Racism vs. Speciesism The Roles of Society

Squirrels Lesson Plan

I want to first on poster board ask the class to come up with terms or ideas that they believe define racism and seciesism. From this I’m hoping we can try and see similarities and differences between the two and talk about whether before reading if we would have considered thinking of the two as similar and what in the readings really made the connection to them apparent. Next, I’d like to get the class to write terms or ideas that describe humans and animals. From this we can really take a look at the similarities and difference and ask ourselves why we believe humans to be superior. Also, this would allow us to discuss situations in which we believe the separation should be made is it ever justifiable.

Discussion

Elephant:
In 1973, Nicholas Fontaine described how people “administered beatings to dogs with the perfect indifference, and made fun of those who pitied the creatures as if they felt pain. They said that animals were clocks; that the cries they emitted when struck, were only the noise of a little string that had been touched, but that the whole body was without feeling” (776). I personally know a people that feel the same way towards pigeons and cats. As I was walking through the sports section in Target, there was a kid asking his dad to buy him a BB gun. The kid’s father was puzzled and asked him what the purpose of the gun would be. The kid responded that it was not for anything bad, that it was to shoot cats in the street. I walked away in disgust; I have no idea what the father responded. I noticed that we have made it acceptable for kids, especially boys to be cruel to animals. Society expects boys to exaggerate their masculinity and being cruel to animals is just part of the process. Early in the development of children, they learn that it is only natural for them to be cruel to animals and that their cruelty is acceptable because animals are inferior. Their pain is not similar to ours.

Duck:
I was immediately disturbed by Marjorie Spiegel’s words on the treatment of pets in The Dreaded Comparison. “Likewise, we might look at the relationship between a dog and his master, just one example of what is sometimes a modern slave/slave-owner relationship. The dog is considered by his owner to be a ‘good dog’ if he walks to heel, displays no great interest when nearing other dogs, doesn’t run except when allowed, doesn’t bark except when required, an has no emotional needs except when desired by the master” (768). Perhaps the key to Spiegel’s argument is the word “sometimes.” By focusing on the worst oppression of pet animals – dogs who spend their whole lives chained up so that it has severely limited mobility and extreme isolation, or dogs that suffer undue physical punishment at the hands of their masters – she perhaps willfully ignores cases where the relationship between animal and owner is mutually beneficial. Furthermore, she does not provide a reasonable alternative to the modern dog/dog-owner relationship. Surely she must understand the implications if the dog is to be without an owner; what one might call the reality of the situation. Even though ownership of another living being (a pet) replicates the oppressive mindset that links animal slavery to human slavery, it is perhaps a necessary evil. The dogs that I keep in my home would be kept in a tiny cage at the Anti-Cruelty Society and, if never found a home, would be put to sleep lonely and desperate.

Allie Cat:
Morrison writes that "there seems to be a more or less tacit agreement among literary scholars that, because American literature has been clearly the preserve of white male views, genius, and power, those views, genius, and power are without relationship to and removed from the overwhelming presence of black people in the United States" (5).She argues that the entire canon of American literature was, in fact, formed in response to this "dark, abiding, signing Africanist presence" (5). There emerged a "reflexive" black persona that allowed whites to examine their own fears and desires without having to acknowledge those feelings as their own. In other words, the contrast of blackness allowed white culture to face its own fear of freedom. Immigrants, colonists, Pilgrims, and refugees alike embraced the New World for its promise of freedom... but something so boundless and untameable is simultaneously scary. Change is not necessarily positive and success is not inevitable; what if they became failures and outcasts instead? Enslaved blacks offered a comforting contrast because they stood not only for the "not-free" but also for the "not-me" (38).

Panther:
After centuries of slavery, we were finally able to rid ourselves of this awful practice. It finally occurred to us that “blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor” (757). If we can abolish slavery then why can’t we show the same decency to animals? Perhaps it is something in our nature. “By viewing the experiences of animals –such as dogs and “milk cows”- through the lense of human slavery, we come to realize that master/slave relationships permeate our culture” (770). Human beings will always have a need to prove their superiority by ruling over some over creature. If it is not slaves or animals, then surely it will be something else. There will always be some sort of ruling class as long as humans are around.

Pelican:
“…from the disruption of self-regulated reproduction; to birth and the consequential destruction of the familial structure; throughout life and the many cruelties, such as vivisection and hunting, to which individuals are subjected”, from an outsider looking in, the way that humans regard and unjustly rule over animals is the same way that white Americans (as well as many others from other parts of the world) unjustly treated their slaves (770). It is difficult to come to terms with these similarities, which is why it is so easy for them to be overlooked. Remaining ignorant about difficult conclusions is a simple coping mechanism that has been utilized for centuries and is continuously being maintained today regarding the treatment of animals. “There are many disturbing similarities between their (slaves’) treatment at the hands of white people in the United States and the treatment of animals at the hands of a large sector of the American population”, yet it is being ignored daily (765).

Fox:
I believe that as a human race, we are, for the most part, disgusted with cruelty to animals when we are the ones being oppressive. We react to it in weird ways. Alice Walker writes, "And we are used to drinking milk from containers showing "contented" cows, whose real lives we want to hear nothing about, eating eggs and drumsticks from "happy" hens, and munching hamburgers advertised by bulls of integrity who seem to command their fate" (761) We lie to ourselves constantly about things like where the food we eat comes from. I think books like The Giving Tree have completely skewed our idea of survival. Thomas Hobbes, philosopher, writes that in a state of nature, life is nasty, brutish, and short. Life is not a pretty thing, but we like to put bright stickers and catchy slogans on our food to trick ourselves into thinking it was freely given. This is something that makes sense to me, but it is so strange to me at the same time. Eating is natural. We do it, animals do it. Everything does it. Why do we like to candy coat it so much?

Bear:
As an advocate for animal rights myself, I believe Alice Walker’s short story, Am I Blue?, deters readers from being persuaded to support animals. Instead, this story further polarizes readers into supporters and non-supporters with no grey area. If we are supporting Jeremy Benthem’s idea of Utilitarianism where “the proper end of all action is to achieve the greates happiness of the greatest number,” then this story is contradictory (756). I agree that Blue was not granted the greatest quality of life while living amongst his five acres alone and losing his friend Brown. It was the responsibility of his owners to insure that he was properly cared for daily so that he considered his comradary amongst other people and horses socially satisfying. However, to take the case of horse’s misfortune and apply it to all people of the equine industry is completely insane. Calling members of this industry “people who do not know that animals suffer,” is rather hypocritical coming from people who do not deal with horses on a daily basis (760). Communication and agriculture would never have advanced as it did without the domestication of the horse. Without them, the Mongols in Asia would never have been able to communicate across their vast empire and American settlers would have never been able to efficiently grow crops. One could argue that horses, as Blue, are not able to experience comradary amongst other horses and run free. However, human population has expanded into their territory so that their quality of life is greatest under domestication. You could argue that man has become the new friend to such domesticated animals as we share the same emotions with them as we do with human friends. Frederick Douglas accurately claims that "it should be the study of every farmer to make his horse his companion and friend, and to do this, there is but one rule, and that is, uniform sympathy and kindness" (783). Therefore, under Utilitarian principles, the domestication of horses has led to the greatest happiness.

Chill Cat:
Jeremy Benthem argues that, “A full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, a swell as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old.” (757) Fetuses, are treated with a higher regard and given more rights than that of animals before they ever breach. However, animals are not humans and the effect of speciesism places more value on a conglomeration of cells as opposed to a living, breathing animal. Alice Walker’s selection in “Am I Blue” had an proposes that people often forget themselves into a state of speciesism. Allowing that disconnect to occur that lets animals fall in the regard of humans. “I had forgotten that human animals and nonhuman animals can communicate quite well; if we are brought up around animals as children we take this for granted.” (760A) The inherent nature of a child who is cloaked in innocence is to regard the animal as an equal.

Orca:
Metaphorically speaking, this kind of slavery is still prevalent in the workplace and in people's minds.
People often assume that racism and slavery is over and has been over for nearly 60 years, but they could not be more incorrect. Just because they do not always witness it does not mean it is no longer taking place. Racism for example occurs everyday in many different forms. Young African American, Asian, Korean, and White persons are denied service at restaurants because of skin color; even if that is not the reason the restaurant owner gave them. My good friend, Michael, was denied service at a Luby’s once because he has a handkerchief around his left wrist. The owner stereotypically categorized him as a gang member and made him and his family, leave. Because of that one instance, “he had put up a barrier within to protect himself from further violence,” (761) or in this case public humiliation and abuse. Granted this happened many years ago so he has been able to grow from such a bitter experience, but he has not forgotten and will often not partake in activities in fear that he will stand out too much and be stared at by disrespectful, self absorbed, egoists. Although this was just a small instance of racism and stereotyping, slavery is something that happens every day. Now of course I do not mean literally, but figuratively. Young ethnic workers are often enslaved in their jobs and not given the opportunity to prosper. They get stuck in dead end jobs, based solely off of the color of their skin or the area they live. Now while the boss may not literally own the person, they do own the future and can dictate the direction it will travel with ease. By not giving these people the opportunity to grow, they are stripped of a “look of independence, of self possession, of inalienable [human] horseness.” (760)

Dolphin:
People learn about animal cruelty at a young age. I myself, as I’m sure many others have as well, wondered what it would be like if humans were the oppressed species. Would animals treat us the way we have treated them? It’s evident that they can feel pain of varying degrees. But would they have sympathy for humans or would they be our “masters” and humans be the oppressed. “…in Blue’s large brown eyes was a new look, more painful than the look of despair; the look of disgust with human beings, with life; the look of hatred.” (Walker 761)
I have had pets all my life. I thought I was providing a good life for them and that we were companions. I never considered myself their “master.” At least not until I read Spiegel’s The Dreaded Comparison and saw the definitions of racism and speciesism and saw how similar they are. The major part they have in common is that “…has the right to rule and use others.” (Spiegel 762) Reading this I realized that I am their master, whether I like it or not. I do prioritize that I am more important than they are. At least, until recently with my poor Ashes. But otherwise it is true. They “were torn from their mother’s arm soon after they were weaned, to be kept…as a pet.” (Spiegel 771) It pains me that I have taken part in the relationship between the oppressor and oppressed. The only idea I can hope for is that the life I have provided for them is a life of, while limited, freedom; free from pain, brutality, and slavery. My only hope is that they understand that I care for them, feel for them, want them to be happy and that I love them.

Rabbit
"By viewing the experiences of animals - such as dogs and 'milk cows' - through the lens of human slavery, we come to realize that master/slave relationships permeate our culture" (770). This attitude is what gave slave owners the "right" to break apart families and take children away from their mothers. "In the eyes of the white slave-holders, black people were 'just animals'" (771). These obvious callous acts can be compared to what happened to the horse Blue in Am I Blue by Alice Walker. When Blue made a connection with the brown horse that came to visit, he was crushed whenever she simple disappeared. "The children next door explained that Blue's partner has been 'put with him' (the same expression that old people used, I had noticed, when speaking of ancestor slavery who had been impregnated by her owner)" (760). And much like humans, Blue experienced much grief that his partner was taken from him