Cecil: My thoughts

Cecil the lion via Slate

RIP Cecil, first of all. Unless you've completely unplugged for a week (is that even possible?) you may have heard about how a dentist from Minnesota killed Cecil, the face of the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Cecil was the most famous lion of the area and he was under study by Oxford University for about 10 years, I believe. Cecil was savagely slaughtered, and the outrage has spread around the world. Everyone has seen the dentist's face and has condemned his actions. Like everyone. Many many celebrities like Cara Delevigne, Ricky Gervais, Sharon Osbourne and Jimmy Kimmel have tweeted or spoken against Cecil's murder. Pretty much that's what everyone is talking about.

What Dr. Palmer did was absolutely ABOMINABLE. Trophy hunting is deplorable, and the way Cecil died was absolutely cruel. Let's make that clear.

However, the uproar about it has made me think about the value that we give to certain people or animals over others. Thousands of people have been killed in Syria. Police brutality is in an all-time high. Like really, a cop recently gunned down an African-American man for missing a stop sign. 4 children die every 20 seconds out of hunger in the world. 4 every 20 seconds. Where is the outrage? Where is the cry for justice? Where are the celebrity tweets? I'm not saying animals are less important than humans, but these issues have been going on for a very long time, and no one says anything. The media decides what is important and what isn't, and for now, Cecil is more important than hunger or refugees.

My final thought is that we should denounce the injustices like Cecil's, but without forgetting that there are many that have been silenced throughout the years. Let's denounce those too. Rant over.
Love,

- Ane