You ask: “how do you feel about not noticing it?”
And I wanted to answer…
If I wouldn’t watch this video in this context, I wouldn’t have noticed, to tell the truth.
Anyway, it made me realize things.

I thought… maybe some way to realize how we consider the whiteness as “normal” (even if we are not aware of that) would be to try to imagine how would it feel if in the video appeared humans of diverse races other than white. If there would be only one visibly identifiable white person, how would that feel ?

For me, it would feel strange.

And then… considering where I grew up and where I live now (Buenos Aires, Argentina and Prague, Czech Republic) that might be logical to feel strange, because it breaks the structure of what I see everyday; even though I didn’t notice before (I did notice, but for the sake of this comment)

Now… does it mean anything negative? I suppose it depends on every single case.

Anyway, to imply that what appears in the video should be the “norma” for everyone, no matter where, that is silly.

Homosexuality is “invisible”… but when seeing a video made by only visible heterosexual couples; should I, as a non-heterosexual, feel something ?
I don’t know for sure what would I feel if a video of visibly heterosexual couples would imply that they are a bunch of normals and there are no freaks anywhere… But I can say that I think I’d feel that’s heterosexist.

I think the same is with this video and racism.

I didn’t mention the source of the quote because the quote is simply symptomatic of the greater problem being highlighted. This post is intended to grow our collective understanding of the issues rather than to spark recognition in people of their own unearned privilege.

I’d be thrilled if conversations about whiteness were taking place in mainstream animal activism. As the long-standing wisdom goes, it’s not up to POC like myself (and an outsider to the community) to educate people with white privilege about their white privilege; the task falls on those with white privilege.

I’m glad also that someone has now publicly commented on the “no freaks anywhere,” “just a bunch of normals” remark. I noticed it too and was immediately put off.

Is there a reason you’ve chosen not to acknowledge where these remarks and video appeared? If we *are* going to have these conversations and change the way people think, talk, and interact within the movement, I think it’s important to point out when and where we see these problems, especially when they appear in highly visible, much-visited spaces, so that people *can* reflect on their language, perceptions, and so on.