PeTA Attacks Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson just signed a contract to be the spokesperson for Blackglama a company that sells luxury fur coats.
Obviously as animal rights activists, PeTA has a huge problem with anyone wearing fur. I can respect the argument, though I would like to point out that for Black women, there is a lot more involved than animal cruelty. Fur is a marker of success and a commodity that was simply out of reach of many women of colour. Now that many more Black women are achieving financial wealth, they want the same trappings of success that have traditionally belonged to White women. Because PeTA is clueless about racial dynamics, this is something they have repeatedly failed to consider.
PeTA could have handled this situation with respect, thereby helping to heal some of the purposeful harm that they have caused the Black community, but once again they chose to devalue Black lives.
"It's amazing what celebrities will do when their careers are on a downslide, but we didn't think that Janet was this desperate. Surely, she knows enough about suffering and unjustified death to recognize that both occur in the production of a fur coat. We are asking her to think again and to donate these stolen skins to be used as bedding for animals orphaned by other human-caused disasters, such as loss of habitat," PETA spokeswoman Amanda Schinke said in a statement.
Did you catch that? They compared the death of Michael Jackson to the animals that are used for the production of fur coats.
More at Womanist Musings
Obviously as animal rights activists, PeTA has a huge problem with anyone wearing fur. I can respect the argument, though I would like to point out that for Black women, there is a lot more involved than animal cruelty. Fur is a marker of success and a commodity that was simply out of reach of many women of colour. Now that many more Black women are achieving financial wealth, they want the same trappings of success that have traditionally belonged to White women. Because PeTA is clueless about racial dynamics, this is something they have repeatedly failed to consider.
PeTA could have handled this situation with respect, thereby helping to heal some of the purposeful harm that they have caused the Black community, but once again they chose to devalue Black lives.
"It's amazing what celebrities will do when their careers are on a downslide, but we didn't think that Janet was this desperate. Surely, she knows enough about suffering and unjustified death to recognize that both occur in the production of a fur coat. We are asking her to think again and to donate these stolen skins to be used as bedding for animals orphaned by other human-caused disasters, such as loss of habitat," PETA spokeswoman Amanda Schinke said in a statement.
Did you catch that? They compared the death of Michael Jackson to the animals that are used for the production of fur coats.
More at Womanist Musings