122 Responding to DxE’s Oppressive Activism-Gone-Wrong Video
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Facebook was abuzz recently over a Facebook Live video filmed by Chase Avior of Direct Action Everywhere that documented him and another person conducting an oppressive and antagonistic “action” in front of The Otheroom in Venice, CA. The action ended with avoidable violence and highlights exactly why a pro-intersectional approach to activism is so crucial in the animal rights movement.In This Episode
Content Warning: white privilege putting people of color in danger, antagonizing violent action, violence This week we talk about the recent Facebook Live video by Chase Avior and other members of DxE who decided to do a spontaneous action on the patrons of The Otheroom in Venice, CA; an action that ended with easily avoidable violence and potential danger to several people of color. This video encapsulates exactly the reasons why ALL activism, animal rights and otherwise, needs to be pro-intersectional. These two participants use their white privilege to bully and endanger several people of color, all for an action against an establishment which doesn’t even serve food. Facebook post with edited and original-length videos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/arzone/permalink/10155309323096457/ Joke in the Middle:A sandwich walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender says…
Links and Information
News- There are Diseases Hidden in Ice and They are Waking Up (BBC)
- Activist Not Charged for Giving Pigs Water (One Green Planet)
- Agriculture Secretary Pushes Milk Back Into Schools (VegNews)
- Lunch-Shaming Children for Parents Outstanding School Bills (NY Times)
- The [White Savior] Elephant in the Room: Ally Theater, Savior Complex, and Speaking for “The Other”(Sistah Vegan): Dr. Breeze Harper and Christopher Sebastian discuss white animal rights activists joining the movement potentially to advocate for beings that can’t tell them they are doing it wrong. Lots of food for thought here, highly recommend everyone read this!
10 comments
The method (showing videos) is not necessarily the issue, imo, but rather *how* activists have utilized this method that’s incredibly problematic. We can think of activists in masks showing footage on the street and I think most of us would probably say that’s okay. The racism on this video is SO gross but nonetheless surprising: if your organization is rooted on false ideologies (like the civil rights movement was only successful because it was ‘nonviolent’) and when leadership cannot be held accountable because the structure is so hierarchical (despite the buzz words they create to gain donations like ‘decentralized), and when collective only focuses on one oppression (in this case speciesism)… what do we expect? Spitting has a fucked up racist connotation. #ICantEven