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Wow, Dogs Really Don’t Like Black People
If Fido turns feisty around your Black friends, you may have a racist dog on your hands
I’m sure my White friends and acquaintances don’t intend for their dogs to be racist. They’re good, politically conscious White people. Most voted for Bernie in the primary elections. The really good ones have a Black Lives Matter T-shirt lovingly shoved into the back of a drawer somewhere. These people don’t have a racist bone in their body. Ergo, they must own politically conscious and racially aware dogs.
Nope. Usually their dogs are quite the opposite.
It’s the 4th of July. My friend is throwing a party. Guinevere, a Chiweenie rescue, sees White Mike stumble through the front door with two packs of IPA beneath each arm. She runs up to him, licking his hands with joy and excitement. She adores White Mike.
But when I, a small Black woman, show up to the occasion, kind Guinevere is suddenly replaced by her evil twin. There is a Black in her home and she must defend it, so she chases my Black ass down until I’m backed into the corner of the living room. My friend hosting the party chuckles and gets Guinevere to calm down. She “never acts like this,” my friend assures. It’s “weird but funny.”
Fuck you, Guinevere. And kind of fuck you too, friend of mine. It’s not funny having an animal with sharp teeth chase you down. Or realizing it’s baring its teeth at you because it wants you to know it can hurt you.
Why does this keep happening to me?
Some people would argue I’m doing something to provoke these innocent Fidos. It’s entirely possible some sort of voodoo slave magic emanates from my core, and that’s what’s making all of the doggies I run into hate me so much. Or maybe I’m actually a huge bitch and I use Black telepathic powers to communicate with dogs that I hate them. Some may assume I act afraid around dogs. And that’s what encourages them to attack me.
But I think it’s because a lot of White people’s dogs just don’t like Black people.
Some professionals argue that dogs’ evolutionary history impels them to protect the pack when danger approaches. In 2020, the “pack” is their owner. Dogs also pick up on…
