GotZoom
Senior Member
NEW HAVEN A two-hour animal rights demonstration on the Green Monday sparked outrage instead of sympathy from the public.
"This is the most racist thing Ive ever seen on the Green. How dare you," roared Philip Goldson, 43, of New Haven at the protest organizers at Church and Chapel streets.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a national animal rights group, posted giant photographs of people, mostly black Americans, being tortured, sold and killed, next to photographs of animals, including cattle and sheep, being tortured, sold and killed.
"I think it is an apt comparison," said Josh Warchol, 26, of Wallingford, president of the Southern Connecticut Vegetarian Society, which is aligned with PETA.
"We realize these images are hurtful. Its hard for me to imagine the hurt the animals go through. We should be treating animals according to their own best interests, not to the best interests of people," said Dawn Carr, PETAs director of special projects.
PETA wants people to stop eating animals, stop using them for clothing, stop forcing animals to entertain people (as in a circus) and stop animal experimentation.
Carr said she doesnt want animals sold or treated as property either.
The controversial display, which is on a national tour, is intended to drive home PETAs point.
However, critics said the organizations demonstration backfired.
One man demanded that the NAACP get involved immediately. Five minutes later, Scot X. Esdaile, president of the state and Greater New Haven chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, arrived at the scene, surveyed the photos and blasted the organizers.
"Once again, black people are being pimped. You used us. You have used us enough," Esdaile said. "Take it down immediately."
"I am a black man! I cant compare the suffering of these black human beings to the suffering of this cow," said Michael Perkins, 47, of New Haven. He stood in front of a photo of butchered livestock hung next to the photo of two lynched black men dangling before a white mob.
"You cant compare me to a freaking cow," shouted John Darryl Thompson, 46, of New Haven, inches from Carrs face. "We dont care about PETA. You are playing a dangerous game."
Paul Tomaselli, 46, of North Branford took exception to an exhibit that included a photo of a black man being beaten to the ground by a white man with a stick while a white mob gathers.
Next to that photo was one of a man chasing a seal across the snow with a club.
"I think hes right," said Tomaselli, who is white, in support of Thompson. "To compare people to animals is an unfairness to people."
The display, "Are Animals the New Slaves?" is on a 10-week, 42-city tour that started in early July. Todays stop: Scranton, Pa., then on to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
"New Haven is important because of the Amistad. This is a place where slaves were brought. What happened here was very important for abolition. The next great liberation movement is animal liberation," Carr said.
However, the Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights organization, has publicly condemned PETAs use of photos comparing human suffering in the Holocaust to animal suffering today; PETA apologized in May for the hurt it caused but stood by the comparisons.
That point of disagreement became a flashpoint in New Haven.
"This is the most hostile audience weve had," said PETA volunteer Ben Godwin.
At one point, police hovered at the edge of the Green, across from the demonstration.
Eight of the 12 banners compared the suffering of black Americans to the suffering of cattle, sheep, an elephant, a seal and a rooster. Other banners showed Native Americans exiled from their homes, children in a factory and men in a counter-demonstration against womens rights.
A photo showing a concentration camp inmate with a number tattooed across his emaciated chest was juxtaposed against a shot of a monkey in a laboratory with a number branded across its chest.
"I have relatives who were in concentration camps," said Alex Reznikoff, 47, of Newtown. "I think this detracts from PETAs message. It doesnt make me think about animals at all."
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15000578&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6
"This is the most racist thing Ive ever seen on the Green. How dare you," roared Philip Goldson, 43, of New Haven at the protest organizers at Church and Chapel streets.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a national animal rights group, posted giant photographs of people, mostly black Americans, being tortured, sold and killed, next to photographs of animals, including cattle and sheep, being tortured, sold and killed.
"I think it is an apt comparison," said Josh Warchol, 26, of Wallingford, president of the Southern Connecticut Vegetarian Society, which is aligned with PETA.
"We realize these images are hurtful. Its hard for me to imagine the hurt the animals go through. We should be treating animals according to their own best interests, not to the best interests of people," said Dawn Carr, PETAs director of special projects.
PETA wants people to stop eating animals, stop using them for clothing, stop forcing animals to entertain people (as in a circus) and stop animal experimentation.
Carr said she doesnt want animals sold or treated as property either.
The controversial display, which is on a national tour, is intended to drive home PETAs point.
However, critics said the organizations demonstration backfired.
One man demanded that the NAACP get involved immediately. Five minutes later, Scot X. Esdaile, president of the state and Greater New Haven chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, arrived at the scene, surveyed the photos and blasted the organizers.
"Once again, black people are being pimped. You used us. You have used us enough," Esdaile said. "Take it down immediately."
"I am a black man! I cant compare the suffering of these black human beings to the suffering of this cow," said Michael Perkins, 47, of New Haven. He stood in front of a photo of butchered livestock hung next to the photo of two lynched black men dangling before a white mob.
"You cant compare me to a freaking cow," shouted John Darryl Thompson, 46, of New Haven, inches from Carrs face. "We dont care about PETA. You are playing a dangerous game."
Paul Tomaselli, 46, of North Branford took exception to an exhibit that included a photo of a black man being beaten to the ground by a white man with a stick while a white mob gathers.
Next to that photo was one of a man chasing a seal across the snow with a club.
"I think hes right," said Tomaselli, who is white, in support of Thompson. "To compare people to animals is an unfairness to people."
The display, "Are Animals the New Slaves?" is on a 10-week, 42-city tour that started in early July. Todays stop: Scranton, Pa., then on to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
"New Haven is important because of the Amistad. This is a place where slaves were brought. What happened here was very important for abolition. The next great liberation movement is animal liberation," Carr said.
However, the Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights organization, has publicly condemned PETAs use of photos comparing human suffering in the Holocaust to animal suffering today; PETA apologized in May for the hurt it caused but stood by the comparisons.
That point of disagreement became a flashpoint in New Haven.
"This is the most hostile audience weve had," said PETA volunteer Ben Godwin.
At one point, police hovered at the edge of the Green, across from the demonstration.
Eight of the 12 banners compared the suffering of black Americans to the suffering of cattle, sheep, an elephant, a seal and a rooster. Other banners showed Native Americans exiled from their homes, children in a factory and men in a counter-demonstration against womens rights.
A photo showing a concentration camp inmate with a number tattooed across his emaciated chest was juxtaposed against a shot of a monkey in a laboratory with a number branded across its chest.
"I have relatives who were in concentration camps," said Alex Reznikoff, 47, of Newtown. "I think this detracts from PETAs message. It doesnt make me think about animals at all."
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15000578&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6
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