I ask other people to leash their dogs often. My dog is a rescue and needs to be introduced to new dogs slowly with both dogs on leash. Once, another dog ran up to us too quickly and before I had time to react my dog tried to bite the other. The other owner was mad at me.
I was mad at the other owner and worried that my dog might be labeled aggressive but the situation de-escalated quickly. There are many unleashed dogs at my apartment complex and local trails. I often have to hold my dog's collar or pick her up while the other person leashes.
I remind the other owners that these are leashed areas and every time they assure me that their "well trained and friendly" dogs have never run up to another dog before (sure). I'm usually frustrated & angry particularly if their dog got all the way to us and ignored their owner.
Point of this thread: I often, in tense situations, tell other people to leash their dogs. No one has ever called the police on me or accused me of threatening them. Even when myself or my dog was acting aggressively. Unleashed dogs are merely an inconvenience to me.
And even if by some chance the police ever did show up, I doubt my race or gender would be mentioned in the phone call. One key difference between Christian Cooper and myself is that I am a white woman and he's a black man.
In a sociology class, I learned about a phenomenon called "biking while black" it was part of a list of things that POC have had the police called on them for that white people do all the time. I didn't really internalize it. I told myself it was because I didn't bike.
But I jog and I tell other people to leash their dogs about once a week and this week hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to stop and wonder if I would be able to do either of those if it weren't for my privilege. Racism is still alive and well.
No one likes to think that they are racist but days like this remind me that I still have my own implicit biases. Acknowledging them when they surface and reflecting on situations where my fear could have lead to explicit biases is once step to combating it.
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