pit-bulls and minorities

No, it's not about dog fighting.

If you want to know what those seemingly shady-looking black and Latino men you see in your closest city are really like, I have the answer: go the Humane Society and drop some money on a pit-bull. When my boyfriend and I got a four-month-old pit-bull puppy named Horatio a few months ago, I had no idea he would lead me to more real, honest, legit encounters with non-whites that I had ever had in my life (until I started working in the Milwaukee Public School district, but that's a story for another day).

Really – suddenly I am talking to what seems like all the black and Mexican males Madison has to offer, and you know what? They're really nice. It all happens if you can just make the smallest amount of eye contact. When you see a stranger checking out your dog, meeting his or her eye for just a second tells that person "yes, I am willing to talk to you." Then, they often say something like "beautiful dog," which, if you're willing to stop for a minute (which let's be real, as a decent human being you should be, plus you made eye contact so to ignore him now would just be rude), leads to a conversation. These men usually tell me about their own pits, or other dogs they had growing up, and we often end up discussing the bad rap the breed has been given recently. "It's all about how you raise them," more than one man has told me. "And you gotta raise them to be nice." I agree, and the conversation usually ends with something like "but I can see you're raising him really well. Beautiful dog," and then: "you take care now."

The more this has happened, the more I walk away with mixed feelings of happiness over being complimented on my puppy-rearing skills and guilt over the fact that a few months ago, I had your average less-than-friendly thoughts towards these friendly strangers. Not that they were solid thoughts, of course – there was no "ohmygod, black man up ahead, better cross the street" sort of stuff – just the general feeling of unease and distrust towards non-whites who dress like non-whites that has been normalized in our culture.

But last night, I took Horatio for an evening stroll to the dock near our apartment building, and happened upon a group of black and Mexican men who, to my eyes that are still entrenched in this ingrained bias, looked like they were up to no good. Within one minute all of them had complimented my puppy, and one of them was kneeling down to pet him, rubbing his ears and receiving copious amounts of dog kisses to the face while saying "oh yes, I love you too. I love you too!" in what can only be described as a baby voice.

And I can't say that the whole encounter was in any way unusual. Puppies, I'm telling you: they are one small step towards ending institutionalized racism. My call for action today is to make that brief moment of eye contact. I'm sure there are other instances of this that don't involve dogs, and I am open to your suggestions, but for now, that's what it is. Recognize that person as a human worth your sight and time. Invite that person to share what is on his or her mind about your dog, and then do your best to have an actual connection with a complete stranger, if only for a minute.