[Dwanny]

I have met a lot of black people who are afraid of cats. Why is this?

User Detail :  

Name : Dwanny, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 53, City : Springtown, State : TX Country : United States, 

[Cocoa19656]

I'm a twenty year old black female, I love and adore those fury, cute, cuddly, four-legged creatures. When I was born or possibly before; my parents had owned a cat they called Graycie. My great- aunt and second cousin had a cat named Princess. I owned a black cat that I named Christmas. My father used to own a cat with his former wife named Prettygirl. So you see, those were examples of cat-loving black people. My maternal grandmother freaks out when a cat comes near her. It had to do with being a baby and was weened with fur to discourage from being breast fed. Ever since then, she hated the feeling of a cat brushing up against her skin.

User Detail :  

Name : Cocoa19656, City : Tampa, State : FL Country : United States, 

[Sherry19659]

I am not afraid of cats; however, I have a firm dislike of them. In my humble opinion, I thinks cats are quite nasty.

User Detail :  

Name : Sherry19659, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 25, City : Fort Worth, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Nurse, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lynne19663]

Lots of people are afraid/of don't like cats. Doesn't seem to me that's more common among Blacks.

User Detail :  

Name : Lynne19663, City : Gainesville, State : FL Country : United States, 

[Jason]

I've noticed the same thing and up until now I thought it was just my own imagination. All of my black friends(and one white friend) are afraid of cats and aren't comfortable in my house because I have a cat... actually, I think it's kind of funny(like an elephant being afraid of a mouse). I'm black and I grew up with lots of pets, most of them being cats, so I really can't see anything 'scary' or 'threatening' about a common housecat. I don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence? I'm sure there are lots of non-blacks that are afraid of cats too.

User Detail :  

Name : Jason, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : Birmingham, State : AL Country : United States, Occupation : Security Guard, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jewell]

I'm a black woman who has a cat. Who lives in a home with other black women who have a cat of their own. I've never heard of black people being afraid of cats. But I have noticed that there are people in general who are not comfortable with them. Men (American men in particular), of whatever race, seem to have a disproportionate number of 'cat issues' in comparison to women. I guess it's a question of how many black people you know and how many of them you have asked the 'cat question'.

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Name : Jewell, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 31, City : Fairfield, State : CA Country : United States, 

[TL]

Um, sorry to say your are generalizing.....I have a cat, a black one. I've met a few people of different races, that are afraid of cats. A lot of people that I know either don't like cats (and that is across racial lines) or they are allergic to them. How many Black people have you met? 50? 500? 1,000? 1,000,000? How many Black people do you KNOW & are good friends with? I've met a lot of kids that are afraid of dogs but I don't question it like it's a phenomenon. Common sense tells me that it is either due to being unfamiliar with dogs or they had a bad experience with dogs.

User Detail :  

Name : TL, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 37, City : Minneapolis, State : MN Country : United States, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Girl]

I am actually a cat lover,(I have 2) as is the majority of everyone in my family. I very rarely meet Black people who like cats. So I can't answer your question, but it's something that's odd to me as well.

User Detail :  

Name : Girl, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Atheist, Age : 24, City : Love, State : GA Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jocelyn J.]

A lot of it has to do with superstitions passed down. Many old wives' tales see cats as evil, sneaky, and sometimes as witches and animals of the night. True, cats are mostly nocturnal but they are not evil. Most Blacks are typically exposed to dogs rather than cats. Cats tend to be aloof and jumpy around people and are not as immediately affectionate and that has a lot to do with it whereas a dog will love you very quickly. Most lower-class and non-exposed see cats as something dangerous that will 'claw and scratch' and 'suck the air from you baby' amongst other irrational fears about them. Most of it is simply passed down in the culture but it is slowly changing.

User Detail :  

Name : Jocelyn J., City : Cordova, State : TN Country : United States, 

[Daryl19788]

for the same reason that old white women are afraid of tall, huge black men! - Lol Its obviously an irrational fear that we all have in us, because of lack of exposure or fear of the unknown. And yes, an unfamiliar cat won't hesitate to slap your shin if cornered unknowingly. Its happened to me even though I like cats - or rather, tolerate them!

User Detail :  

Name : Daryl19788, Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 30, City : Fort Worth, State : TX Country : United States, 

[ScarletteLastar]

Well if the Black people you are referring to were Africans, it's actually because there are many wild cats (and I am not referring to lions and tigers) in many African countries. The wild cats are really aggressive, so I guess experience taught them to be careful.

User Detail :  

Name : ScarletteLastar, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Half Black-Half White, Religion : Humanist, Age : 22, City : Montreal, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : student/receptioniste, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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