"Race"

L'INTRO FRANÇAIS : Je le trouve très intéressant de voir comment nous choisissons nos mots en général, et en bonnes sociologue, specifiquement autour de l'inégalite. Pour ce petit "post" j'aborderai le langage français autour de la question de "race" sur les êtres. Encore un petit mot sur l'animalité et l'inégalité entre êtres humains et animaux, mais bon, c'est un grand problème dans le monde aujourd'hui qui doit absolument pris en compte !

And now for ENGLISH:

There is Only One Human Race

In my sociological studies here in France, I have come to realize very interesting subtleties surrounding the word "race." In fact, in France, using the word race to denote an ethnicity of a human is not only rude but quite simply not said. In sociological work and study, however, if you want to specifically use the word race as it is meant in English, it is necessary to put the word in quotation marks. (A feminist author Colette Guillaumin made something of a scandal when she chose to simply capitalize 'race' rather than put it in quotes). The French explain the word choice by saying, "Il n'y a qu'une race chez nous: l'être humain !" meaning approximately "There is only race amongst us : the human being!" In spite of continual struggles of identity and somewhat worrisome discussions on the 'immigration problem' thanks to Sarkozy, I personally find this word choice to be a major success. We still have denigrating words put towards people of different ethnicities and cultures, but quite frankly, the fact that there is no "human race" is beautiful.

Animal Races

However, even amongst animals, we see the objectification and inequality launched upon animals in that in the French language, people often use the word "race" to denote "species." "A good race of cow, that makes for a delicious meat.." etc. Though I am not suggesting that there isn't a variation of species in the order Animalia outside of human beings, I'm highlighting the curiousness in using the word race is used rather than species in the French language for animals yet there is a conscious abstinence from the use of 'race' respecting human beings. Moreover, the word racisme (le racisme) exists in French to denote injustice towards individuals of other ethnicities. The weight and the violence of the word race is very evident in the French language, yet finds its way into discussions of animality. Interesting how four letters can mean so much.

Seeing

Marilyn Frye, a famous feminist author, once said the following about realizing one's oppression:

Consider a birdcage. If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires…It is only when you step back, stop looking at the wires one by one, microscopically, and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere.[1]

While vegan activism is definitely the most important to me (because there appears to be such a dearth of vegan activists) taking my africana studies class and this women's studies class reminds me just how important all these systems of oppression are to tackle. As a sociology major, I'm quite literally a student of inequality. At this moment in time I feel so stretched across the vast abyss of inequality, pulled in all directions, constantly shifting between these different political campaigns and it's often so hard to tie them all together. I am passionate but unable to mobilize.

I am critical of the radical vegan activists who tie all social oppression together, who recognize the ways in which all of the following themes can create inequality: gender, sex, sexuality, poverty, race, class, age, ability. The problem is that although this is true, to use all of these rather strong radical political stances all at once dissuades the average listener from hearing. In reality, we are forced to normalize ourselves in an effort to gain coverage from the media and the average passerby. Given the massive budgets behind meat advertising, we have to make our voices be heard as much as possible.

So I am finding myself in this strange crevice, this strange space of social inequality overwhelm, where my radical feminist politics can never cross with my radical animal rights efforts, except perhaps amongst already radical folks. Where my critiques of current economic structures cannot find its way into these campaigns, for fear of overwhelming the average listener with more than one non-conventional notion at a time. Too much new and we shut down, after all.

But there's definitely something about all this that hurts. Something that hurts about only being able attack one inequality at a time, an impatience, a hunger for change, a need for change that drives me mad. I want to be able to fight against gender norms, against horrendous foreign aid programs, against AR-abusers, but I simply can't get past the fact that it's not efficient to overlap my efforts.

I see the wires of the cage,

but I can't see how they all work together.

How can I break the cage ?

There are way too many birds in here,

and time is running out.

We've gotta get out.

source

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[1] Marilyn Frye, The Politics of Reality: essays in feminist theory. Crossing Press: Freedom, California, 1983; pps 2-7

Cercle de Silence à Paris (Place des Innocents) par OneVoice

Circle of Silence

for Animals Exploited by the Fur Industry

for info on the action, check out OneVoice's website

For information on the egregious methods of the fur industry, please check out this brief factsheet.