racist pets

[Nie Trink Wasser]

Every pet I've ever owned has been an incurable racist. This applies to both cats and dogs, and I've owned quite a few of both. They simply don't like nonwhites. The dogs bark at them, and the cats hiss at them.

I did some Googling regarding the topic of pets and racism. I found a thread where a dog owner claimed that Spot didn't like blacks, and he was shot down by the shrill voices of self-hating whites who suggested that the man's dog could tell that HE hated nonwhites and was only reacting to his owner's hatred and fear.

I wish this were true (that pets were innately tolerant, not that the dog owner in question hated nonwhites), but even at the apex of my Malcolm X-reading, Public Enemy-booming wiggerishness in the late 1980s, my cats' hair would stand on end whenever a black friend would visit my apartment. The blacks would try to ignore my felines' palpable distaste for them, and I'd try to apologize, but there was no hiding it.

Then I ran across one story where a Pennsylvania police dog was charged with (and cleared of) racism, and this one, where a Brooklyn dog owner laments the fact that her pit bull shows extreme prejudice toward blacks and Hispanics.

Remember that famous photo from down South in the early sixties where a policeman's dog is biting an innocent-looking Negro lad? I will never again blame the policeman. It's worth noting that the dog in that picture was a German Shepherd.

http://www.jimgoad.com/

[Tmy]

There was a funny Kig Of the Hill episode aboutthis. Hills dog attacked the black plumber who came to the house. Turns out the agression wasnt becase the guy was black, but because teh dog cued on Hills anexity of having someone else fix his plumbing. So in a sence your pets may be feeding off your anexity.

How do you pets feel about light skinned blacks?

[The Central Scrutinizer]

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[Checkmite]

....but, what of black people and families who own pets that get along with them quite well?

[athon]

My grandparents had a dog who hated anybody in a wide-brimmed hat. They got the dog from a pound, and thought that it had been beaten as a puppy by somebody who wore a wide-brimmed hat.

Racism is a fear (regardless of being irrational or not) of another race or culture that is obvious as a hatred. Why couldn't an animal develop a fear towards a colour of skin, the sound of a voice, the style of a person's clothes? If you think about it, it makes more sense if an animal is racist than it does for a human.

Athon

[Denise]

I have known people who have had "racist pets". Usually they were adopted at a later age so I suspect that the first owner had trained them to do this or the dog has had a bad experience. There are a lot of dogs, if you search, for instance, petfinder.org, who prefer to have a female only household because of past abuse. There are dogs that don't like children as well. So why would it be astonishing if a dog didn't like a certain ethnic group?

[a_unique_person]

Dogs, I believe, are colour blind.

[Denise]

Color blind does not mean that they can't tell the difference in shades. Also, many black people in my country speak a little differently than white people. Not all, but many.

[OBgac]

My dog goes on attack for bums (smell maybe?) and people who are stumbling around make him nervous. He doesnt pass any heed of other races. Maybe because he is black himself :D

[Nie Trink Wasser]

Originally posted by The Central Scrutinizer
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzz :rolleyes:

aww.

so refreshing as usual !