Reblogged from niknak79
Just some randoms things...
about veganism, feminism, reproductive justice, cats, animals, nature... all the things I think are important, funny or interesting.
Leather can be made from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep; exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos; and even dogs and cats, who are slaughtered for their meat and skin in China, which exports their skins around the world. Because leather is normally not labeled, you never really know where (or whom) it came from.
Most leather comes from developing countries such as India and China, where animal welfare laws are either non-existent or not enforced. In India, an investigation found that workers break cows’ tails and rub chili peppers and tobacco into their eyes in order to force them to get up and walk after they collapse from exhaustion on the way to the slaughterhouse.
In the U.S., many of the millions of cows and other animals who are killed for their skin endure the horrors of factory farming—extreme crowding and deprivation as well as castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers. At slaughterhouses, animals routinely have their throats cut and some are even skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious.
Buying leather directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses because skin is the most economically important byproduct of the meat industry. Leather is also no friend of the environment, as it shares responsibility for all the environmental destruction caused by the meat industry as well as the pollution caused by the toxins used in tanning.
I sure hope you are seeing a bunch of stuff about Brazil, either on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or TV. But I need you to understand what is going on. What’s truly going on around here. So I prepared this masterpost, a list of links that should explain this to you!
Some…
Whether it came from an animal on a fur farm or one who was trapped in the wild, every fur coat, trinket, and bit of trim caused an animal tremendous suffering—and took away a life.
Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers use the cheapest and cruelest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas, and poison.
More than half the fur in the U.S. comes from China, where millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and often skinned alive for their fur. Chinese fur is often deliberately mislabeled, so if you wear any fur, there’s no way of knowing for sure whose skin you’re in.
Animals who are trapped in the wild can suffer for days from blood loss, shock, dehydration, frostbite, gangrene, and attacks by predators. They may be caught in steel-jaw traps that slam down on their legs, often cutting to the bone; Conibear traps, which crush their necks with 90 pounds of pressure per square inch; or water-set traps, which leave beavers, muskrats, and other animals struggling for more than nine agonizing minutes before drowning.During the annual Canadian seal slaughter, tens of thousands of baby harp seals are shot or repeatedly bludgeoned with clubs tipped with metal hooks. Also in Canada, hundreds of black bears are shot at point-blank range or caught in traps and left to suffer for days so that their skins can be used to make the ceremonial hats worn by Queen Elizabeth II’s Five Guards’ Regiments.
Jane H. Hill, The Everyday Language of White Racism (via wretchedoftheearth)
*****
This is like when me and my white soon-to-be husband were looking for places. I’d call up and they’d say, “Come on down! Get an application!”. Because I don’t “sound” black.
Then I’d walk in 2 minutes later and they’d be all, “Oh. Sorry, we just rented it.”
Then I’d send him in and he’d get an application.
The best part? Walking back in while he was completing the application. “Oh, they gave you an application? But they told me it was just rented. ODD. THAT. I’m going to report them so let’s just skip this place, m’kay?” The looks on their faces and the pathetic apologies were just too much fun.
Used to deal with the same thing with road trips. Hotels would tell me that there were no vacancies, but my white roommate would go in and get us a room, usually cheaper than advertised.
*****
(via faboomama)
I do similar stuff at restauants and other places of business with my white bf. At least it makes it easier to know where not to go!
(via 23andchildfree)
Reblogging again for the commentary
(via darkjez)
But we’re just supposed to *trust* and think everything is an *isolated* incident.
(via hamburgerjack)
Not so sophisticated scholars, were they? I mean this really, really shouldn’t be all that surprising.
(via stfunithingas)
It shouldn’t be surprising, but I guarantee that most white people find it unbelievable
(via wretchedoftheearth)
I’m going to reblog this every time I see it on my dash. My parents pointed out how this phenomenon worked when we were moving to PA (they’d get steered to crummier neighborhoods and have to insist on being shown others). Housing discrimination is still pretty widespread and the gatekeepers? Tend to either intentionally or due to unchecked bias reinforce the status quo.
(via invisiblelad)
It always floors me the things people are surprised at. Meanwhile, every person of color is sitting here like, “Oh. Must be another day that ends in Y, and in other news, water is wet.” Like, really, people are surprised by this, and whenever they show surprise at learning stuff that we go through, I have to poker face, lest I end up giving them the most disbelieving side eye in history because how do you NOT know this? But then, you know. Some people have the privilege of being able to be unaware it because it’s not a problem they have to deal with. :/ (via lori-jaye)
Reblogged again for commentary
(via covenesque)
Sounds like my friends when they were looking for a place in Midtown memphis(mostly white liberal middle class area)… they said people would invite them to see the places and then would either suddenly become unavailable or they would just ignore their phone calls.. but the Obama’s said “no more excuses.. work harder”…
(via jcoleknowsbest)
Sort of had this issue with an acquaintance of my boss. The application was approved and all systems were go until the potential tenant (a Black person) faxed in a copy of their picture ID. Suddenly, the landlord didn’t want to rent the home out anymore. A real estate agent on behalf of the client threatened to pursue legal action and the acquaintance asked us for advice.
I read the email and was like, “pbbft, your landlord fucked himself over. what do you want us to say? have fun getting sued, you should’ve known better.”
(via sara-huynh)
Officially in love with sara-huynh
(via carrionofcats)
(via ibtk)
(via sugahwaatah)
