Today GQ announced Colin Kaepernick as their
Citizen of the Year with the
headline “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced. The NFL star turned activist
has been making headlines for months as the spearhead for take-the-knee
protests of police brutality. But something you may not know about Kaepernick
is that he’s vegan.
Kneeling during the national anthem to protest oppression of
people of color is just the beginning of Kaepernick’s activism. The athlete
started the Colin Kaepernick Foundation
to “fight oppression of all kinds globally, through education and social
activism.
By going vegan in early 2017, the athlete made clear that he
would not be silent while anyone, human or nonhuman, was oppressed.
Because the factory farming industry values profit over all else, by going vegan you’re standing up not only for animal rights but for other social justice issues, including racial equality and the rights of immigrants and workers.
Racial Equality
The connection between animal agriculture and racial
discrimination is real, and it’s horrifying. Populations near factory farms
tend to be low-income communities or communities of color. These farms pollute the surrounding areas so much
that residents suffer a host of illnesses from breathing in the many harmful
gases these facilities emit.
A 2002 study examined more than 60 factory
farms in Mississippi and found that the majority were located in low-income
areas with a high percentage of African Americans. Similarly, a 2005 study found that in North Carolina
low-income areas had seven times more hog farms than affluent areas and that
communities of color had more than five times as many hog farms as
predominantly white communities.
Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights
Countless reports have highlighted the dangerous and
unsanitary conditions workers face at factory farms and slaughterhouses. From
being subjected to many workplace hazards to being denied breaks, workers are often
mistreated and exploited. They commonly sustain severe injuries and sometimes suffer from
respiratory illnesses and infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
In addition to posing physical dangers, the work at factory
farms and slaughterhouses often leads to psychological trauma. According to PTSD
Journal, many factory farm and slaughterhouse workers must emotionally
disconnect from their work to cope with the daily abuse and killing of animals.
This emotional dissonance often leads to domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and
alcohol abuse, and PTSD.
With an unknown percentage of full- and part-time
undocumented immigrants working in the industry, Big Ag preys on vulnerable
people. In fact, 93 percent of dairy workers in New York are
undocumented immigrants. Many undocumented workers are afraid to go off
the farm for fear of being caught and deported, a fear reinforced by demeaning or intimidating comments from
their supervisors. Some remain on the farms for more than 11 days at a time.
Animal Rights
Cows, pigs, and chickens raised and killed for food are just
as smart and sensitive as the dogs and cats we adore at home. But at factory
farms, animals are subjected to
unimaginable cruelties: intensive confinement, agonizing mutilations, and
violent deaths.
—
As someone who truly cares about the rights of all and has
dedicated his life to fighting oppression, Colin Kaepernick is more than
deserving of GQ’s title.
Want to be as woke as Kaepernick? Take on the factory
farming industry, one of the worst perpetrators of systematic oppression, by
choosing to leave animal products off your plate. Click here to get started.