The issue of interference of politics in animal protection and rights in the case of Harambe’s murder presents a complicated case of unclear differences between humanity in animals and human animality. In my opinion, the situation emphasizes a lack of objectivity in society due to society’s commitment to stereotypes that extend to human behavior and appearance, particularly blackness. Perceptions of blackness and animality are located deeply in the core of society’s consciousness, and eliminating them in the future requires a lot of effort from modern society.
Harambe’s case is not the sole example of a race-animal connection. Historically, the western civilization’s definition of human implied denial of animality and blackness. According to Guha-Majumdar (2019), the colonial society predominantly contributed to the creation of racial order and negatively affected the ecosystem due to the prioritization of humanity in the world ecosystem. Comparing speciesism in animals and racism in humans defines the connection between blackness animality. According to McRae (2022), the connection can be further proved by “analogies between slavery and animal cruelty” (p. 206). Thus, the topic of the connection between blackness and animality has both historical and logical justification.
Even though now zoos are presented as conservation objects, there are still many ethical issues in zoos considering their relevance for visitor entertainment purposes. According to Sampaio et al. (2019), historically, zoos presented a case of exploiting natural resources for human needs. The exploitation approach also extended to human zoos, where African people were displayed similarly to animals and gorillas in zoos. The 2020 Black Lives Matter rallies in the US were marked by the appearance of black horsemen and horsewomen protesters. Their arrival was significant as horses generally symbolize authority and power in white culture (Howell and Taves, 2021). On the contrary, rescuers of pit bulls, commonly identified as companions to poor African-Americans, pose them as suitable for white culture without addressing the social structure challenges (Guenther, 2019). Thus, the race-animal connections may appear in more familiar situations without the involvement of conflicts.
In conclusion, this paper examined the subjects of animality and blackness in modern society. The paper defined that the roots of blackness rejection and its connection with animality are sourced in the historical development of the Western civilization. In order to eliminate racial biases in the future, society should focus on addressing the racial structure challenges through focusing on studies of animal-race connections and analogies between blackness and animality.
References
Guenther, K. M. (2019). ‘Taking the ghetto out of the dog’: Reproducing inequality in pit bull rescue. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(10), 1-18.
Guha-Majumdar, J. (2019). Blackness and animality beyond recognition. Qui Parle, 28 (2): 373–389.
Howell, P., & Taves, I. (2021). Black protest and the man on horseback: Race, animality, and equestrian counter-conduct. GeoHumanities, 7(2), 1-20.
McRae, C. (2022). ‘The great chain of being come undone’: Linking blackness and animal studies. Environmental Humanities, 14 (1), 202–215.
Sampaio, M. B., Schiel, N., & Souto, A. (2020). From exploitation to conservation: A historical analysis of zoos and their functions in human societies. Ethnobiology and Conservation, 9, 1-32.