White Supremacy and Veganism

Despite the fact that the vegan movement is largely supported and advanced by people of color, mainstream veganism has become overwhelmingly white and inaccessible. The country with the most vegetarians in the world is actually India, but despite this, in western media, vegans and vegetarians are represented by a certain aesthetic, which tends to be predominantly young, attractive, and more often than not, white. This encourages “selling” plant-based living as a cool trend to hop on, rather than acknowledging that rooted in core cultural/traditional values, it’s about respect for animals and people alike. All too often, white veganism is complicit in maintaining white supremacy in both our food system and the world at large. Some examples of how mainstream veganism continues to uphold white supremacy:

It is time for activists to put the core values of veganism, and those who uphold them, at the forefront of their advertising. Veganism is not a single-issue movement. It is not just about animal rights, nor is it just about the climate. Being against speciesism must go hand in hand with fighting climate change and all other systems of oppression. Veganism must be intersectional because the liberation of non-human animals is connected to the liberation of all living beings on Earth. The first step on the path toward intersectional veganism is recognizing that we cannot fight speciesism in a vacuum. Presenting human and animal rights as competing interests is not only unproductive, it is also not based on reality. As intersectional vegans, we must seek to continuously highlight the interconnectedness of these struggles, and work toward dismantling all systems of oppression. It is our responsibility to acknowledge the racism we tolerate and perpetuate in our own community. We must dismantle white supremacy in all its iterations, including in our food systems.

To make your veganism more intersectional, return to the reason why you went vegan in the first place:

If you went vegan because you learned about the horrible conditions for workers in slaughterhouses, don’t forget about people who pick and grow plant-based foods. Remember that just because it’s vegan, does not mean that it is necessarily cruelty-free.

Taking a stand against white supremacy in veganism can look like:

To end this post, just remember that vegan consumerism will not lead to animal liberation, especially not for those whose habitats are also threatened by climate change. By living a vegan lifestyle, we have already begun the hard work of questioning how our food is made and where it comes from, but this work does not stop at meat production. Our activism cannot stop at boycotting animal agriculture. because that alone will not end speciesism. There is no one-and-done solution to the broader issues in our food system, but we have to continuously make the strides that we can toward harm-reduction on all fronts (#progressoverperfection).

On a final note, always be compassionate and extend the same care and sympathy that you do toward farm animals to other humans and to yourself!

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