Tapir on Nostr: So there has been a lot of hullabaloo about racism surrounding the animal welfare ...
So there has been a lot of hullabaloo about racism surrounding the animal welfare industry. It has me thinking about how true it is, and why that may be.
I looked into it a bit. 84% of the animal welfare industry is specifically non-Hispanic white, and less than 1% is black. Now unlike things like pilots and surgeons, which are also primarily white but usually have other huge barriers (college, money, etc), the majority of the animal welfare field are entry level jobs, meaning no prior work experience required, no higher education required, etc.
So the reason I mention the barriers is because white people are going to be more likely than other races (in the US) to have access to a college education and money to go to college, and even have an easier time landing a job to get work experience for another job.
Being an animal care tech in an animal shelter does not require ANY college education, usually doesn't require prior experience either. So there is no economic barriers, which has me confused on why there's so few BIPOC working in shelters.
Then there is addressing the racism in animal welfare. I personally think it is cyclical. You tend to get an 'us vs them' dichotomy in animal shelters - it is a well known phenomenon, a defense mechanism for the secondary trauma seen in the industry. If most of the 'Us' is going to be white, then the 'Them' that will be more vilified will be non-white (not to say whites are not also vilified, but I think that BIPOC is going to more likely be vilified, or more strongly vilified). If there is not enough BIPOC allies in the animal welfare industry, then the 'Us' will always be primarily white and the 'Them' is going to include BIPOC. In my opinion.
Anecdotally I definitely notice racism in animal welfare, from the blatant racism to minor racists beliefs. Even from the few BIPOC people in the industry. And having worked in primarily non-white areas, the shelters in those areas still mainly saw white clients.
Not sure how the cycle could even be broken to see if my theory is right.
I looked into it a bit. 84% of the animal welfare industry is specifically non-Hispanic white, and less than 1% is black. Now unlike things like pilots and surgeons, which are also primarily white but usually have other huge barriers (college, money, etc), the majority of the animal welfare field are entry level jobs, meaning no prior work experience required, no higher education required, etc.
So the reason I mention the barriers is because white people are going to be more likely than other races (in the US) to have access to a college education and money to go to college, and even have an easier time landing a job to get work experience for another job.
Being an animal care tech in an animal shelter does not require ANY college education, usually doesn't require prior experience either. So there is no economic barriers, which has me confused on why there's so few BIPOC working in shelters.
Then there is addressing the racism in animal welfare. I personally think it is cyclical. You tend to get an 'us vs them' dichotomy in animal shelters - it is a well known phenomenon, a defense mechanism for the secondary trauma seen in the industry. If most of the 'Us' is going to be white, then the 'Them' that will be more vilified will be non-white (not to say whites are not also vilified, but I think that BIPOC is going to more likely be vilified, or more strongly vilified). If there is not enough BIPOC allies in the animal welfare industry, then the 'Us' will always be primarily white and the 'Them' is going to include BIPOC. In my opinion.
Anecdotally I definitely notice racism in animal welfare, from the blatant racism to minor racists beliefs. Even from the few BIPOC people in the industry. And having worked in primarily non-white areas, the shelters in those areas still mainly saw white clients.
Not sure how the cycle could even be broken to see if my theory is right.