Equal Rights for Animals?
by Nathan Tabor

Believe it or not, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals may have finally gone too far. It has decided to suspend its latest animal rights campaign—just a few weeks after kicking off its national tour.

The exhibit went by the bizarre title, “Are Animals the New Slaves?” It compared the lynching of black Americans to the killing of animals for food. Twelve panels showed such images as noosed black men hanging from trees, juxtaposed with shots of slaughtered cows.

But, even though PETA now appears to be pulling back, the damage has already been done. The exhibit appeared in 17 cities before PETA decided to put the campaign on hold.

PETA spokesperson Dawn Carr told the Associated Press, “We’re not continuing right now while we evaluate. We’re reviewing feedback we’ve received—most of it overwhelmingly positive and some of it quite negative.”

I’d really like the chance to see those individuals who offered the positive feedback. Were they on two legs or four?

PETA has certainly had some shenanigans to its credit in the past, but this latest stunt truly crosses the line. In New Haven, Connecticut, the situation surrounding the exhibit became so volatile that police had to be called in. This has to be insensitivity at its highest.

Vakiya Courtney is a vegetarian. But when she saw the PETA display, she gasped.

Courtney was quoted as saying, “How can you possibly compare the brutality that our ancestors experienced here…to animal cruelty?”

In an article in the New Haven Register newspaper, Michael Perkins put it even more bluntly: “I am a black man! I can’t compare the suffering of these black human beings to the suffering of this cow.”

PETA’s Carr responded in published reports, “Obviously, the circumstances are different, but the lack of compassion that allowed humans to be enslaved and lynched and for women and children to be mistreated is similar to the lack of compassion that makes it possible for animals to suffer cruelty today.”

Where are the calls from the major news media for PETA to discontinue its outrageous, publicity-seeking tactics? After all, PETA had to apologize earlier this year when it compared mistreated animals to Holocaust victims. What does PETA have to do to attract the ire of Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, and the rest of the stars in the media universe?

No pet-lover wants to see a beloved dog or cat brutalized—and there are laws to punish those who engage in such conduct. And, in America, we’re perfectly free to choose whether or not to be a vegetarian.

But PETA doesn’t seem to believe in free choice when it comes to the lives of average Americans. Instead, the group wants to dictate not only what food we put on our tables, but how agri-business does business. It is a single-issue group that does not seem to have America’s best interests at heart.

And it seems that PETA wants to do something else. It’s fully prepared to use the pain of slavery and the Holocaust to try to push its questionable agenda. Comparing a black man to a cow is like yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. It’s not free speech—it’s a bomb-throwing tactic which simply draws feelings of anger and outrage to the surface. In fact, it could easily be interpreted as inciting violence.

Nathan Tabor is a conservative political activist based in Kernersville, North Carolina. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in public policy. He is a contributing editor at www.theconservativevoice.com and his 60-second commentaries are heard on over 250 stations daily. Visit www.aconservativemoment.com to hear them.

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