PeTA Activists dressing as KKK members?

Yeah, you didn't read it wrong. In another desperate grab for attention Peta resort to dressing as racist extremists in order to attempt to draw a line between the Ku Klux Klan and the Kennel Club :confused:

This parallel is neither obvious, nor is it of any help. Well done once again for the absolute absurd behavior.

How does making yourself look like a racist help animals? :mad:

This is real insensitive and disrespectful toward anyone who have been attacked or have relatives who have been attacked by the likes of the KKK.

Articles here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-...-protest_N.htm

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unle...rotests-w.html


http://i.usatoday.net/sports/_photos...2/09/petax.jpg

Case closed.

They don't speak for me.

Most know how I feel bout Peta.

This just compounds that.

hmmmm....

Wow. I've seen my share of PETA, but this still shocks me. I am so, so, so, SO glad I decided a long time ago not to apply for an internship there.

What's wrong with linking one "evil" with another? Unless it's the dressing up that has people upset. Plus, the KKK doesn't attack people. They are a legit organization that doesn't support hate crimes. Surely some members have gone against that, but that's not the point. (Besides, this took place in New York. I doubt anyone who passed them on the street happened to have a hate crime done against them by someone who happened to be in the KKK...in New York.)

The parallel seems obvious to me, that breedism=racism. KKK is the most recognizable symbol of racism.

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snivelingchild

What's wrong with linking one "evil" with another? Unless it's the dressing up that has people upset. Plus, the KKK doesn't attack people. They are a legit organization that doesn't support hate crimes. Surely some members have gone against that, but that's not the point. (Besides, this took place in New York. I doubt anyone who passed them on the street happened to have a hate crime done against them by someone who happened to be in the KKK...in New York.)

The parallel seems obvious to me, that breedism=racism. KKK is the most recognizable symbol of racism.

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It doesn't just matter what's obvious to you. The audience matters. If I were a target of the KKK's discrimination or whatever it is they do or have done, I would not want to walk around and see anyone dressed up as them. Imagine what a symbol of horror this must be to so many people. You can't just ignore other people's trauma on the basis that it "seems obvious to [you]." I remember the juxtaposition of black people being hanged with a slaughterhouse cow hanging from a rope. It seems to make sense until you put yourself into the shoes of people who have been called "animal" all their lives as a derogatory term. You think you are showing how obviously bad slavery and discriminatory killing is, but in fact they see the complete opposite: you are showing how right slavery and discriminatory killing is.

Show me a single person in New York that trembles at the site of a KKK robe. We make fun of them. They're like Nazis. Who the hell in new york would have an experience with the KKK? Do you even know what they do or where they are?

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snivelingchild

Show me a single person in New York that trembles at the site of a KKK robe. We make fun of them. They're like Nazis. Who the hell in new york would have an experience with the KKK? Do you even know what they do or where they are?

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so the most visited city in the Usa won't have tourists?

And "they're like Nazis" is an awful comparison to make. They're quite different.

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snivelingchild

Show me a single person in New York that trembles at the site of a KKK robe. We make fun of them. They're like Nazis. Who the hell in new york would have an experience with the KKK? Do you even know what they do or where they are?

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Please read this article by Vegans of Color.
http://vegansofcolor.wordpress.com/2...ts-as-the-kkk/

Do you even know what racism is?

It seems like it must be much easier to "make fun of them" given your skin color. Also, how can you claim to speak for all New Yorkers?

If I saw those PeTA members, I'd think they really were the KKK.

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bryzee86

And "they're like Nazis" is an awful comparison to make. They're quite different.

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Good point. If they were like Nazis, they'd really be scary. The Nazis did as bad to humans as what factory farms do to other species. There's a reason that replication of the Nazi symbol was forbidden in my school district - even a majority-white school in Texas with almost no black people could figure out the problems surrounding such symbols.

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snivelingchild

We make fun of them. They're like Nazis.

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Here in Europe we have had far less occasion to laugh at Nazis for some reason.

Also, your two replies sound a little like a mitigation of the KKK, I'm sure that isn't what you meant.

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snivelingchild

Plus, the KKK doesn't attack people. They are a legit organization that doesn't support hate crimes. Surely some members have gone against that, but that's not the point.

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snivelingchild

Show me a single person in New York that trembles at the site of a KKK robe.

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The KKK have since their inception been a vile, violent, racist organisation. Recently, they have attempted to disinfect themselves and become more "mainstream".


Classic PeTA. Once again they have treated a subject like an "in-joke", WE all get it but the people it's aimed at probably are appalled and bewildered in equal measure, further decreasing any credibility PeTA may have on important issues.

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snivelingchild

Show me a single person in New York that trembles at the site of a KKK robe. We make fun of them. They're like Nazis. Who the hell in new york would have an experience with the KKK? Do you even know what they do or where they are?

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So on that basis and following your logic, I can go to a sothern state such as oh I don't know lets say Alabama and dress up as Adolf Hitler and start goose stepping around to attempt to draw a line between the animal testing at Board of Trustees University in Birmingham and the experimentation on humans and animals performed by the Nazi's.

Given that there is not a large Jewish population in Alabama (0.2%) no one would take offense right?

I quite liked this comment on the Vegans of Color blog:

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PETA’s myopic, single issue liberalism is nothing but privilege at its finest (or worst, I suppose.)

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Got to think that if the Peta people had been on the receiving end of serious racism (or sexism) themselves, then they would probably be less keen to use use their paraphernalia in larky publicity stunts :mad:

i agree with the point made about it being an 'in joke' - yes, vegans 'get it', we don't see a huge difference (if any) between what the KKK/Nazis, whoever you like do to humans, and what is being done to non-humans, BUT yes i also agree, most 'people on the street' won't even try to look beyond the costumes (sadly) :(.

Just more 'evidence' for non-vegans that people who care about non-humans are all 'extremists' :rollseyes_ani:.

and really, wtf is funny about the Nazis? :confused:.

I'm sure that there are still a great number of people alive today whose lives have been affected horrendously by the KKK, and so there could have been no doubt that this one was really going to offend. Of course this isn't about people being frightened, and it would be belittling to suggest this.

I'm sorry to repeat other posts, but this really did spring to mind while I was reading the article; yes, people interested in the rights and protection of animals would be very likely to understand what Peta were trying to say here, but the general 'person-on-the-street' would have probably taken great offence and spend little or no time considering the intended message.

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cobweb

Just more 'evidence' for non-vegans that people who care about non-humans are all 'extremists' :rollseyes_ani:.

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Bingo.

I'd be scared for their own safety.

From a distance you just see KKK members giving out flyers.

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Sarabi

It seems like it must be much easier to "make fun of them" given your skin color. Also, how can you claim to speak for all New Yorkers?

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Ever seen Chappelle Show? I am born and raised in a black majority area. I live in the fucking ghetto. I was raised in black culture, with black friends. My high school was 80% black. Yeah, Nazis and KKK are made fun of all the time. I think I know a bit about racism, living in South Louisiana. I've known people who sit around talking about how much they hate niggers. I'm not able to speak lightly of KKK because I'm white. That's just fucking laughable if you actually knew me.

I also think dressing as a Nazi in Alabama would be fine. We do it for Halloween all the time. If anyone actually took SERIOUS personal offense from that, they don't have a sense of humor.

If anyone judges people sitting at a booth giving out flyer without seeing what they have to say, they're freakin shallow. Today on campus, boys in suits gave out flowers. They were abstinence flyers. (next to the table of girl giving out condoms.)

I do have more intricate points to make, but have to go to work.

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I also think dressing as a Nazi in Alabama would be fine. We do it for Halloween all the time. If anyone actually took SERIOUS personal offense from that, they don't have a sense of humor.

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Speechless.

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snivelingchild

Ever seen Chappelle Show?

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Funniest sh1t on TV imo.

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Prawnil

Speechless.

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exactly my thoughts - Sniv, you don't like it when people make comments about the KKK and i know you live in the deep south - but spare a thought for some of us who had family killed by the Nazis, or killed trying to stop their genocide :amazed_ani:. You can get arrested in many areas for impersonating a Nazi in public.

sniv do you literally mean Nazis - or do you mean modern day 'neo Nazis'?

Hitler's Nazis. I guess our cultures are just different, but Nazis are made fun of all the time. War time cartoons from WWII had cartoon characters doing the goose step. It was humiliating the enemy. I think it's important to be able to laugh about the horrible things in life. Otherwise we'd never survive them.

That's why I thought it was so weird when it was a scandal that the prince dressed as a Nazi. I had no idea there was a law against it.

I grew up in an environment where black dudes at school would pull their white t-shirt over their heads all the time and make fun of KKK. I think this kind of humor is important. Focusing on things like this as "racism" takes away from the real racism that still happens. Don't get upset because someone feels a need to ridicule people who are so twisted they treat people based on their skin. Get upset when a kid gets beat for it, or doesn't get a job for it. I see the same thing with sexism. Getting too sensitive over things that aren't actually discriminatory diminishes focus on things that are.

In my experience, it is people who experience racism the least who are the most over-sensitive about racism. (completely a speculatory opinion of course)

American culture on Nazis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ3AOmZ2fps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZiRiIpZVF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bljjn5SGvKI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmTihetNinI

American culture on KKK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgqoczYC_fk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79mQar9S_t8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJkHykGRXrw
I found this one fucking hilarious; I LOVE crank dat paradies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDlaYyiffd0
I can't find the Chappelle Show sketch, but he does this hilarious sketch as a blind black man who is the leader of a KKK branch. He has no idea he's black.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

I found it:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ch...ter/3907642761
I also found this an interesting read on the subject:
http://www.holocaust-trc.org/holocaust_humor.htm

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snivelingchild

I can't find the Chappelle Show sketch, but he does this hilarious sketch as a blind black man who is the leader of a KKK branch. He has no idea he's black.

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Now THAT's funny. I love that sketch. Waaaaat Powa!
The Monty Python sketch of on the run Nazi heirarchy after the was in a small boarding house in Minhead, Somerset is also funny to me.
[youtube]sVxM5IBLeU4[/youtube]

The use of humour rather than potentially misleading and demeaning to others comparison and equivalence is the key here.

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snivelingchild

If anyone judges people sitting at a booth giving out flyer without seeing what they have to say, they're freakin shallow. Today on campus, boys in suits gave out flowers. They were abstinence flyers. (next to the table of girl giving out condoms.)

I do have more intricate points to make, but have to go to work.

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Well, most people are shallow. That's the entire point, don't you think? - aiming at people who haven't stopped to think about what they eat? And PeTA aims at shallow people - why do you think they need naked women plastered all over their website?

Actually, I didn't get this thing until someone explained it. I didn't give it much thought because I have other ideas about PeTA, but I seriously doubt most people passing by are going to give it much more thought than I did unless they have their ideas about the KKK.

If I saw someone dressed in costume handing out flyers, I'm going to read that flyer before passing any judgment on them, like I did the other day actually picking up and going through the abstinence information. If you want to assume things, that's kind of your fault. Don't get offended by something you're not going to bother to learn about.

However, my point is not even the AR angle at this point, but the point that it is not (imo) inherently offensive to dress as a KKK member or a Nazi.

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snivelingchild

If I saw someone dressed in costume handing out flyers, I'm going to read that flyer before passing any judgment on them, like I did the other day actually picking up and going through the abstinence information. If you want to assume things, that's kind of your fault. Don't get offended by something you're not going to bother to learn about.

However, my point is not even the AR angle at this point, but the point that it is not (imo) inherently offensive to dress as a KKK member or a Nazi.

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Fair point, but I still think that just showing your intention and the truth is the best policy rather than putting on a ridiculous charade which puts a good amount of your audience off instantly, when it comes to serious issues you can be clever and attention grabbing with the truth without being offensive and clearly people were offended.

Those sketches are funny. I believe that there is no cause that a person could afflliliate with that would justify being in public in a nazi or KKK uniform, so seeing that person in public, among those of a huge range of personal histories and attitudes (and showing total disregard for them), I would judge that person immediately and thoroughly as a belligerent, selfsatisfied, inconsiderate moron.
Just as Newkirk has said, and I'm really spoilt for choice of Peta threads to say this in, Peta seem to exist to keep the vegan view radicalised, to hold the "radical line". Very attractive to some small, loud, ridiculous number no doubt, but there should be nothing whatsoever radical about compassionate life or its message.
I'm sure these people felt raaad in their costumes. This type of nonsense is good for one thing, and that's widening gulfs. The further from clear relative neutrality they act, the futher the gulf grows, the further reactionary defensive attitudes solidify.

edit: nvm

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Sloth

I'm sorry to repeat other posts, but this really did spring to mind while I was reading the article; yes, people interested in the rights and protection of animals would be very likely to understand what Peta were trying to say here, but the general 'person-on-the-street' would have probably taken great offence and spend little or no time considering the intended message.

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I agree. I think the whole "purebred" complex is very much a silly thing and I understand what PETA is trying to say. But non-veg civilians won't see it that way. When we see KKK robes we think of racism,violence, and hatred. Most will probably think PETA is quacked out.

People already think PETA's quacked out-guess they figured a little more craziness wouldn't hurt 'em.
Then again, this is why I donate to the ASPCA instead.

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Sarah_

People already think PETA's quacked out-guess they figured a little more craziness wouldn't hurt 'em.
Then again, this is why I donate to the ASPCA instead.

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I agree completely.

While the ASPCA is not a vegan organization per se, I think they are more logical than PETA. A lot of people think PETA's tactics (i.e. showing videos of chickens being decapitated, etc.) are way too scary. Many people a turned away by it.

That seems to me like a terrible idea. It's racist, and will only alienate people. It's cruel to needlessly traumatize people.

What I don't understand is that it's the PeTa activists dressing like KKK members. If their point is that the dog club fanatics are being "racist" for wanting "pure" bred dogs, then wouldn't they depict the kennel folks as the "racists" instead of themselves?:confused:

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EmilySequoy

What I don't understand is that it's the PeTa activists dressing like KKK members. If their point is that the dog club fanatics are being "racist" for wanting "pure" bred dogs, then wouldn't they depict the kennel folks as the "racists" instead of themselves?:confused:

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I hadn't thought of that, but it seems like a good point.

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EmilySequoy

What I don't understand is that it's the PeTa activists dressing like KKK members. If their point is that the dog club fanatics are being "racist" for wanting "pure" bred dogs, then wouldn't they depict the kennel folks as the "racists" instead of themselves?:confused:

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I think you may be missing the point. They were trying to depict them as racists but they couldn't very well get them to dress up, could they? A costume was just more attention getting than an image depicting this.