this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
73 points (100.0% liked)

vegan

6867 readers
20 users here now

:vegan-liberation:

Welcome to /c/vegan and congratulations on your first steps toward overcoming liberalism and ascending to true leftist moral superiority.

Rules

Resources

Animal liberation and direct action

Read theory, libs

Vegan 101 & FAQs

If you have any great resources or theory you think belong in this sidebar, please message one of the comm's mods

Take B12. :vegan-edge:

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
73
Calling Veganism "White" Feels a Lot Like Calling Anti-Zionism Antisemitic (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I’ve heard many Jewish anti-Zionists express discomfort with the idea that opposing Zionism is inherently antisemitic because it implies that being Jewish requires supporting genocide. To them, that’s the truly antisemitic notion.

As a Black vegan, I feel the same discomfort when people claim that respecting animals is a "white" thing. That framing indirectly suggests that POC are more supportive of animal oppression than white people, which is, frankly, racist.

The truth is, every culture, white or otherwise, has been shaped by human supremacy. But if we're talking more specifically about plant-based dieting, the cultures that have adhered to it as tradition the most are not white, e.g., religious tendencies like Jainism and Rastafarianism.

And let’s not forget who industrialized and globalized animal agriculture for maximum profit: colonizers. If anything, Western imperialism is what has exacerbated animal exploitation.

all 25 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 34 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Literally all the ppl I've seen complain about white veganism or privileged vegans have been white. Like I'm sure there are plenty of POC making this claim, and as a white person I'll sit and listen, but it feels overly silly for white carnists to make this.

I can't stop repeating the claim that all the research I've seen shows that lower income people are more likely to go vegan, and rich people are less likely. Posh people are going to be more selfish. In my experience they don't stick with veganism as well, and it's more often tied to a short-term health fad.

Edit: I forgot the "black people are 3 times more likely to be vegan" headline. I think it says a lot that marginalised groups go vegan faster than the dominant social groups do.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago

Yeah, my poor, Black ass has been eating a lot of black/refried bean + vegetable tacos as of late... treats me well, and I can't afford shit...

Also, as far as the thing about the POC calling veganism "white" or "privileged" goes, it's more often than not still just as disingenuous as white non-vegans doing so. Trust me, the number who have called me "self-hating" and "racist," falsely labeled me as "white" or "privileged" because of online anonymity, and accused me of "upholding white supremacy" simply because I unapologetically oppose animal oppression can't even be entirely counted on both hands.

It's good to listen to them, but you don't have to take it seriously if their words are deeply unserious, honestly. It's utter rubbish in most instances, similar to how a Zionist being Jewish doesn't make them crying "antisemitism!" any more valid.

Anti-vegan POC remind me of a toxic trend that I feel like the left often ignores even in the context of human justice movements: acting like being marginalized automatically means you cannot be an oppressor, the false notion that being oppressed and an oppressor are mutually exclusive. Since I'm intersectional, I've seen this type of thinking exploited way too much in contexts like white women being racist, Black straight people being homophobic, and gay people being transphobic. People inadvertently end up giving it a pass because too many on the left think in this simplistic "oppressor or oppressed" false dichotomy that makes them scared to criticize these things, especially when the bigotry is more implicit. It's the same thing with marginalized anti-vegans, but in this case, their oppression is directed at non-human animals instead.

That being said, there are absolutely white vegans who are racist, and I've interacted with them directly. However, the general rule of thumb that you can adhere to is, if the person complaining about a trend of vegans being racist is not both a POC and a vegan, it may be disingenuous. And even then, you can't be entirely sure. I've heard vegans of color call certain things in the vegan movement "racist" that I wholeheartedly disagree with them on.

Another analogy I like to use is that non-vegan POC complaining about "white veganism" or "racist veganism" is on the same level as Candace Owens hypothetically complaining about "white feminism" specifically.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Writing off veganism as "White" is just a way for carnists to attack the messenger instead of critically engaging with the moral and ethical positions espoused by vegans. Said positions are clearly and obviously correct, a fact which gives carnists tummy aches, so it makes sense that carnists want to shift the terrain of debate

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

It’s almost funny to me, the idea that veganism is white when the systems that are allowing carnists to consume animals are explicitly built off of the back of oppressing racial minorities with many examples like the destruction of rain forests for the raising of cows and the terrible working conditions for minorities in factory farms. And that’s not even to mention things like COVID’s disproportionate impact on minorities

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, it's the same thing when they accuse vegans of having self-righteousness or a "superiority complex."

On that note, I find that such a take is really just projection to the highest degree.

Vegans don't typically say they're "morally superior" unironically; that's shit that non-vegans just bring up with no rational foundation for it because, in their mind, they're saying "You don't oppress animals? Damn, that must make you think you're superior to me because not oppressing animals is far better than oppressing animals," so they respond accordingly.

Additionally, non-vegans obviously exert a sense of superiority over non-human animals. They also can't imagine veganism being for totally non-selfish reasons, so they assume that the opposition to animal exploitation is an unauthentic "mask" for why someone is vegan over their "true" reason (which they are assuming is smugness and "moral superiority").

Like you said, it helps them cope by attacking character rather than giving actual consideration to opposing animal exploitation.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

It's always them asking, incredulously, why you are vegan, and if you say it's for ethical reasons then they get mad at you as if you were preaching unprompted. Just seeking validation to not do anything about their nagging doubts.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I mean they also call socialist/marxist "angry white kids" and make it "a white ideology", when in fact the vast majority of marxist today arent.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Galling when white dipshits online comment about "tankies" being a "white thing" but will praise (for virtue and aesthetic purposes) the BPP and similar movements like...motherfucker they're tankies by any definition!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Mindless attacking something by just saying it’s “white” is usually A.) projection or B.) an admission that no other legitimate criticism of it exists.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The majority of the world's vegans are in India, so it's really silly to think veganism is a "whites only" thing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The majority of the world's vegans are in India

Are they? Is that more or less weird given that India has the one of the largest dairy markets by total consumption?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

These are not necessarily mutually exclusive

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

For sure, I just can't decide if it makes more or less sense that a high-milk-consumption country would produce more vegans. I would have thought the the incredible popularity of vegetarianism there would maybe discourage that, but idk

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

India is also where the Jain religion comes from which ~~is vegan~~ encourages veganism and has vegan sects. Indian has a lot of different cultures so even though it is often thought of as a Hindu place which consumes dairy, there is a lot more diversity than is obvious from the outside.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Its lots of vegans cos its lots of people. India is huge at like 1.4 bil pop. Proportion of population that are vegans internet says 9%. So of course dairy consumption is gonna be huge for those in the non vegan camp....

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago

Defining things based on the so-called race of the people doing it feels a lot like applying gender to inanimate objects

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago

Tell that to tumblr commies. They'll put out theory and effort posts wasted on that dead ass community, then turn around and shit on veganism for being USamerican, or really any reason to make them feel better.

And yeah it's not even true. Most vegans aren't white by a mile. It's like saying only tankies are white westerners when the great majority are uh obviously not that

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago

REAL Fellow POC vegan reporting in 07

I can credit my veganism largly to the fact that my mom and I already ate mostly vegan, as that was what she ate like as a rual Chinese person, when i started learning about animal agriculture in my tenage years. She was super receptive to it and having the support of your parent when you are still a kid is huge for actually being able to be vegan before you really can make your own choices about food. Now, as an adult, being vegan requires zero extra thought or effort since those habbits have been built since adolescence.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Luckily, I've never heard anyone call veganism white, but my sister knows someone who is anti-vax and a massive supporter of Israel but a vegan because she "doesn't support suffering" and that's gotta be some kind of white veganism.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

many Orthodox fasts are traditionally fully vegan, and it's a more modern development that people are instad making the focus on gorging on meat in advance.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

“Don’t call me white” but it’s about veganism