Truth Crushed to Earth Will Rise Again

In one of his most renowned speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. engages in a spirited call and response with his audience. The question he asks, over and over, is “How long will it take to achieve justice?” And his answer, repeatedly, is “Not long.” And the first explanation he offers as to why this is the case is that “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.”

There is insight in this phrase. It is not just a beautiful piece of rhetoric but a prediction about the trajectory of human politics. Over the long term, King is saying, truth is hard to repress. Is he right?

The experience of the animal rights movement over the last 20 years suggests that he is.

The anti-terrorism laws of the 2000s were meant to crush truths about the vivisection industry. Over the long term, they have only created more suspicion and interest, to the point that today vivisection is on the brink of collapse, with even its major government supporters (such as the NIH) threatening to pull funding.

In the 2010s, the ag gag laws were meant to crush truths about factory farming. Instead, numerous mainstream media outlets, including the New York Times, gave renewed attention to the use of animals in food. The Times, for the first time in its history, described factory farming as a form of torture. Once again, the attempt to crush truth only made it stronger.

And now, in the 2020s, the industry is at it again — but this time with criminal prosecution. The effort to crush truth in this context is even more insidious, as it threatens basic civil liberties such as due process. Both Zoe Rosenberg and the Animal Rising beagle rescuers were denied the right to present truthful information about animal abuse in their trials. As a result, Zoe sits in a prison, and the AR defendants may soon join her. But based on recent history, we know what is likely to happen. The effort to crush the truth through criminal prosecution will only cause it to rise again even more strongly.

This is one of the fundamental asymmetries of the fight over animal rights. We have the truth on our side. The industry’s hope is suppression. In the long run, in this sort of battle, the truth will inevitably win.