# Sensitive Racial Question Regarding Dogs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307 "2011-05-09T18:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/21 "2011-05-09T20:23:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > 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. I am sorry I offended you. I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I am not a racist person at all. And I definitely didn’t mean to imply I think ALL black people dislike dogs. Of course that’s not the case. My black neighbor has three yapping lap dogs. I was speaking in generalities. For whatever reason, in my experience, I run into black folks nearly every day who are scared of my dog. As I said in my OP, perhaps its coincidence, or perhaps my dog is more intimidating than I think. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/22 "2011-05-09T20:24:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Maybe you should try meeting some black people. I promise you, we’re not all rapists, thieves, and murderers. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/23 "2011-05-09T20:27:29Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > :rolleyes: That wasn’t fair at all. I live in Memphis. There are more black folks than white here. I purposely live in the city and not the suburbs because I enjoy the diversity and having people of different backgrounds around me. It seriously bothers me to think someone would ever consider me racist. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/24 "2011-05-09T20:29:09Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > It might have been the case at one time though, right? Not now, of course. No. This statement isn’t obviously false? “Because, in the south, a lot of dogs were raised by rednecks to attack black people.” Do people really believe there are, what, dog training camps with black manakins that all the white folks in the south send their dogs to? Did I miss all the reports of people down south being torn to bits by dogs? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/25 "2011-05-09T20:32:03Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > And were the dogs, loved or not, big dogs, working dogs, useful dogs? Hounds, perhaps? I don’t know what dogs you think you’re referring to. We never had pet dogs in the house when I was a lad, because my mother despised them and my father adored her much more than he ever could any animal. So Mother’s antipathy was never directed, at least in my presence, towards any particular variety of canine. > [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > That wasn’t fair at all. I live in Memphis. There are more black folks than white here. I purposely live in the city and not the suburbs because I enjoy the diversity and having people of different backgrounds around me. It seriously bothers me to think someone would ever consider me racist. I too live in Memphis. I was calling you a malevolent racist; I was implying (and am now asserting outright) that the assumption that there’s some categorical difference between white persons and black persons on this subject is indicicative of a sort of benign ignorance that would seem to imply that you haven’t spent much time in the company of black persons in a substantive way. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/26 "2011-05-09T20:34:04Z")
[somewhat applicable thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547096&highlight=racist). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/27 "2011-05-09T20:35:28Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I live in Memphis. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I too live in Memphis. Wow, what an opportunity. Dopefest for two, coming up. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/28 "2011-05-09T20:35:59Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t know what dogs you think you’re referring to. We never had pet dogs in the house when I was a lad, because my mother despised them and my father adored her much more than he ever could any animal. So Mother’s antipathy was never directed, at least in my presence, towards any particular variety of canine. > > I too live in Memphis. I was calling you a malevolent racist; I was implying (and am now asserting outright) that the assumption that there’s some categorical difference between white persons and black persons on this subject is indicicative of a sort of benign ignorance that would seem to imply that you haven’t spent much time in the company of black persons in a substantive way. You can call me ignorant all you want; that might be true. But I am not a racist by any means. And I have had many experiences over the years with black people–working, socializing, etc. Anyway, apologies again for offending you. It was not my intent. But I stand by the fact that on a nearly daily basis black people recoil from my dog and white people run up and pet it or say something about him. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/29 "2011-05-09T20:39:17Z")
My dog will usually bark at anyone or any dog he sees who either 1) is much larger than him, or 2) has a dark appearance, either from skin or dark clothing (especially package delivery guys in dark uniforms). If someone is large and dark, it’s the worst, or someone with a dark beard and hat, especially if they have a large dark coat on as well, (including his owner). There’s nothing racist per se about it; the dog just equates big and dark with looming threat. I would imagine this is an innate survival skill from wolf in the forest days. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/30 "2011-05-09T20:40:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > 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. > > Maybe you should try meeting some black people. I promise you, we’re not all rapists, thieves, and murderers. I have spent the past 20 years living in neighborhoods that are basically half black and half white, and my experience has been somewhat similar to the OP. I would certainly not say that, “generally speaking”, black people are wary of my little fluffy dog, but… when I DO get that cold stare and “Does your dog bite?”… it’s pretty much always from a black person. I just figure that (a) it probably has something to do with having been brought up in an environment where mean dogs were not uncommon, and that (b) where I live, that description more often applies to blacks than whites. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/31 "2011-05-09T20:41:46Z")
I live in Harlem and I have a dog. I walk her several times a day and I’ve never had anyone of any race respond badly to her. She’s a french bulldog and all of 12 pounds (10 pounds of dog, 2 pounds of ears to be precise) so maybe her size has something to do with the positive responses she gets, but everyone loves her and makes conversation with her. The only weird thing that ever happened was one guy who barked at her until she ran and hid behind my legs, but I think that was more of a mental health issue than a racism issue. Oh, and FWIW we just finished her obedience training yesterday. Her trainer was black and brought her own dog to class with her for demonstrations. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/32 "2011-05-09T20:43:33Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > No. This statement isn’t obviously false? “Because, in the south, a lot of dogs were raised by rednecks to attack black people.” > > Do people really believe there are, what, dog training camps with black manakins that all the white folks in the south send their dogs to? Did I miss all the reports of people down south being torn to bits by dogs? No I don’t think there are dog training camps. 😃 But it’s the only plausible option anyway has posted yet. It certainly seems like something racist rednecks would train their dogs to do during the 60s and before that. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/33 "2011-05-09T20:46:28Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t know what dogs you think you’re referring to. We never had pet dogs in the house when I was a lad, because my mother despised them and my father adored her much more than he ever could any animal. So Mother’s antipathy was never directed, at least in my presence, towards any particular variety of canine. Okay, but each of them must have seen some real dogs, or at least been told something about some real dogs, once upon a time, which formed those preferences about “dogs.” Those are the dogs I was referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/34 "2011-05-09T20:46:32Z")
In my community, there was a lot of racist attitudes about white folks and dogs. Lots of blacks I knew did not like dogs in the house and would throw slurs about white people being dirty for having dogs in their beds, eating at their tables, kissing them in the mouth, etc. There were also slurs about white people having bugs in their hair and attributing that to them living with dogs in their homes. I don’t know if that is why some whites have noticed anti-dog behavior in some blacks, but I distinctly remember those attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/35 "2011-05-09T20:51:37Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Lots of blacks I knew did not like dogs in the house and would throw slurs about white people being dirty for having dogs in their beds, eating at their tables, kissing them in the mouth, etc. Yep. And this goes with the idea that dogs are working or useful animals–not cuddlesome, not family, and maybe just not _nice_. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/36 "2011-05-09T20:54:04Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Yep. And this goes with the idea that dogs are working or useful animals–not cuddlesome, not family, and maybe just not _nice_. The idea of my dog “working” makes me laugh! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/37 "2011-05-09T20:58:49Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > But it’s the only plausible option anyway has posted yet. It certainly seems like something racist rednecks would train their dogs to do during the 60s and before that. Except it isn’t a plausible option. Sure, I bet you could find white people in the south who would sic their dogs on a black person. The dogs are specially trained, a “lot” of people do it and because of this black people now transmit a primal fear of dogs from parent to child … really now? If you absolutely must believe in this race-based fear, then let’s keep looking beyond “the rednecks done did it.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/38 "2011-05-09T20:59:52Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > In my community, there was a lot of racist attitudes about white folks and dogs. Lots of blacks I knew did not like dogs in the house and would throw slurs about white people being dirty for having dogs in their beds, eating at their tables, kissing them in the mouth, etc. There were also slurs about white people having bugs in their hair and attributing that to them living with dogs in their homes. > > I don’t know if that is why some whites have noticed anti-dog behavior in some blacks, but I distinctly remember those attitudes. Well, it is true that black people don’t get head lice. (Or if they do I suppose it’s vanishingly rare.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/39 "2011-05-09T21:05:16Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, it is true that black people don’t get head lice. (Or if they do I suppose it’s vanishingly rare.) The problem is, they were attributing that to having an animal in the bed, or whatever. I still get slack from some when they hear I let my cat in my bed. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307/40 "2011-05-09T21:13:30Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > The idea of my dog “working” makes me laugh! Yeah, well, to be honest the same is true of many of the “hunting” and “guard” dogs round here. It is, in fact, the _idea_ of the useful dog, more than the actuality. But they do tend to be bigger and tougher-_looking_ animals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sensitive-racial-question-regarding-dogs/581307.md?page=3)