Sam Riddle
Sam Riddle
Does community activist Sam Riddle go too far by accusing PETA of running a racist campaign in Detroit?
Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press reports:
A day after PETA announced a go-vegan billboard campaign for Detroit, Riddle blasted the animal right's group, calling it racist for picking on Detroit's eating habits and crime problem, and suggesting that a vegan diet can fix Detroit's ills.
"Detroit may be America's fattest and most violent city, but to attribute that to us not eating our veggies is racist BS," said Riddle, political director of the Michigan National Action Network.
Riddle accused PETA of behaving " like a racist hate group " with its billboard campaign that the organization said is designed to grow peace and slim down Detroit with a vegan diet.
"If PETA wants Detroit to improve our diet, PETA must address the historic roots of why we eat like we eat," said Riddle, claiming "PETA . . . would have us growing some damn carrots instead of growing jobs and good schools to combat crime and poverty."
The animal rights group responds:
"We combat hate speech like this with pleas for compassion for each other. We live by the principle of nonviolence, and since our inception, we have opposed all discrimination—but sadly, some of those who appeal for understanding are not always understanding themselves."
