Black housekeeper says priest barred her from cleaning home, blames 'racist' dog

[CatWoman]

Is it possible for a dog to be racist? That’s a question some found themselves asking after a priest in Tennessee claimed his pooch, which he says is racially biased, is the only reason he wouldn’t be able to let the church’s Black housekeeper come into his home.

According to a report from WHBQ in Memphis, LaShundra Allen says while she was being trained to replace the current housekeeper at the Catholic Church of the Incarnation, she was told she could not enter the home of the Rev. Jacek Kowal.

“I was just supposed to clean the church and I was supposed to go to the pastor’s house and clean as well,” Allen explained. “They were just like, ‘Well, I’m not really sure how to say this,’ kind of like in a joking way, ‘But Father Jacek doesn’t want Black people cleaning the house because his dog is racist.’”

Although Allen has never met the priest, his secretary made it a point to inform her, “I’m sorry, we are not trying to be rude, but the dog doesn’t like Black people.”

In response to the bizarre directive, a letter was sent to the diocese, explaining, “Father Jacek knew that an African American woman was about to clean his home. He made no effort to come meet Ms. Allen. He made no effort to correct any statement about his dog being a ‘racist.’

“Two church office employees then reiterated that Father Jacek ‘did not want (Ms. Allen) there’ and that they needed to leave. Both Ms. Allen and Ms. Weaver were shocked, humiliated, and felt severely disrespected by this treatment and the statements,” the correspondence continued.

https://thegrio.com/2019/08/15/black-housekeeper-says-priest-barred-her-from-cleaning-home-blames-racist-dog/

[blogslut]

1. Somebody is racist

I don't think it's the dog

[Scurrilous]

2. The Son of Sam excuse.

Dog made me do it.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. I am saddened to say "Yes, it is possible."

I have heard of a couple of such cases of doggie racism. I do not approve of it or condone racism in their human owners/associates, but it is possible.

[lunatica]

19. Dogs also bark when they fear something.

No one knows why a dog might fear black people or children or any other group, unless they know when it was caused.

It has nothing to do with racism. Geez! People can say such crap!

If you ever have to call 911 the dispatcher will instruct you to put all your pets in a room with closed doors.

[SharonAnn]

4. So, you put the dog in a crate or in a closed room. Or you take the dog and run errands.

Putting his dog over people? I maintain that you can honor both.

[Captain Stern]

11. That's the answer, right there.

It doesn't matter why a dog 'doesn't like' black people, or kids, or mailmen, or men, or women, or whatever.

Just move the dog someplace else while the people the dog 'doesn't like' are there. Let it back out when they're gone.

Or, just train the dog better.

[Jedi Guy]

5. I can believe a dog might not react well to black people.

When my family lived in Mississippi, our dog would bark like hell when a black person walked past the house. There just weren't many black families in our neighborhood, so I guess he reacted more strongly as a result of not seeing black folks very often.

If we had a guest over and they happened to be black, he was perfectly friendly once he realized that the person was being welcomed by his humans.

All that being said, this guy's story sounds more like a white supremacist twist on the old "dog ate my homework" excuse.

[DBoon]

8. Someone walking by the dog's yard is invading their turf

Someone invited in by the dog's human is part of the pack

The race of the visitor may be irrelevant

[Jedi Guy]

14. I think race was a factor.

I wasn't as clear as I should've been in my original post. He reacted much more strongly to a black person walking by the house than he did when it was a white person.

I don't think animals can be racist, since they don't judge one race as superior/inferior to others. I think they just react to differences in appearance. He didn't see very many black people so they drew a stronger response.

[cwydro]

22. What bull.

Dogs don’t care what color a person is.

Jesus on a trailer hitch!

[CatWoman]

24. LOL

[Jedi Guy]

27. If you say so, Dog Whisperer. N/T

[CatWoman]

17. um

aren't dogs color blind?

[Jedi Guy]

20. They don't see in shades of grey like most people think.

I imagine our dog just didn't see black folks very often and so reacted that way because they were different from most of the humans he saw on a daily basis.

[cwydro]

23. My dogs bark at all humans that go by our yard.

Black, white, old, young.

Do your dogs also have preferences as to the color of dogs that pass by? Or the breed? Dude, just no.

Dogs don’t see human color, and I call nonsense on your posts. Dogs do not care about human race.

[Jedi Guy]

26. You can call nonsense all you like, I don't much care. I was there, I saw how he reacted.

Just because your dogs behave in X way doesn't mean my dog must have, or all dogs do. If a white person walked by, he would bark. If a black person walked by, he'd go apeshit. There were very few black families in our neighborhood, so he seldom saw them.

[link:https://wagwalking.com/sense/can-dogs-tell-skin-color|

I'm not saying dogs are racist. I don't think they are. I don't think they believe that any one race is inferior/superior to any other. I think that if they encounter a person of a race they're unfamiliar with, they may react with more fear/aggression than they would if it were a person of a race they're familiar with. So they can perceive race, but they're not making a value judgment about it.

[yardwork]

6. Disgusting racism. This makes me angry.

[DBoon]

7. "personality travels down the leash"

Dogs are very good about figuring out their humans and behaving accordingly.

They have been bred for this for over 14,000 years

[Mrs. Overall]

9. When I glanced at this headline I initially read "...blames 'racist' god"

[CatWoman]

10. lol

his god is probably racist too

[Midnight Writer]

12. A book by Romain Gary "White Dog". He adopted a dog that was trained to attack black people.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

18. Made into a film by Samuel Fuller

1982 WHITE DOG starring Kristy McNichol

[monmouth4]

13. I thought that dogs were color blind..n/t

[dhill926]

15. You've got to be carefully taught...

[KY_EnviroGuy]

16. Dogs do not know one race from another but they do see contrast.

It is a know thing of dogs reacting to people of color where they rarely see any of those folks and I suspect it's due to unfamiliar contrasts. I owned a spitz once that would go after anyone with dark clothing that approached her and she could strike like lightning.

This priest admitted to believing his dog was "racist" and therefor knew how it would react - probably from prior experience.

Being a pastor, this man should have trained his animal to be familiar with all sorts of people that might visit his home from his parish. If he couldn't do it, a professional trainer could.

If anything, with proper care, using that house cleaner to help train the dog to accept all people might be one approach.

[betsuni]

21. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Racist dog:

[CatWoman]

25. ....

[MichMan]

28. If a dog had previously been abused

Dogs that had unpleasant experiences or were abused can associate that with other people who may have similar characteristics. That could be such things as children, men with hats, or women of a particular race among many others.

I have adopted several rescue dogs and one in particular had been severely abused and was agitated by unexpected things at various times. Dogs are also extremely resilient and with lots of patience and kindness can overcome these types of fears.