NOT racist.” We who are white, no matter how radical, are complicit in maintaining a racist society—even if it is the complicity of silence, the complicity of looking the other way while others are made to suffer. From this complicity must come not shame (which wallows in self-pity) nor guilt (which often pushes us to run, to escape), but responsibility—the ability-to-respond that inspires us to struggle toward real solidarity and anti-racist practice.
For a great introductory resource on white skin privilege and anti-racism, check out the book Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel (New Society Publishers, 1996).
White is a tool that was made by a nation
To justify slavery and colonization
To divide up the world into an Us and a Them
The primitive animal savage and the civilized human
“Race” is a story we’re told,
Embedded deep in our brains
We call it natural order, but it’s socially ingrained
Systematic exploitation by division of the people
Into some who’re made as slaves
To serve the ones created equal
Yes, the first thing they conquer
Is their own people’s minds
The colonizer’s the first one to be colonized
We’re born with pale skin
And they tell us we’re “white”
Implying some will live in darkness
And this child will walk in light.
What color is God in our pictures?
And what is the color of sin?
If two came to your door,
One pale, one dark-skinned
Who’d be the first one that you would let in?
Shame hangs its head and guilt tries to run
But complicity demands we undo what’s been done
Name our history, find the courage to rise
Shout it out loud, with bold angry cries—
No more white lies!
We’re the wealthiest nation on earth so they say
But where did this wealth come from
‘Cept the labor of slaves?
All those who suffered and toiled and died
Feeding the hunger of rich white men’s pride
Who works in our orchards?
Who picks our fine crops?
Who sweats in the sweatshops?
Who pushes the mops?
Who rots in our prisons for the crime of their skin?
Who dies in our wars so that others can win?
Who lived here before us and who stole their land?
And who where the heroes of Custer’s Last Stand?
Who wrote the history books?
Who makes the rules?
And who mines the ore for the master’s own tools?
(Chorus)
“Oh I am not racist,” many white folks have said
But racism’s not just a thought in your head
It’s the privilege we wield
When we walk down the street
And don’t have to fear each white cop that we meet
It’s the power we’re handed
From the moment of birth
When we’re told our pale skin
Is our measure of worth
“Colorblind” is a code-word
For “the problem’s not mine”
‘Cause white folk have the privilege to say, “Everything’s fine.”
It’s in the history of our families,
In the stories that we bear
It’s in the small, subtle perks
along the way that got us there
It’s in the shit we never went through,
All the pain we never felt
It’s in the stacked deck of cards
And the hand we were dealt
You know you used to be Irish or Italian or Basque
Call up your Grandma if you can and just ask
We traded history for power and tradition for slaves
Buried our pride with the bodies
In the unmarked graves
(Chorus)
So who’s really to blame? It’s not easy to say
And of course those in power
Want to keep it that way
These troubles run deep, to the core of our souls
For we were formed by the power
That our ancestors stole
Is it the person or the structure
That keeps racism alive?
Well it’s both, and they’re nourished
By the great white lie
We’ve got to struggle on the inside,
Struggle on the out
‘Cause struggling together is what solidarity’s about
@Chris, I really liked the way you explained WP as well as the lyrics of the song you incorporated. I’m happy that you recognize WP and are aware of the steps that need to be taken to move forward in a positive, enlightened direction. I won’t lie though, it frustrates me at times when I try to explain white privilege to white folks and they automatically become defensive, however, defensiveness itself is the operation of WP: being so unaware of it that it can’t be recognized. Like someone mentioned earlier, it’s like making a fish aware of water.
Hi Breeze,
We haven’t met yet, but I’ve known about your work for a couple of years now. Just wanted to thank you for your courage in giving this talk. You did a beautiful job making this important issue accessible, and if people do get defensive or angry, it’s not because of anything you said or did; it’s their own stuff bubbling up. I’m just sorry for any pain it might be causing you.
Engaging in these dialogues is so important for the vegan movement. A few years back, I did a dialogue sermon with Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, my black-identified Unitarian Universalist minister here in NYC, in which we talked about racism and animal rights in front of the congregation. I learned so much, and it was very healing for me. To this day, I still recommend one piece of literature that Rev. McNatt shared with me: Peggy McIntosh’s essay on white privilege:
http://www.google.com/search?q=peggy+mcintosh+white+privilege&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
I look forward to reading your book. Thanks for stepping out of your comfort zone and for nudging me out of mine again. I hope you continue to speak your wisdom and your truth.
Your fan,
Marisa
Very happy to have had the opportunity to see you give this talk in person — think it’s a very important dialogue. Thank you! It was a wonderful presentation.
A quick response to the idea that Breeze’s talk distracts from the ‘true’ focus of veganism (suggested to be animal rights) — I believe Breeze’s work can only strengthen this focus. If you look at the stages of successful social movements over time, it is demonstrated that the more diverse a movement becomes, the more tools and avenues of approach it utilizes and the more collaborations with other social change movements it creates — positioning it to move into mainstream ideology. (Bill Moyer is a great read on this.) I don’t believe that any social change movements have clean start and end borders. In addition to the torture and mutilation of animals, issues of class, race, and gender (and others) are deeply embedded in our prevailing food systems. Non-human animals are the only beings that are eaten, yes, but are not the only beings affected adversely by our food system. To approach the work as if they are weakens AR’s credibility and accessibility — and our individual empathy.
A successful movement will have the capacity and fortitude to not only understand intersections and connections within, but to leverage different approaches, strategies and collaboration; to welcome diversity into the movement, not by ignoring differences, but by understanding and celebrating them and by individually understanding how we contribute to oppression through our own filters, whatever those may be. We all have them. Talking about white privilege can only make the AR movement more robust — if we do not understand the fundamental weaknesses and threats needing to be addressed in our work we will be severely compromised, and likewise not be able to understand the fundamental strengths and opportunities waiting to be leveraged.
There is no one proper gateway into veganism — there are multiple points of entry into the movement, which is a sign of a movement on the road to success. And all intersect with the overlapping issues within (including but not limited to animal rights, race, class, gender, environment, etc.). To understand the intersection of these movements and issues is to do the animals and each of us a service, and to strengthen each social change movement — to strengthen AR.
I found this to be a much-needed conversation for the AR movement, and Breeze’s time, courage, and integrity was very much appreciated by me. Thanks again.
Hi,
I loved your thoughts. It could not being better described.
I have a good friend who has wealthy granparents and they are cow farners. She grew up in a very privilege family. She had her studies in USA paying full fees for her American University. She is vegan because she feels she is AR activist. She had never a proper job, she travels everywhere with her family’s farmer money. Is it not incongruent? She tells everyone how and why changing her eating habits bought her a better life, but she had never taken full responsibility to avoid the money coming straight from her family’s business. In fact I am not sure if she really reflects about it. Remind you talking about the difficulties you had faced when pointing the issues of gender, racial, social perspectives. In fact our nature wants to avoid pain, and most of the times it is difficult to face the truth.
I love the fact you linked vegan with health. I love the fact you linked all those themes with other way of white privilege show power towards others. In fact, if we create a more popular view of vegan, we would change the health of humans and substantially decrease of animal suffers in farms, then I wonder what would happen if vegan became to be something for common people as well, how would lose this power appeal of being something for “special” people, or if would be real better world for all of us.
Best of luck
Jane
your presentation was great! keep up the good work!
Great video Bree! I am SO proud of you for having the courage to discuss this sensitive issue. I hope this introduction will spring even more thoughtful, loving discussions of a very difficult subject. I hope to join in at some point because, coincidentally (or divinely synchronistic), I am transitioning into a vegan diet myself. I’ll make sure to get a hold of your book at some point. Thanks so much.
Hi Breeze,
Thank you so much for posting the video. You are so inspiring. I hope that people who are offended can take a step back and unpack what’s behind their reaction. When people are offended or defensive, it’s usually based in fear.
I am glad your voice is in the vegan community. We are all better, stronger, and smarter for it.
Best,
Kera
I agree with Kera
Dear Breeze,
Thank you for putting yourself out there in this extremely valuable talk. I feel sad when a person of color has to talk to white people about white privilege, when we white people should be talking to and challenging each other about white privilege at every opportunity. But of course, this is rare. Denial is so embedded in us white people. And white privilege must be challenged by white people in ALL walks of life. I have the privilege of never having to think about race. But this denial diminishes me and all other people, the animals, and all of nature.
If we are anti-speciesist, we must be anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-classist.
I really recommend that white people read all of the works of Tim Wise, who is a white anti-racist writer. His work is so powerful and it made me gasp at my own ignorance and lack of consciousness. He takes huge risks by revealing his own past ignorance.
Breeze, you take huge risks every day just by being a black woman walking out the door. Thank you so much for your work.
Breeze, Congratulations on an amazing, important, and difficult talk! Discussing white privilege can be such a daunting endeavor and you did so with an abundance of grace, love, and analysis! As someone who does similar work, discussing how racial and class politics operate within the mainstream vegan movement is so significant 1) to show racism, classism, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression continue to exist within leftist movements that do not seem oppressive and 2) also to demonstrate that not everyone experiences veganism in the same way or for the same reasons- we don’t all need to be the same to participate in the same movement. This is why unpacking white privilege is so important- we’re trained not to see how it enacts power hierachies within so many realms (if not all) of our lives!
Thanks so much for sharing this great piece and keep up the great work!
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Dear Breeze,
The term “white privilege” is not new to me. Actually, I was bombarded with it during college and was pretty glad to leave it behind. The thing missing from everything that I have heard/read onthe topic is the “So now what?” So I understand that my life is easier because of my skin color… now what? So I am immediately part of main-stream society because I’m white… now what? No matter how much I know about the subject, I’m still going to be white and hundreds of years of history and racism are still going mean certain people stereotype and allow racist ideas to dictate how they think and act. I’ve never been an activist for anything and don’t intend to ever be one… so now what?
I think this is why many white people react negatively. It’s like you point out how different (and, because of the word privilege, better) their lives have been because of their skin color, and then nothing. In general, I think that this makes white people feel as if they’re being blamed and have done something wrong (despite the fact that no one can help their skin color) but then there is nothing that they can do to absolve themselves.* Your talk obviously tried to avoid placing blame on anyone, but it still does not answer the “now what?” question.
I guess my lack of academic interest in this subject means that I should just avoid it. I judge people based on their choices and actions and try to treat everyone with kindness and respect unless they give me a reason not to. So, the “now what?’ of my comment is this: Now that there is solid academic writing on history and consequences of white privilege, the real challenge for people interested in this topic is to make it meaningful in a practical way, rather than a purely intellectual one.
*By the way, I am not in any way saying that anyone needs to be absolved or apologize, just that the nature of this topic creates that feeling.
Shandra, why is it Breeze’s job to tell you “now what?” If nothing else, there are lots of things online by white anti-racists who are answering the “now what?” question: have you tried looking, at all, instead of expecting POCs to do your work for you?
Question: why should I have to go searching on my own when someone who has written a dissertation on the topic is running this blog and just gave a talk? I don’t actively seek out this information because, like I said, I don’t have a huge academic or personal interest in it. I found this through the Girlie Girl Army site, which I read mostly for vegan and eco-friendly advice, not issues of race. Since this is clearly a topic at Breeze cares about, to me that means the “now what” part IS up to her. All I meant with my comment was that it I’ve been frustrated in the past by people telling me how much white privilege has affected them and why it’s a big deal, but not any practical advice. I wanted to point that out, as I think that is a major shortcoming of most discussions on white privilege.
A wonderful and thought-provoking talk. I look forward to reading your recommended texts (including your book!). I see you’re studying at UC Davis…do you often give talks or participate in other events in the Sacramento area? I’m moving back up north (I’m originally from Sacramento) for grad school at CSUS and would love the opportunity to listen to you in person.
Hey there.
Thanks for being vegan
I hate fitting the stereotype lol. I am skinny and white but I have always been skinny and white hee hee. I support your message. I just want to say that I hope that we can present veganism not as a diet, but as essentially non-violence and respect for all sentient beings, a recognition of the moral personhood of all animals (human and nonhuman.)
I have been suggesting we make it clear to all peoples, all nations, all cultures that veganism is not a diet.
To me and I am sure to most others, it is a rejection of violence and oppression, a rejection of and refusal to participate in the enslavement and exploitation of sentient beings and a protest against the status of animals as chattel property.
If we make it clear that veganism is not a diet—although a plant based diet is definitely an essential part of veganism—then we can distance veganism from “flexitarian” and “veg*nism” and vegetarianism and all other speciesist diet related things. Veganism is a mindset and I believe the core of that mindset is a rejection of violence, and it is the principal of abolition applied to the life of the individual (see Gary L. Francione).
That being said, I greatly support your idea of teaching the benefits of the plant-based diet, using this knowledge as an educational tool, as you put it; ‘a nutritional liberation’, and ‘a way to help shift these youths away from the path of the prison industrial complex’. That is I think an incredibly admirable and very effective idea. I fully support you! I wish I could support you other than with just words, you know, but well words are powerful, sharing your message and ideas is powerful so I can at least do that.
Just want to say that I do think that the concept of non-violence resonates with the human race collectively, at least I hope so, and the concept of non-violence especially resonates with the victims of violence, as the vast majority of the youths and other peoples you refer to are victims of violence and oppression, not just physical either, because, of course, racism is form of violence.
Well, thanks so much for all you do.
Warm Regards to you and your beautiful little boy.
Elizabeth Collins
Hey,
English-speaking white vegan feminist here. It is SO hard to talk to people diplomatically about privilege, I find that even when they are privileges that I share with the person I’m talking to they seem so ready to construe it as a personal attack. You’re very good at doing this – you’ve obviously put a lot of work and thought into it. I look forward to exploring the rest of your blog and will be making an effort to become more conscious of and vocal about race as an aspect of food justice.
Thanks for the motivation,
Beth
I thought of a term some years ago that I’ve used to discuss various issues…. accident of birth. I’m white by an accident of birth. I didn’t do anything to get this way, it was completely outside my control. I have long recognized that being born this way gives me advantages in all aspects of American life. However, I am also, by accident of birth, female and fat (and before anyone argues with me about fatness being an accident of birth, take a good look at all the women on my mother’s side of the family). My brother, by accident of birth is white, male and thin. Whiteness, by far, is the most privileged category, and it always seems to me to be so blatantly obvious that this is so. I really shake my head at times when people seem to think otherwise. Crossing the divide between whiteness and all other colors is, I agree, really, the crucial issue in American life.
So while I am aware of white privilege, I am also an “other” and now that I am vegan and still fat, I am outside again, looking at all the people who are assumed to have so much more credibility than I do in my fatness. That otherness makes me curious about others’ otherness, and curious about what those others experience.
Thanks for your message. I hope it’s ok if I return. I am quite interested in learning more about the connection with veganism and the black community.
Hi everyone who has participated on this post. I do not have the time to respond to everyone’s messages, there’s just too many. I’m also on vacation (first time in years) and have had limited access to the internet. I did want to share something that I’m reading right now in the peer reviewed journal, “Race/Ethnicity”. In Autumn 2009, a special issue came out that looks at public health issues and intersections with race/ethnicity (particularly around the lines of privilege, inequities and inequalities).
I am pasting an excerpt below so readers can get a sense of how I am using “privilege”. If you want the whole article, I can email it to you. I consider access to culturally appropriate vegan health information part of public health. Throughout this blog post and excerpts, I talk about what the parts of this paper mean for my own research and interests in “privilege” analysis of vegan studies and health.
Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Perspectives, Volume 3, Number 1,
Autumn 2009, pp. 29-50 “It’s Hard at the Top but It’s a Whole Lot Easier than Being at the Bottom” The Role of Privilege in Understanding Disparities in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Authors: Belinda A.E. Borell, Amanda S. Gregory, Tim N. McCreanor
Below is from pages 31-21 in the article.
————-
————-
(Breeze speaking now) The article is very helpful I think. I also like to do this exercise for my own privileges so people understand that though my passions and focus are on the racial experience, it can apply to gender, sexual orientation, Anglophonic, etc privileges in the USA at least. I can take McIntosh’s bullet points and do that following when it comes to my able-bodied and Anglophonic privileges in the USA:
• I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my able-bodied & Anglophonic privilege most of the time.
• When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of able-bodied Anglophonic privilege made it what it is.
• I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their able-bodied & Anglophonic experience.
• I am never asked to speak for all the people of my able-bodied & Anglophonic privileged group.
I gave my talk at Farm Sanctuary, and in general, have an interest in approaching vegan studies from a “what does privilege mean” point of view because in all honesty, social “problems” seem to always focus on the ‘underprivileged’ as the problem.
I have gotten so many questions like, “Breeze, why don’t black people want to be vegan and join our (read : White middle class) animal rights vegan oriented way of doing things cause.” The underlying implication is that it’s solely Black people’s fault for not wanting to engage in their “privileged” perception of a certain social justice issue. This shift of focus detracts from what it means to be a ‘privileged’ person within society and basically blames who are not part of a privileged demographic.
I’m going to refer back to the article in which the authors talk about why a “privilege” analysis of social issues and health disparities is a necessary lens:
A privilege analysis is a radical departure from many of the current framings around inequality as it challenges common justifications for disparity, and demands self-scrutiny from those occupying “normalized” positions. In this regard, privilege is intrinsically implicated in relationships and their management, and the distribution of status and resources within our society. Disparity can be conceptualized in two distinct ways—in a disadvantage or a privilege framework. In a disadvantage or deficit framework, the scrutiny is on those
experiencing the lack.
The solution therefore is predominately seen to rest with those who are experiencing the disadvantage, and the duty lies with them to develop the qualities that those not experiencing disadvantage apparently have. Conversely, when seen from a privilege framework, at least part of the onus of responsibility lies with those who are not experiencing disadvantage.
Historically, the framework predominately used to view disparity sidelines those with advantage whilst turning the gaze on the disadvantaged. Reframing disparity debates and foci from disadvantage to privilege frameworks may be an effective way of changing public health and social relations by facilitating self-awareness in those with conferred advantage. The results from a Powell, Branscombe, and Schmitt (2005) study suggests that framing disparities from within a “privilege” discourse encouraged greater collective desire for a more egalitarian system, while other studies suggest having the capacity to reflect on one’s own privilege facilitates greater commitment to equitable action (Ancis and Szymanski 2001).
However, there are a range of discourses available to evade self-reflection and acknowledgment of one’s own advantage such as utilizing notions of minority “privilege” (Hatchell 2004) while other research suggests recognition of one’s privilege may not necessarily result in a change in racist attitudes (Solomona et al. 2005), or altering convictions that privilege is possessed by all (Chizhek and Chizhik 2005). From pages 35-56 .
Hi Breeze,
That was a great talk; thank you for your work.
If nothing else, we animal advocates need to remember that we can’t just focus on the animals: we need to understand the people we want to reach–and we don’t just want to reach the white & middle-class. There is no drawback to working to better understand our own privilege, and thereby better understand others’ experiences.
But the real reason I’m commenting is to say that Sun has to be the cutest baby EVER. OMG. That picture almost doesn’t look real.
Wonderful to read this, Breeze. Thanks for speaking up, and also for having patience with people who are resistant to hearing you. I know you must have to do it over and over and over again in your work. I can only imagine how taxing it is to introduce this and have to answer the same basic objections all the time. (Similar to how we’re all tired of hearing, “Come on, we’re at the top of the food chain, so we’re supposed to eat animals.”)
Several people have mentioned the word already, but for the benefit of people who haven’t examined this ideas before, I would like to highlight the concept “intersectionality.” Anyone who’s questioning what Breeze is saying can look up the word online and do some reading on how various oppressions and concepts intersect, such as feminism, veganism, and civil and human rights. If we care to build an inclusive movement, we (white people and others who enjoy whatever other kinds of privilege insulate us from the issues that people who are in a minority have to deal with) are going to have to do the work to examining what these things have to do with each other and learn where everyone’s coming from.
It’s something I’m just starting with, and yes, I’m very inhibited. I’ve followed a lot of online conversations where white people say some strange and, often inadvertently, quite arrogant things and put the burden of correcting them on the people of color in the discussion. Personally, I would rather stay silent than make a mistake. But that right there is white privilege in action, example #1. Being white, I am apparently allowed the luxury of stepping aside from such conflicts because they make me uncomfortable. Me and my poor feelings, huh? I’ll stop there because it’s given me some food for thought, and I want to reread your post.
Question: why should I have to go searching on my own when someone who has written a dissertation on the topic is running this blog and just gave a talk? I don’t actively seek out this information because, like I said, I don’t have a huge academic or personal interest in it.
I would like to point out that this is privilege in action, too. Hey, why should you bother yourself with something that’s hard work? You don’t have to. End of story… right? I would suggest that someone who’s angry that they’re being asked to think about a problem that hurts others while not being handed a solution or a to-do list is not understanding that this reaction is a part of and a symptom of the problem.
Your son is soooo cute! His big eyes and his pose looking and smiling at the camera.
Thank you for sharing this. I found my self gasping and sighing while reading some of these experienced you’ve had with white IDed AR folks or vegans. But, I also feel responsibility. I never made no nos to the extent that some of the people listed in this speech have, but I have looked at previous conversations I have had online, or thought back to previous things I believed as a young, white privileged vegan, and it is embarrassing. I totally didn’t get the race thing in many ways bc I was so moved by the suffering of animals and that in combonation with white privilege turned me into a total oppressive jag at times, without me realizing it til I grew up and got humble.
I’ve constantly been a sort f “total liberationist”. I KNOW that all struggles need to be respected and included in animal rights, queer, race, etc activism yet was still blinded many times by my own privilege.
I have learned a bit over the years but I’ll never say I fully “get it”. I just want to say that what you are doing is extremely important for all movements. White folks are ignorant a lot of the time. You presented this in a loving and informed way that I think almost anyone can get, even if they’re put off (like some commenters here) at first.
Please keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for your work and this blog! I have struggling with critical race theory in my own work (archaeology), and I have considered whiteness and otherness and issues of race more broadly to some extent, but I only recently confronted the issue of (my own) white privilege as it impacts my approach to veganism. I can understand the knee-jerk response that some white folk might have (“It’s about the animals first”), since that is how veganism is “packaged” in the mainstream. But of course anyone who practices veganism will quickly learn that it has personal, political, social, religious, familial, racial, class, and economical implications as well – and it’s pretty much impossible to pretend that it’s a single-issue enterprise.
Breeze, did you ever find the name of that organization that was helping the young black males?
I am very much interested in programs that prevent youth from entering the PIC and programs that can help people who have been ensnared in the PIC.
I loved reading this post. I didn’t read a lot of the comments because I don’t have the patience for people who refuse to acknowledge their privilege.