I think Steven Spielberg’s wife was the worst I saw. Such a big name celebrity in a full fur. What a shame

I also was waiting for Aretha to come out covered in dead animals. I wondered if someone in the Obama campaign had a talk with her. Let’s hope it continues.

I was pleased that the Obama family and Bindens were fur free but i do agree a LOT of people out there were dressed in fur.

I don’t want to sound racist, cause believe me i am not, but it seems a lot of African Americans are the ones wearing fur. Why do you think that is?

I was shocked Aretha wasn’t wearing fur! I lost so much respect for her after learning about her obsession with fur.

I too saw many furs, and also noticed that many were worn by African Americans. I don’t have insight into why, but I’d hear to see some more anti-cruelty voices speaking out from within the black community. For the most part, I noted older (post 40) folks with fur – maybe it is mostly an older generation-thing.

Blacks have traditionally been known to not be as active with vegetarianism/animal rights.

This is partially, in my humble opinion, because people in this type of culture have more education and economic stability and they have more time and resources to devote to ethical thinking.

Unfortunately, blacks still fall behind whites in this category and are less likely to have higher education and stable middle or upper class incomes.

Most people who are worried about how to pay for groceries every week don’t care if it’s organic, free range, or free of animal derived mono and di glycerides.

They’re also not concerned over the fate of an animal used in a coat, shoes, etc.-more concerned about being able to buy the clothing.

AS far as the celebrities go, money and wealth in that sense does not equal education. Although they may have millions in the bank, they still have not taken time to develop themselves intellectually (such as in undergraduate courses at a university) to the point where they are individuals who might question these, as well as other typical practices in society.

It’s also tradition. Many blacks grew up in families where heavy meat dishes and using animals for clothing was okay, so since it’s accepted in the culture, they have no problem with it.

Tradition can be stupidly followed by blacks, from the food they put on the table to the clothing they wear to continuing to put stupid chemicals on their hair to straighten it, despite some studies showing it can be cancerous.

Sorry for such the long and drawn out ramblings, but I don’t want people to be afraid to ask these questions thinking they’ll sound racist. It’s not and I have gotten more then enough flack from other blacks who don’t understand my ways to motivate me to encourage everyone (black and white) to ask why blacks aren’t more active with this movement.

On another note, I read about using your cat and dog fur to spin and make hats, purses, and the like. If you have a pet that’s really furry and sheds a lot, this is a cruelty-free and unique type of fur to wear:)

I would like to try this in the future:)

http://www.inhabitots.com/2009/01/14/sustainable-cat-hair-sweaters/

Thanks for that. I sorta disagree with the lower income thing cause people that are tight on cash wouldn’t buy fur IMO. But i get what you are saying about the “movement” thing.

Sorry, I meant “earned income credit,” in terms of a tax credit based on income level and number of children.

Yeah I noticed a TON of people wearing entire fur coats on the Mall in DC…. But I’m glad most of the high profile participants refrained from wearing fur.

I despise the insensitive (to humans), smug, patronizing attitudes of so-called “compassionate and enlightened” anti-fur types towards African Americans. You have NO right to tell anyone what to wear as you are not buying their clothes. Your opinions are simply that–your opinions, and NOT the holy writ of fashion adornment. Not only are you abysmally ignorant in accusing African American women of “imitating 1950′s housewives” in wearing fur coats, but your arrogance and sense of entitlement and self-righteousness towards your “cause” to the point that EVERYONE must adhere to these loony beliefs is highly offensive. I’m sure that African Americans have much more important issues to confront than nutty fringe “issues” like animal “rights” and anti-fur. They are too intelligent to waste time with such foolishness which seems to take root among immature suburbanites, navel-contemplators, has-been celebs, and others with too much time on their hands. These “issues” may be important to you, but MOST people on the planet would rightfully ignore you.