The “Preface” by Alice Walker Review

After I read the “Preface” by Alice Walker and the poems at the beginning of Spiegel, I started to think about animal life. I felt ashamed because I had previously loved visiting the zoo and exploring animals living in captivity. Moreover, I realized that confinement is a restriction on the natural will of pets. It excludes them from freely moving outside of their apartment or separate home. These papers enabled me to understand that people prioritize their own species over another in this way. That is because when they enslave a bird in a cage, they expect it to sing more for them (Spiegel & Walker, 1997). Nobody really considers the bird’s desire to be free, and I never thought about it in the past, too. Although now I have evaluated my attitude towards other species and believe that they as humans should have the right to be entitled to freedom of choice.

When I read “Because They Matter” by Tashee Meadows, I was able to compare the suffering of black people and animals. Therefore, I believe that any inequality between species that causes suffering should be eradicated from society. I accept that black individuals have the same rights as other nations and deserve to be respected. After reading the passages, I felt ashamed of all human communities because their actions against animals and black people are not truly humane (Spiegel & Walker, 1997). Therefore, my mission now is to support racial justice movements and disseminate information about animals’ suffering. This will restore racial and species equality, which will ensure that both people and animals’ comfort together. As a result, it is obvious by reading this that it is inappropriate to distinguish persons on the basis of race, and to consider animals as an inferior species of creatures.

Reference

Spiegel, M., & Walker, A. (1997). The dreaded comparison: Human and animal slavery. Mirror Books.