One thing that has often struck me is the 'reaching' for racism one finds so often. I once asked a new colleague (Brown-skinned) where she came from. In the middle of what might have been a fifteen-minute rant about how offensive the question was, I held up a hand and remarked "You're not from Coventry. Your accent sounds West Country and I wondered if it was Somerset or Devon?" The look on the poor kids' face was priceless!

In a similar vein, I read a rather lengthy, somewhat whiny, article on Medium a while back in which a Black lady complained about her White 'friends' and their 'racist' dogs. It ended with a demand for White people to accustom their dogs to Black and Brown people if they were sincere about not being racist.

I responded, pointing out that dogs function primarily on scent, not sight, so that colour (even if they can see it) means little or nothing to them. I also indicated that dogs, unlike humans, have no filter. I then concluded that the reaction of her friends' pets was not to her colour, but her attitude. She was clearly going into these peoples' homes primed for any hint of racism, for being patronised, for microaggressions etc etc. She did not trust her 'friends' and was constantly in 'fight or flight' mode and this was what was triggering the dogs' hostility. The dog was merely doing its' job. (I dare say any cats involved simply gave her a disgusted look and sloped off. That's what cats do.)

Needless to say, there was no reply.