PETA And Racial Appropriation

TransGriot Note: I just had a feeling the editrix of Womanist Musings would be putting PETA on blast for their latest racial hijinks (snicker, snicker) and shady behavior.   And now, Renee's take on it. 

PeTA has a terrible record when it comes to marginalized bodies.  From dressing up as the KKK, to employing the slogan "Are animals the new slaves," whenever possible, they have appropriated freely from Blacks. PeTA currently has a new exhibit across from the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

The six double-sided panel display exhibits images of animal cruelty next to images of human cruelty. One panel includes Dr. Martin Luther King’s quote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and some images show elephants in shackles and overcrowded conditions for pigs and animals next to images of Blacks in similar conditions.

A PETA spokeswoman told BET.com "that the goal of the exhibit is not to equate nonhuman animals with African-Americans" but "to compare the oppression of certain groups of people in the past to the continued oppression of animals today. It points to the terrible level of suffering that has been inflicted upon various individuals throughout our history and points out some of the cruelty that still goes on in society today. PETA's message is that oppression is wrong, regardless of the race, gender, age, nationality or species of the victims," wrote PETA's communications director in an email. (source)

Uh huh, they didn't mean to refer to African Americans, and they just accidentally chose a quote from an African American civil rights leader.  How can anyone possibly give PeTA the benefit of the doubt given their history of racist actions?  They were absolutely making an analogy to the African American history of slavery and the struggle for civil rights. When Dr. King said those words, he was not speaking animals, he was speaking about the historical state of inequality between Blacks and Whites.

I will not deny that the condition of slaughter houses are horrendous, but the very idea that it can and should be compared to something as horrific as slavery, Jim Crow, etc., is not only racist, it is ridiculous.  By juxtaposing these ideas, they are suggesting that Blacks are the equivalent of animals, a suggestion by the way perpetuated by Whiteness to justify the outright inhuman oppression that they have historically engaged in. I know that biologically speaking we are all animals, but only people of colour have historically been labelled animals to justify White supremacy.

PeTA seems to feel that because their cause is just, that any damage that they do is unimportant.  After all, who could possibly object to wanting better treatment for defenseless animals?  Celebrities jump on board, because this seems like a harmless cause to support, and by doing so, they ignore that PeTA routinely attacks the most marginalized members of society to push their agenda. 

PeTA's goal is for humane treatment for animals and ironically, they often behave in the most inhumane manner.  No matter how many times marginalized people have spoken out against their tactics, they continue onward, because for them we are just the othered remnants of society.  You cannot fight hierarchy by perpetuating hierarchy, and this is a lesson PeTA has yet to learn.  Though there are members of PeTA that are undoubtedly of colour, their leadership, like many organizations is White. This is specifically why they refuse to recognize the damage that they have done to people of colour.  If you don't have to face the consequences for your actions, what is to stop you from continuing to harm beyond a personal conscience? This is why I can say without a doubt that PeTA is a white supremacist, heterosexist, cissexist, sexist, organization and anyone who supports them, is not defending the rights of animals, but defending the right to oppress at will.

The Dishonourable Rev Jesse Is Set To Lead A Tea Party Rally

TransGriot Note:  I wrote about this cookie chomping Knee-grow in one of my Saturday Sellout posts, and the editrix of Womanist Musings had the displeasure of being a guest on his talk radio show.   She takes another whack at her least favorite sellout.

Every community has their sell outs and as far as I am concerned, when it comes to Black folks, Jesse Lee Peterson is high on that list.  This is a man who after all went on Fox News and declared that 90% of all Blacks hate White people.  This man is so concerned what the massa is going to think in the big house that he forgets that he is Black.  Perhaps, on some level he believes if he sells out enough that Whiteness will make him an honorary White person, but what this uncle Thomas has yet to figure out that he is just another person in the long line of useful tools.  Of course Whites going to sit contentedly to hear him bash Blacks.  It affirms their White supremacy after all, but nothing that Peterson says or does will ever change the fact that he is Black.

It his latest act of house negro antics, the less than honourable, self made reverend is going to lead a Tea Party march. 

'LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The newly formed black led South Central L.A. Tea Party group will hold a major rally to expose the lies and misinformation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) during its102nd annual convention in Los Angeles on July 24. The purpose of the rally is to bring attention to the failed liberal big government agenda of the NAACP and to expose their lies and hypocrisy on race issues.

Who: South Central L.A. Tea Party
What: Rally to expose the failed big government agenda and lies of the NAACP
When: Sunday, July 24, 2011, from 2-4 p.m.
Where:1201 S Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 (Outside the L.A. Convention Center- West Hall).

"The NAACP is a tool of the Obama administration," said founding member and President of BOND Action, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson. He added, "For decades, this group has supported left-wing policies which have created dependency, destroyed black families, and hurt race relations." Rev. Peterson cited the following examples:

• NAACP spreading lies about the Tea Party movement. NAACP has made numerous false allegations of 'racism' against the Tea Party movement, but has yet to provide a shred of evidence backing up their baseless claims.
  
• Support for failing public schools and unions. The NAACP has aligned itself with the United Federation of Teachers to block 22 of the worst performing schools in New York City from being shut down. This has put them at odds with thousands of black parents in Harlem who support replacing these failing public schools with charter schools.
  
• NAACP's hypocrisy on crime and race. The NAACP has remained silent while black thugs attack white Americans and commit crimes in flash mobs across the country -- but
  NAACP President Benjamin Jealous says he's "deeply concerned” with the lack of black news anchors on Television. 
  
• The NAACP supports black genocide. As an ally of Planned Parenthood and abortion on demand, the NAACP has aided and abetted in the death of some 15 million black babies since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.

This event is open to all Tea Party supporters and like-minded patriots of all races."

I think what galls me the most is that he had the nerve to accuse the NAACP of supporting Black genocide.  This from a man who does not care about Black people except how we can be perverted and oppressed enough to serve Whiteness.  The high abortion weight of Black women has everything to do with the fact that we are living in a White supremacist state.  With good sex education as well as services to help women keep their children perhaps it would not be an issue today.  I fail to see how supporting a woman's right to choose is supporting genocide and furthermore, since what they are aborting is embryos it hardly rises to the level of genocide.  If Black women were running around Black babies who were fully capable of living outside of their mothers bodies, then, and only then would this asshat have a point.


Having this rally in South Central is yet another extreme example of how far Peterson is willing to go to have his head patted by massa. South Central L.A. has long been hotbed of racial animosity specifically because of police violence (Rodney King and the Watts riots everyone), a lack of jobs, as well as the introduction of crack cocaine by the White supremacist government to help stall community improvement projects and Black self help groups. 

Say what you will about the original Black Panthers, but they gave Black kids free breakfast programs and figures to look up to who were proud of being Black -- that is until the government systematically hunted them.

If the NAACP were about supporting White hegemony, this fool would be all over it.  As it is there principals center around the improvement of Black lives and this is threatening to a man that has based his entire existence on shucking and jiving. Every single complaint the NAACP made about the Tea Party is absolutely correct and each day the Tea Party adds to the list of complaints. 

Just recently the hideous Michelle Bachman decided to declare that the Black family was better off in slavery, and yet we are to believe that this party isn't racist?

Jesse Lee Peterson is a reflection of a sickness within our community.  He has internalized racism to the point where he can only see the point of view of Whiteness.  Some would argue that he is a profit mongering sell out who cannot possibly believe all of the vile things he claims to support, but it is my belief that this is a case of denial.  It may be hundreds of years since the end of slavery but unfortunately there are still Blacks walking around with a slave mentality.