Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Does the mainstream vegan movement have a race problem?
Position1 of 2›

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.

Supporting arguments · 9

  1. White vegans act as saviours, as opposed to allies
    Saviourism de-centers non-human animals and centers the voices of humans. Their focus on certian animals erases the struggles of others and means that humans are choosing who's struggle (voice) should count. This in itself can be rooted in speciesist, ableist and patriarchal thinking and practice.
  2. Mainstream veganism upholds harmful beauty standards
    Mainstream veganism is eurocentric and perpetuates fatphobia by centering health and weightloss as opposed to work that is sensitive about body shaming
  3. White vegans frequently employ narratives that perpetuate hierarchical ideas about intelligence and capacity
    This sort of thinking is characteristic of eugenic theory and biological determinism
  4. Vegans need to check their privalege when making assumptions about others
  5. Vegans are in a state of denial when it comes to understanding flaws within their own community
  6. Vegans cuturally appropriate content and ideas and rarely give appropriate credit
  7. Vegans need to take a stance on Indigenous rights
  8. 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
  9. Influencers with the largest reach tend to be white