PETAs recent position that the concept of purebred dogs is equivalent to racism is completely insane, of course, as most people have come to expect of PETAs positions.
But, like many crazy things, it has a kernel of quasi-truth to it. People are completely comfortable talking about the characteristics of different breeds of dogs (this breed is good with kids, that breed is a good watchdog, this other breed is pretty but stupid, that other breed does nothing but bark all day, and so on). You can look this stuff up. You can buy books that tell you what breed you should get, depending on your own personality and situation. Nobody, except PETA, thinks anything of this. There are no protests.
But it’s a small step from thinking that you can judge the character of a dog from its appearance to thinking that you can judge the character of a person from his or her appearance. And that, dear reader, is racism.
Of course, it’s a wrong step. People are not bred to have a particular appearance or character, while dogs are and have been selectively bred to reinforce certain characteristics for many hundreds of generations. Breedism is not racism. Breeding is engineering.
In my own case, I can state categorically that red hair is not a by-product of a breeding program to create hyper-intelligence, nor is deep yellow skin a side effect of a breeding program to create the ultimate lover, just as bulging eyes and strong prescription glasses are not a side effect of the sarcasm gene. These are mere coincidences.
