politicalcausetheythoughtmosturgent.Iwouldnotquestion
thesincerityofvegetarianswhotakelittleinterestinAnimal
Liberation because theygive priority to other causes; but
whennonvegetarianssaythat“humanproblemscomefirst”I
cannothelpwonderingwhatexactlyitisthattheyaredoing
forhumanbeings thatcompelsthemtocontinueto support
the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.
Atthispointahistoricaldigressionisappropriate.Itisoften
said,asa kindofcorollary oftheideathat“humanscome
first,”thatpeopleintheanimalwelfaremovementcaremore
aboutanimalsthantheydoabouthumanbeings.Nodoubt
thisistrueofsomepeople.Historically,though,theleadersof
the animal welfare movement have cared far more about
humanbeingsthanhaveotherhumanswhocarednothingfor
animals.Indeed,theoverlapbetweenleadersofmovements
againsttheoppressionofblacksandwomen,andleadersof
movements against cruelty to animals, is extensive; so
extensiveastoprovideanunexpectedformofconfirmation
of the parallel between racism, sexism, and speciesism.
AmongthehandfuloffoundersoftheRSPCA,forexample,
were William Wilberforce and Fowell Buxton, two of the
leaders in the fight against Negro slavery in the British
Empire.^8 Asforearlyfeminists,MaryWollstonecraftwrote,
in addition to her Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a
collection of children’s stories entitled Original Stories,
expressly designed to encourage kinder practices toward
animals;^9 and a number of the early American feminists,
includingLucyStone,AmeliaBloomer,SusanB.Anthony,
and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were connected with the
vegetarian movement. Together with Horace Greeley, the
reforming,antislaveryeditorofTheTribune,theywouldmeet
to toast “Women’s Rights and Vegetarianism.”^10