@wangeshh1: #imperialism #animals #nairobi #lionking

Scout :

It reminds me a lot of my problem with veganism and vegetarianism. Great! So, you're not harming anything in order to get your food. Then I would love to hear all about the research you did about where you get your produce from and the working conditions of the people employed on those farms and the sustainability of those crops and how it impacts the native lands and whether or not any locals had to be displaced in order for that company to buy more of their lands to grow those crops. These are things you know, right? Since you just can't stand to support any companies or industries that condone inhumane treatment to get your food? Obviously I'm behind hyperbolic and we can't all afford to become full time unpaid ethics researchers when we're trying to grocery shop after our full time jobs, but so many of these people genuinely DON'T care about black and brown people who are exploited in the agriculture industry. As long as they aren't hurting any cute little chickens and baby cows. :)

Sasha S. Graham :

I seriously understand this. They will rally in an instant for the mistreatment of animals, but ignore entire genocides against Black populations.

cherriwhine :

Domesticated cats and dogs is genuinely bizarre when cows and sheep are also technically domesticated, just "livestock"

Agnes :

Animals, also like fetuses (in convos of abortion), are the ‘perfect victim’ for people to advocate for. These victims don’t want anything, they can’t criticize their perpetrator or their so called defenders, so ‘advocates’ are sure they can always feel like the hero. It’s the perfect way to avoid accusations of white savior-ism, while essentially doing the same thing. The perfect demographic for infantalisizing, which solidifies their own social standing while also satisfying their need to be a ‘good person’.

Victoria B. :

Not gonna lie, watching the latest “man and his dog” movie trailer and there was some line about the dog losing a foot to some bomb and one of the characters was like “I hope you got that enemy back” to which the guy responded “I shot him in the head” like it was a joke and it just made me feel sick.

User6645999093112 :

People who hate animals are broken in a fundamental way and should be avoided at all costs

Joshua :

im actually writing an essay about this for my writingclass, specifically about the over humanization of dogs.

TayyOnTop :

They’re vegan to protect animals, but the minute you say abolish the police (a system that murders a black person everyday in the us), they will clutch their pearls and act like you’re insane for saying that.

soap ♎︎︎ :

yup. & i actually do love cats & i do love animals. but im also an afropessimist & like wtf do you expect out of BIack ppl when especially white ppl are obsessed with the morality-performance-art-spectacle of being “animal people”. MIND YOU it’s white people traveling to Africa to do illegal poaching, it’s white people opening resorts that are destroying bio diversity

NinthNick :

I think people gravitate toward helping animals because helping them doesn’t require people to engage in acknowledging complex and painful historical processes and they get a dopamine hit for being good. For some animals it does, but, working at a cat shelter doesn’t require people to deconstruct/question Americas Cold War interventions in Latin America for example

candide :

yes bro I feel the same way. like how you gon be like "save the bees" and "plant native" whole time Id like to be a part of that ecology but I can't because you also support the systems of oppression at hand that hate my native azz?!

Missusbean17 :

The irony of people asking if you had a pet lion when white Americans are the largest demographic of exotic pet owners by a big margin

yasmeen 🌙 :

and animals are like.. the “ideal, perfect victim.” you can project whatever feelings or beliefs you have onto the animal, it can’t contradict them for you. it can’t make you confront anything about yourself. if you help a dog, you help a dog and that’s it. humans are different. humans don’t always fit into the ‘flawless, innocent’ victim archetype. we know that people are less reluctant to help you depending on what clothes you’re wearing, how you speak. literally anything. but a dog is just a dog

user65592601536 :

lol i’m writing a essay on this. i’m in portland. i got a dog a month ago & it literally infuriates me that white ppl have more respect for my dog than they do me!!!

Yuriologist :

Im so glad people are talking about this

kit :

conservation biology and entomology (insect) background. the more i engage with environmental studies, the more white/wealth-dominated conservation and entomology seem so self serving — then they call any advocacy for humans “anthropocentrism”, placing ecological conservation at odds with cultural conservation when decolonization reflects how the two are interdependent

Isabel :

What most white “animal people” fail to realize is that animal and human liberation go hand in hand (we’re also animals after all) and that if you truly do care about animal rights then you must care about human and poc rights as well, especially indigenous people, as they’re the ones who actually do the work to care for animals and the environment. Indigenous peoples make up such a small percentage of the population but they also do more conservation work than anyone else in the world and we owe them a huge thank you

maples130 :

I have no pets and I don’t think I ever will

JackalopeThey🍄🔻🪨🔪🥄 :

I've been an animal person my whole life. the more I unpack racism and colonization, I can't stand animal people. They lack empathy towards other humans without realizing that animals won't be treated better until humans are treated better. and white savior complexes come out in full force when it comes to bully breeds and they refuse to acknowledge racism. thank you for this insight. I appreciate being able to deepen my empathy well.

rokikoniko :

Hot take: the obsession w/ animals (rlly ownership) is really just a consequence of white supremacy. Even the questions they asked- did you OWN a lion or elephant? There is a fixation on ownership and honestly domination of animals here that stems from a belief of dominion over all. And then when you hear people say they care about animals more than humans; it’s no coincidence that as the world has gotten more multicultural and ppl are forced to live amongst those who don’t look like them, their attitudes would elevate animals (which they can in turn own) over humans. I don’t think someone who empathizes with animals is more kind empathetic than others, it allows them not to engage with diversity or force them to think of others as equal to them

rosenvoy :

I’ve witnessed too many times literally being treated worse than someone’s animal and it’s made me incredibly bitter

jack :

i feel you. i’m alaska native and for a long time i really struggled with how deeply tied my culture is to animals because white people and their perception of us was entirely wrapped up in our relation to animals and animism. like you, one of the first things id get asked upon revealing where im from and what my culture is was “oh, did you guys have sled dogs/moose/polar bears/wolves”, and like with the lion king, brother bear is the only movie ive seen depicting us and its told almost entirely through the lens of being turned into animals. — i think it’s tough being from cultures where humans are a part of nature and live within in and being forced into operating under a system that says that nature is a completely separate thing from us - solely meant for man to control & conquer. especially since our cultures’ relationships w the natural world are used as a way to dehumanize us

🌷🦋Paige🦋🌷 :

I remember this video of women who lost her baby. She told people not to compare her loss of her newborn to the loss of a pet. And people HARASSED her and said not to judge their grief. In what world is the loss of a human child comparable to the loss of pet? Yes losing a pet is sad but losing your baby is absolutely unfathomable! I was shocked!

fiona_lone :

biodiversity conservation is also a major colonization tool, and the militarization of conservation is so scary

Tressie :