You have also focused on mainstreaming anti-educationalism into your humanitarian education work. What thoughts can you share with humanitarian educators interested in applying the lens of antisemitism in their work?
“First, before answering that question, I would like to provide a little background on why I am focusing on antisemitism.
As a humane educator, I am interested in how to educate for greater liberation for all, including non-human animals. However, my identity and experience as a Black woman have profoundly shaped what I do as a humanitarian educator. As I discussed in my essay, my thinking about education is partly rooted in the idea that the emancipation of non-human animals is tied to myself.
My thinking is mainly influenced by the works of vegans of color like Aph and Syl Ko. Based on their teachings, I have learned that not only racism and speciesism are interconnected as mentioned earlier, but also the structure of race and the supremacy of the race. white people — the idea that whites and their ideas, beliefs, and actions are superior to Blacks, Natives, and people of color and their ideas, beliefs, and actions — condemn both inhumane groups of people and animals. White supremacy creates a hierarchy based on race and color, and values idealized humans with whiteness. So both ‘human’ and ‘animal’ are racist terms, leading to the creation of what the Ko sisters in their book call Aphro-ism’violent production genre of animals / mortals / non-humans… ‘
To introduce a counterfactual lens to humanitarian education, I think that humanitarian educators should deepen their understanding of race and white supremacy, while incorporating a broader perspective on the nature of white supremacy is discussed here on their teaching. This could be like helping students and the public better understand the ideological origins of both human oppression and inhumanity as well as the concept of ‘genre of violent production’ towards sentient beings who are regarded and treated as inferior.
For example, humanitarian educators can open up space for people to consider the racial hierarchy that exists in the United States that has led to both centuries-old violence perpetrated against Blacks, and profound daily suffering for animals other than humans. Whenever I facilitate conversations with students and others in my humanitarian education work, I often encourage them and myself to think deeply about how power systems and racist privilege have worked to create injustice and reimagine a world beyond oppressive systems. In my opinion, this is part of humanistic education.”
