This is a delicate subject so I’ll tread gently! However, it is an interesting one. I feel inclined to write about it and seek some feedback in comments, particularly from our American visitors. In my internet searches on Flickr, a major photo sharing website where there are tens of millions of photographs, I have failed to find or stumble upon a photo of a black woman with her cat. That might be pure chance and not significant but it might be an indication of something – not sure what!
Some people say that black people hate cats. That must be wrong. Obviously there will be a wide range of preferences from black people towards cats. Some will strongly dislike cats and some will love cats. It’ll be the same for white people.
The question is whether there is a higher percentage of black people who dislike cats in comparison to white people and if so why?
I sense from reading the answers on a Yahoo Answers website page, that there is a higher percentage of black people who dislike the domestic cat. If I am correct, it begs the question, why?
One thing comes to mind: superstition. There is a good bit of history, folklore and legend surrounding the domestic cat. There was a time in the Middle Ages hundreds of years ago when the cat was persecuted in Europe. There was a lot of superstition at that time. I am thinking of witchcraft, the black cat and witches’ familiars etc.
Superstition can foster an unjustified fear of the cat. This will naturally lead to dislike or even hatred. Black people may have a tendency to have more superstitions about the cat than white people. I have no firm information to support that. It is just a gut feel and a guess. Certainly in Africa domestic cats are seen by some as bearer of evil especially if something strange has happened such as the cat has got their head stuck in a jar. have a page on black cat entering the debating chamber of Kenya’s Parliament and one MP asks for an immediate evacuation.
Of course, if I saw all the visitors to PoC I would be able to see the percentage of white to black people. People who visit the site will normally like cats. Alexa an internet company that provides information about website does not and cannot provide a visitor profile with respect to their skin color.
I sense, however, that most visitors to PoC are white people and I would love it if there were more black people. That said I could be mistaken in my assessment.
It may be that black people are less likely to visit websites about animals. There are a whole range of influences that affect website visitations. I read that black folk in the American south prefer dogs for instance.
What can I conclude? Black people may have a greater tendency than white people to be slightly fearful of the cat due to superstition or incorrect information about the cat, which possibly leads to a lower percentage keeping cats as companions. That is a guess and not a criticism. We all have our views and I respect the views of others even when they are completely opposite to mine.
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Thanks Yulya for commenting.
Well, it is cultural,and learned behavior. But as one can see, some commenters DO love cats. And the cultural bias doesn’t interfere with that.
Actually, it’s just an cultural holdover from Africa,though it’s been for about 400 years now. It’s not genetic.
Really ! Oh, and I’d say that boxes are for certain kinds of people.
Boxes??? How does THAT work,lol.
John Bayless, I’m with you !! I’ve witnessed what you are describing here. Especially the beating of children part,and vowed to avoid similar situations at all costs . I’m a first generation American ( and last- I am leaving ASAP) because we had no idea that the history,much less the present,was such a disillusioning experience. We didn’t sign up for it, that’s for sure ! But this was the early fifties, VOA and RFE hid all this, because they wanted to create a brain drain from the USSR,and it worked, brilliantly. Anyway, be it the US, the Caribbean,or Africa,the beliefs and attitudes are the same,it being the diaspora and all.