Thursday, April 14, 2011

Racism in the Animal Kingdom: It's Real.


      If you'd have asked me a year ago whether I thought animals are racist, I would have laughed in your face! I would have told you, "Animals can't be racist". But now I know that indeed, animals can be racist. 
     It all began a few months ago when my mom observed certain exclusive behaviors amongst our three pets. I have one dog and two cats. 
       My favorite, Alex, what adopted from an animal shelter when I was 10. I was NOT a responsible ten year old when it came to pets. I used to swing poor little Alex around by his legs and throw him around. Please don't call animal services on me....Besides, Alex still loves me. Personally, I like to think that I'm his favorite too. 
      The second cat, Brownie, was adopted from a home in Sandy Springs. Brownie is my least favorite. It all started when we got her. She was so scared that she ran in to a hole in our wall and lived there for a week! When we finally got her out she peed all over our apartment carpet, wouldn't let me hold her and did I mention she peed all over our apartment carpet? To this day I still believe that she is a feral cat. 
      We got our dog Lacey last. We picked her up from the Humane Society for mother's day. She was smaller than Alex and SO STINKIN' CUTE! Lacey is a dumb, yet friendly addition to our family. She does have PTSD due to out neighbor's insane teenage son who used to shoot paint balls at her (smh). She is also deathly afraid of balloons. 
     Lacey and Alex have light brown fur, Brownie has a dark chocolate coat....see where I'm going with this? Lacey and Alex jump Brownie when we're not looking. Seriously, for some reason they both don't like her. Alex (The Thug) attacks her randomly, for no apparent reason. Lacey barks and nips at her whenever she looks at her. Yet Alex and Lacey have no problems with each other. They're pals! Through constant observation, I have determined that Alex and Lacey are indeed racists. 
      There are two ponds on campus here at the university. Everyone knows that where there are ponds, there are ducks. Almost all of the ducks at this pond are normal. They have green heads, brown feathers etc.... Except one. There is one white duck. I really don't know how that happened by the way. During my walks to class I often observe these ducks. I began to notice that the white duck was ALWAYS by itself. The other ducks stay in groups, while the white duck sits under a tree or behind a bush. They rarely fraternize. In fact, there was only one occasion where I saw the white duck even near the others. That, people, is clear and indisputable animal racism. 
     If you keep your eyes open, you will see it too. Don't let animals fool you with their little beady eyes and soft fur. Many of them are animal racists. You need to be aware of this when adopting and grouping animals. You may have a racist in the bunch without even knowing it....

1 comment:

  1. I think it is more about dominance Tanisha (with the cats and dogs and color coat). My dogs which are the same species and look exactly the same tend to attack each other all the time. They are both male and try to do each other. My female dog use to do it too. I can't explain the ducks though. I have seen different color ducks socializing. However, I am aware of the fact that similar species when physically different (color coats), tend to stop mating and chilling together from science class. This includes fish and birds (I am not looking at the animal kingdom).

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