PETA debuts a graphic new exhibit today on the National Mall. "Glass Walls" derives its title from the Paul McCartney line, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton will be on-hand for today's launch.
The exhibit will be up through Sept. 3, showcasing similarities between historic oppressions of human beings and the current exploitations of animals. The Natural History Museum’s depictions of slavery in the South are used as a comparison to animal cruelty and oppression.
"Child labor, human slavery, and the oppression of women all came to be opposed by our society, thanks to the passion and hard work of human rights activists," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.
"We hope that PETA's display will help people see that nonhuman animals suffer today just as humans once did, and that we can all make small changes in our lives to help make animal oppression a thing of the past," she said.
The exhibit's six large, double-sided panels show graphic images, including what happens to animals in leather trade and scientific experimentation. Some images may be too graphic for children, such as elephants in shackles, skinned animals, and overcrowding conditions for pigs and chickens.
The first panel includes a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The exhibit is located across from the Museum of Natural History (Madison Ave. N.W. between Ninth and 12th). The first 500-1,000 visitors each day will receive a free DVD of McCartney's documentary about the meat industry, also titled "Glass Walls."
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