I am going to try to ask this as gently as possible. But has anyone noticed that, generally speaking, African-Americans don’t particularly care for dogs? This could just be coincidence or maybe something to do with my location (Memphis), but whenever I am walking my dog and I pass by an African-American person, there is about a 50/50 chance the person will recoil or even ask me if the dog is vicious or will bite. My dog is a friendly fur ball, and not intimidating at all. He has never growled or shown his teeth to anyone.
In fact, this morning, I was walking him by the school in my neighborhood, and a young black mom noticeably stepped away from my dog, but her toddler son approached us. I asked the mom if it was OK for him to pet my dog, and she said that it was and she didn’t want her to son to be as afraid of dogs as she was. This same situation has happened a few times. And it’s not just women either. Grown men have had the same reaction. Is my dog more intimidating than I think? Is it coincidence? Or is there something else going on here?
I also wanted to point out that this has happened often enough that if I am passing an African-American person on the sidewalk, I make sure I have my dog on a tight leash to avoid scaring the person or making them uncomfortable. I am not as likely to be as strict about this if it’s a white person.
You don’t have to tip-toe around questions like that here. Other people have noticed what you are talking about as well. It isn’t that black people don’t like dogs. Many have dogs of their own. It is just a genuine belief among many blacks (and whites for that matter) that dogs are racist little shits and likely to attack them even if the dog is all snuggles and hugs to everyone else. We have debated whether or not many dogs really are racist here before without firm conclusions. However, it does result in an unfortunate feedback loop. Some dogs respond aggressively to nervousness and lots of blacks get nervous around them. This perpetuates the cycle.
When my wife and I first got married, we lived in an apartment in a fairly well-integrated Chicago suburb. I’d take our dog for walks, and I did notice this phenomenon fairly often.
Now, note that Max (our dog at the time) was a Brittany spaniel / golden retriever mix. His fur was mostly white, with some brown patches, he had a big flaggy tail, wasn’t terribly big (35 pounds), and had a very happy disposition. Even so, it was absolutely common that African-Americans I’d encounter while walking Max would go out of their way to avoid coming anywhere near us. On a few occasions, such people would even make comments along the lines of, “sorry, I’m scared of your dog”. My usual response to that was, “don’t worry, he’d only be a threat to you if you were a Milk-Bone.”
It’s possible that I occasionally got a similar reaction from a non-African-American while walking Max, but it seemed to be the typical reaction we’d get from African-Americans.
I don’t know why exactly this is, but my guess, at the time, was that it was more common for African-Americans to keep dogs as guard dogs (or possibly for dogfighting), and, thus, African-Americans had been more likely to assume that a random dog which they met would be vicious. But, I have absolutely no evidence to back that up.
Thanks for saying that. I wasn’t sure how the question would be received. It’s something I’ve wondered since I’ve had a dog.
I too, have noticed “racist dogs.” My sister says her dog is a racist because it’s previous owner was black and he mistreated the dog. I have no idea if that’s possible. The nervous theory makes sense.
This is more like it. Or part of it. It’s just a rate or proportion thing, not a rule, but among black people I know who have dogs, a much higher percentage than for white folks generally seem to be dogs that maybe actually could put a hurt on somebody. It’s the same impulse that leads us “rednecks” to tend to have such dogs–they’re “useful,” or at least their breeds once were. Not so many lap dogs.
I’ve noticed this as well. At the dog park I go to, the majority of the black folks tend to have German Shepherds or pit bulls. You don’t see as many with toy poodles.
A year or two ago, there were a series of threads on that subject, because the board was collecting data for a column. I’m not sure if it was ever written, but I do remember several posters admitting that their dog reacted badly to seeing black people. I think it’s partially because of the nervousness on the part of the people, and partially because some dogs are suspicious of people who don’t look like “their” people. I have dogs, but the latter makes me unlikely to interact with people’s dogs on the street.
I live in the city of Chicago and I’ve not noticed this. I always see people walking dogs and the black people don’t seem anymore leery than the rest.
I am very leery of dogs, because you never know. I met my neighbors that way. They have a very friendly dog that looks really STUPID. He was so stupid as I was petting him, he confused me and snatched my peanut butter cup. Ate it wrapper and all
There was a woman out walking once wearing what I can best describe as “traditional African garb.” A head piece of some sort and her dress was very colorful. My dog went crazy barking. I thought it was the long dress and the bright colors that set him off, but maybe I have a racist dog too?
No. I know it sounds cool to pretend that all the white people in the south are raising dogs and training them to attack black people but it shouldn’t take too much thought to figure out that that is absurd.
I certainly didn’t mean it to come across that way. I am genuinely curious as to why this situation repeats itself. It seems others have noticed it too.
I thought about starting a thread on why white people are all clueless, except that I know too many white people who actually have a clue to do that sincerely.
Some black people dislike dogs. Some love them. My parents were both born in rural Mississippi in the 30s; my father always liked dogs, while my mother always hated them. My siblings and I were born in Memphis in the 50s, 60s, & 70s; some of us like dogs, and some can’t stand them. I used to be phobic about dogs, but after some therapy that’s changed to a mild distaste: enough to keep me from ever owning one, but not enough to stop me from feeding a stray who seems to need help. I know white people who are fond of dogs, some who are neutral, some who are as phobic as I used to be.
Maybe you should try meeting some black people. I promise you, we’re not all rapists, thieves, and murderers.
