There is an old saying that I have lived by for probably 40 years. I read it somewhere...I can't remember where.. probably in a college phychology book. It goes like this:
"Listen to what people are saying ....they are telling you something about themselves."
So in Nov 2009 I stood and listened while a Decatur Animal Control officer told me that Dachshunds were more aggressive than Pit Bulls and that Pit Bulls were the most abused animals in the world. Several weeks later as we continued to endure the 24 hour a day jungle sounds coming from 4 Pit Bulls next door, a neighbor saw us out and told us that he had a talk with this Animal Control Officer at a friend's house and he told him how those dogs barked all night long. This neighbor told us that it was said back to him by this Decatur Al Animal Control Officer that their (MEANING US) problem is ---------
"THEY ARE JUST RACIST"
This man has met me one time at my front door in reference to a noise nuisance complaint and has never met my husband. so HE DOESN'T KNOW US FROM ADAM'S HOUSECAT!!!!!!!!!! Then I whisper to myself............
Listen to what this man is saying....He is telling you something about himself!
WE HAVE LIVED OUR ENTIRE MARRIED LIVES
BY THE GOLDEN RULE:" DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU
WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU." WE WOULD
NEVER OWN DOGS THAT COULD MAUL SOMEONE
OR LET THEM BARK SO LOUD THAT NEIGHBORS
IN HOUSES CLOSE BY COULD NOT SLEEP AT NIGHT
OR LET DOGS SQUEAL OUT SO LOUD THAT IT
SUDDENLY WAKES PEOPLE UP AT ALL HOURS
OF THE NIGHT OR LET 4 DOGS HOWL AT FAR
AWAY SIRENS AT INTERVALS THROUGH THE
NIGHT OR LET ONE PIT BULL THAT IS APPARENTLY
VERY FRIGHTENED OF STORMS SCREAM AND
HUFF AND SCRAMBLE TO GET OUT OF ITS PEN
FOR HOURS ON END AS STORMS APPROACH,
AS IT RAINS FOR 3 HOURS AND AS THE STORM
ENDS - 3 HOURS OF SOLID HORROR MOVIE NOISE
LIKE THE DOG IS GOING TO HANG ITSELF RIGHT
NEAR OUR BEDROOM AND NO ONE EVER COMES
OUT TO CHECK ON THAT DOG! (by the way I have
recordings of all this) WE WOULD NEVER LET
SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN. WE WOULD
NEVER ALLOW AN ANIMAL TO GROWL AND LUNG
AT NEIGHBORS OVER AND OVER AGAIN EVERY
TIME THEY COME OUT THEIR BACK DOOR OR
TRY TO CLEAN UP ON THE SIDE OF THEIR HOUSE.
NOW LET ME TELL YOU THE KINDS OF THINGS
THAT WE WOULD DO:
*As a young sports reporter starting out on his 1st job (1965-66) my husband began going to the 1 black high school in the town and covering their football games and all their sports. They had gotten only occasional coverage before that.
*As segregation ended that next year, he went himself to the last graduation of the "Black High School" and gave them a great story just because he wanted to.
*He once observed a young black football quarterback from the black high school hurrying to complete his janitorial work at the newspaper so he could leave to play in the game, and my husband thought this young man was so admirable, he wrote a special story about him.
*There is a picture hanging on our den wall of my husband about 28 yrs old and Joe Louis - Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World - my husband did a week long series writing stories about Joe, a black man, when he came to our small town. It focused on his life being born in rural Alabama and how he became a boxing champ. (Not that we are fans of boxing....we were fans of Joe Louis)
*Once we had children, any time there was a birthday party or a spend the night party for my daughter, everyone was invited-the entire class white or black-no one got left out at our house.
*My husband worked at a University for 11 years beginning in the 1970's and was the first SID to put out a sports brochure at that college with black players on the front cover.
*We have had neighbors of all colors and from many countries live in our neighborhoods as we moved to different jobs in new states. When we were looking for a house in Decatur in 1995, I flew 1100 miles from the state we were living in to Decatur to work with a real estate agent to find a house, and on that flight down, I did something I am so proud of myself for doing. As I was checking in to board the plane, I was asked if I would sit by a paraplegic man that no one else wanted to sit by. He needed 2 men to help him board and fold up his special wheelchair. I was placed by the window because he needed to be placed in the isle seat. We talked the entire flight and he told me many things about himself, And as we separated in Charlotte for me to change flights, I told him how nice it was to meet him and to talk with him. And because he could not be moved, I had to climb out over his legs to get out. And this old white haired Granny did it without hesitation....and then I shook hands with this "NICE BLACK MAN" AND TOLD HIM GOODBYE.
*My husband was getting back into the newspaper writing profession when we came to live in Decatur, and he was looking for subjects to write about and he needed to incorporate more people of color in his writings. He once went riding in his old truck out in the country and saw an old house with clothes on the line and got out and began talking to the family and wound up writing a story about an old "BLACK WOMAN BEDRIDDEN IN THAT HOUSE". It was a great story and he has done many, many such stories.
*My grandchildren came to live with us for 7 years here in Decatur and when my granddaughter was in Jr. High she met a "Best Friend" who spent many nights at this house. She was the cutest most fun girl and her mother was a white woman and her Daddy was "THE NICEST BIG TALL BLACK MAN FROM PUERTO RICO"!!!!!!!!!
*And through all these years we had a "Special Needs Child" in the days when there were no services for children with special needs. So the only thing we would discriminate against anyone for is RECKLESS IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR-THE KIND OF BEHAVIOR THAT PUTS PEOPLES LIVES IN DANGER.
THIS DANGEROUS DOG PROBLEM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SHADE OF SKIN ANYBODY HAS OR WHERE THEY HAPPENED TO BE BORN. IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE ABILITY TO LIVE IN PEACE AND TRANQUILITY AND TO FEEL SAFE ON A PERSON'S OWN PROPERTY.
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“YOU ARE A RACIST!”
According to Google News Archive, the phrase began circulating in the mid 1980′s, which is when there was the first surge of U.S. cities adopting pit bull laws. In a 1987 Toledo Blade article, kooky Dr. Ian Dunbar (connected with the ACF) said: “Singling out a breed like the American Staffordshire terrier — commonly called the pit bull — ‘is just like being racist or sexist.’”
Also an anthropomorphic phrase, “You are racist!” is voiced by pit bull advocates to condemn their critics. Today, the phrase is frequently flung at people by pit bull advocates in the comment section of a mauling thread. Interestingly, commenter Doug lashes back at Maul Talkers for playing the race card:
"I wonder about tendencies on your part though. If me Hating these dogs and Rotties is what you call RACIST and IGNORANT, so be it. But take a look deep inside and ask yourself - WHY DID YOU BRING BLACK PEOPLE INTO THIS DISCUSSION?" --Doug