- Question
Does the mainstream vegan movement have a race problem?
In influencer circles advocating for a vegan lifestyle, some have suggested the group is not representative of the larger world. And beyond that may even be racist. Is this the case? Or is vegan advocacy a safe space for all?
White supremacy is embedded in mainstream veganism
This position holds that white supremacy is embedded in mainstream veganism. Its arguments say prominent white advocates speak from unexamined privilege, appropriate non-Western food cultures without credit, centre white beauty standards, and overlook Indigenous food rights.
- Vegans have no issue tokenising BLM or the Holocaust when it suits them, whilst claiming "the intersectional approach is apologist" when asked to confront their own views and bias
- Vegans are in a state of denial when it comes to understanding flaws within their own community
- White vegans act as saviours, as opposed to allies
- Vegans cuturally appropriate content and ideas and rarely give appropriate credit
- Mainstream veganism upholds harmful beauty standards
- White vegans frequently employ narratives that perpetuate hierarchical ideas about intelligence and capacity
- Vegans need to check their privalege when making assumptions about others
- Vegans need to take a stance on Indigenous rights
- Influencers with the largest reach tend to be white
Vegan spaces are safe and accessable for all
This position holds that vegan spaces are safe and accessible for all. It argues veganism is too diverse to call racist wholesale, that racism contradicts its compassionate ethic, that such accusations are divisive infighting, and that centring human-rights debates risks sidelining the animal cause.