Opponents of racism and speciesism must join together By Joel Bartlett In the preface to the controversial book The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery by Marjorie Spiegel, Alice Walker wrote, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.” The book begins with, “Comparing speciesism with racism? At first glance, many might feel that it is insulting to compare the suffering of non-human animals to that of humans.” This is the reaction of most Wesleyan students. I therefore want to be clear that a comparison does not mean equal. I am not saying that a captive chicken suffers as much as an intelligent enslaved human being. While cows and sows do exhibit signs of psychological suffering when their children are taken away, I do not believe that this is equivalent to the trauma inflicted upon humans when losing a child. Nonetheless, I do strongly believe that there lies a connection between oppressions, and this wespeak is intended to encourage others to ponder one such comparison. It is clear a rift exists within our community between the fight against oppressions. Last Tuesday I went to Malcolm X House for a dinner. I left when I realized that there was essentially no vegetarian food. Even the rice and beans were cooked in chicken. Two days later I successfully dined at VegOut, Earth House’s vegetarian/vegan dinner, but I couldn’t help but notice the whiteness of the environment, reminiscent of my years in Maine. I don’t believe that this divide is necessary. I can fight against racial oppression as an animal rights/liberation activist, and others can fight against the oppression of non-human animals in an anti-racist/pro-people of color movement. In fact, I believe that to be a successful animal rights/liberation activist I must fight against racism. Systems of oppression will never collapse as long as the oppressors have us believing that you and I are fighting for different goals, or worse – that we are fighting against each other. I must add that I do recognize my privilege, the privilege to be an activist and to spend my time fighting for others. But as students at Wesleyan there are some privileges that we almost universally share. For instance, vegetarianism is often seen as a luxury as natural foods are overpriced and McDonalds is so cheap, but at Wesleyan we are almost all forced on the meal/points plan and given the equal financial ability to buy organic vegetarian food. The connections between the oppression of people of color and animals are immense; books have been written on the subject; so I offer here only one connection that I see as important, but I hope that this discussion will continue. Humans are dehumanized, and animals are de-animalized. By “de-animalized” I refer to our treatment of nonhuman animals as though they have no desires or the ability to suffer. We treat our pets as animals, even as family members, but we use cows as if they were objects or machines. These analogous processes of dehumanization and de-animalization are weapons of domination. Humans must realize that other humans have similar wishes and desires. One cannot put the considerations of one human above the considerations of another regardless of race, gender, class or nationality. We must recognize that we live in a racist society and continually critique our culture if we hope to fight against racism. There certainly isn’t enough room in this wespeak to provide you with the scientific evidence of nonhuman animals’ ability to suffer, but use this as a rule of thumb: pigs are as smart, or perhaps smarter than dogs. It makes sense to treat pigs (and other animals) as you would treat a dog or a housecat. Farm animals are distant and disconnected from us, allowing us to abuse them; I believe that distance is also how we are able to essentially withhold AIDS drugs from African nations. Why are we failing to make the connections drawn out by Marjorie Spiegel and highlighted by the well-known and highly praised Alice Walker? Perhaps we fail because we are struggling with our own prejudices, and continue to bicker amongst ourselves about whose cause is most important. WARN stays predominantly white, while animal rights should not be a white issue, and student of color organizations remain necessary, a reminder of the racism of society. For how long will these remain true? These are difficult topics to deal with; that is why we must have patience and discussion. Bartlett is a member of the class of 2003 and WARN.

editorial letters …because i said so Wesleyan offers an escape from a straight-only world HiRise incident was a vicious attack  Peaceful means not an option in Afghanistan Please respond to War Survey  Queerleader critique lacked a clear argument CJ missed the bus from ignorance to intellect Fujii’s “ethnic boat” is sinking A southpaw demands recognition for life challenge Curriculum abandons students searching for diversity Opponents of racism and speciesism must join together Wake-up for meteor shower!

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