September
2002
The
Unity of Oppressions: Vegan Outreach to Progressives
By Alka Chandna
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Conspicuous consumerism is rejected by most progressives.
Ostentatious houses, monster gas-guzzling SUVs, and recreational shopping
are rightly
considered inappropriate trappings in a world where so many suffer
and die in poverty. The hot dog lunch at the union barbecue might
seem like
good, solid proletariat food, but when looked at more closely, it is
clear that there is no solidarity in this meal with the people and
fellow
creatures of the world.
I have been working in the struggle against oppression for over 20
years, and the lack of concern for animals among my progressive colleagues
has continuously perplexed me. Why do people who fight for justice
in
the human sphere—organizing against poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia,
the prison industrial complex, militarism, the hegemony of the corporate
state—why do they refuse to accept that violence against nonhuman
animals is one more example of the “might makes right” philosophy
against which we are all battling?
The power differential between the hen in the battery cage and the peace
activist downing a plate of scrambled eggs is surely as great as that
between the Shell executive and the Nigerian peasant.
Often more obstinate than apolitical mainstreamers, I have listened
to the dismissive tone of my progressive colleagues: Why don’t
you focus your energies on something more important? Why don’t
you help the children, the poor, the—(fill in the blank)?
When we fight for animal rights, we are fighting for everyone. For instance,
rejecting the exploitation of animals in chemical toxicity tests in
favor of non-animal tests that are cheaper, faster, and give more accurate
results, reduces the suffering of animals while protecting public health
and the environment.
Making the Connections
Wherever we look we see the unity of oppressions. We see that the tobacco
industry spent decades hiding behind the results of animal tests, adamantly
insisting that tobacco use did not increase one’s risk for developing
lung cancer—because it didn’t, in dogs. We see that the use
of animals in testing cosmetics and household products has filled our
shelves with bottles ominously decorated with skulls and crossbones,
while the Poison Control Centers admit that animal tests do not offer
insights into how to treat incidents of chemical poisoning. We see that
ignoring a child’s violent aggression against a helpless animal
nurtures a budding Jeffrey Dahmer, Son of Sam, or Ted Bundy.
Perhaps the strongest connection between animal exploitation and mistreatment
of humans is witnessed in the realm of food choices. Sixteen months
ago, I began a process of systematically identifying these connections,
founding the San Francisco-based Food & Social Justice Project (FSJP).
By asking questions such as, “How does the choice to eat animal
products impact labor justice, environmental stewardship, equitable
distribution of resources, global hunger, public health, and the corporate
control of our food supply?”, FSJP strives to raise awareness
among progressives by addressing these connections.
When we scratch the surface of an issue such as concern for labor justice,
for example, we find that in slaughterhouses, the wounds run very deep.
As noted in a cover story in Mother Jones magazine [July/August 2001],
slaughterhouse work is the most dangerous job in the U.S., with higher
on-the-job injuries than any other profession—by a factor of five.
Workers suffer broken bones, hernias, lacerations, tendonitis, cumulative
trauma disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome, chemical burns, crushing,
torn muscles, and amputated limbs. Job turnover at slaughterhouses has
been calculated to be 12 percent per month. According to a memo circulated
in a Perdue chicken slaughter plant, 60 percent of the plant’s
employees visit the company nurse every morning to get painkillers
or
have bandages applied to their hands.
One of the huge rallying cries of the progressive movement over the
past decade has been the work done in exposing the use of sweatshop
labor, calling for boycotts of The Gap, Nike, and other apparel manufacturers.
In fact, many student groups have jumped on this issue in a move that
many regard as the great awakening of student activism. Certainly,
we’re
concerned about the plight of exploited garment workers. While we support
and applaud their demands for ethical labor practices and corporate
accountability in the apparel industry, vegan advocates and animal rights
activists should seize this opportunity to call anti-sweatshop activists
to a bit of consistency. We can challenge them to expand their thinking
by asking, “What about slaughterhouse workers in this country,
the majority of whom do not speak English and cannot advocate effectively
on their own behalf?” What sorts of labor conditions do we support
or discourage with our daily meals—the food we purchase and eat
every day? If we do purchase animal products, what is our culpability
in the creation of a brutalized underclass that does the dirty, dangerous,
violent work of butchering animals?
In addressing issues of poverty and inequitable distribution of wealth,
Mahatma Gandhi advised his followers to always, when making a decision,
recall the face of the poorest person they may have seen and ask themselves
whether their choice of action would help that person. Every time we
sit down to eat, we make a decision about the kind of world we want
our food choices to support.
During the famine in Ethiopia in the mid-1980s and in Somalia in the
early 1990s, those countries continued to grow and export grains to
Europe to feed cows, pigs, and chickens so that First World people could
eat meat, dairy, and eggs. A similar relationship exists presently between
the U.S. and countries of Central and South America.
To reach out to our progressive colleagues, FSJP compiles statistics
and arguments as they relate to different issues. FSJP hosts literature
tables at all kinds of events—environmental festivals and forums,
peace marches, labor demonstrations, anti-globalization presentations,
anti-death penalty rallies, feminist gatherings, and so on. To raise
awareness, we hand out pamphlets with quotes from respected progressive
voices—voices of the likes of Alice Walker, Isaac Bashevis Singer,
Dick Gregory, Mahatma Gandhi, Cesar Chavez—who eloquently make
the connections to animals.
At a rally in honor of Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers (UFW) accepted
my proposal to speak, and I reminded listeners that Cesar Chavez believed
that all violence is cut of the same defective cloth and that the struggle
of field workers is mirrored by the struggles of workers in slaughterhouses
(see full speech at www.vegan.com/current/ac033098.html).
Following the talk, I was approached by Dolores Huerta, the powerhouse
of a woman who co-founded UFW with Cesar Chavez. In one of the most
moving episodes of my life, she thanked me for my speech and spoke of
the importance of animal rights. She said that most members of the board
of UFW were vegetarian. She spoke of her wish that the rank-and-file
of the union would also embrace vegetarianism, but commented that machismo
tendencies prove problematic in this regard. She requested the text
of my speech so that she could read it on the UFW radio show to enable
more people to hear the plea for compassion.
Our observation at FSJP has been that progressives who have already
embraced animal rights feel validated by our presence at progressive
gatherings. This balances any negative or dismissive comments they may
hear from the mainstream or even their progressive friends. For them,
our presence affirms that veganism and animal rights are integral components
of social justice.
Playwright Henrik Ibsen once lamented, “People desire only partial
revolutions, revolutions in externals, in politics, and so on. But these
are mere trifles.” “What’s really called for,” Ibsen
advised, “is a revolution of the human mind, a transformation
of the human spirit.”
The Food & Social Justice Project focuses on manners in which exploitation
of animals is inextricably linked to human suffering, but the group
is, at its core, a vegan advocacy animal rights group. Animals feel
pain like we do. They experience the range of emotions, from joy to
sorrow to loneliness to love. When, as a society, we accept that animals
have a right equal to that of people to be free from pain and violence,
we will have enacted our revolution of the human spirit, and will have
opened the gates to a truly just world.
Alka Chandna, Ph.D. is a long-time activist. She is director
and founder of the Food & Social Justice Project. Call (415) 337-0663
or email foodandsocialjustice@yahoo.com
to learn more.
