Don’t play into Trump’s xenophobic pet scare

I ENJOY joking about Trump’s pets-for-dinner paranoia as much as the next person. Provided, that is, that we’re laughing at Trump and his stupidity—and not at immigrants.

Food taboos are, unfortunately, fodder for dividing Us from Them. Mormons are wary of coffee- and alcohol-drinkers, Jews and Muslims of pig-eaters, Hindus of cow eaters, Americans of frog- and dog-eaters, and on and on. From there it is but a few steps to dehumanization, that is, viewing swaths of people as lesser, as deserving of condescension, exclusion, inequity, even aggression. (“Let’s bomb the hell outta those disgusting [whatever]-eaters.”)

Though Trump’s rumeur du jour accuses people from Haiti, “they’ll eat your pets” has long played into Asian hate. I have often been warned by concerned, misinformed friends not to let an Asian family adopt a puppy or kitten lest the animal  become their next meal. 

Come on! No, your Asian neighbors are NOT butchering and eating your pets.

To be sure, there are countries—not just in Asia—where a minority of people consume canine meat. Even so, the consumers do NOT chase down and butcher roving dogs. They purchase canine meat the same way you and I purchase beef, pork, or chicken: at a market.* 

They don’t chase down and butcher pets here, either. **

I might add that many Asian families, here and abroad, keep dogs and cats as companions, just as you and I do.

As for “they’ll eat your pets” jokes, do not brook the “it’s all in good fun” defense. The most benignly-intended wisecracks about pet-eating inevitably circulate. And escalate. And reinforce harmful stereotypes. And, in turn, generate yet more rumors. The resulting snowball is Asian Hate, and the result of that is vandalized Asian-owned businesses and personal assaults on people of Asian descent for the mere act of walking down the street. Such inhuman events are not rare. They show up frequently in news reports. Many more go unreported.

Let’s have no part in it. Do not entertain and certainly do not repeat racist or ethnic jokes of any sort. As a humor writer (alleged, anyway), I assure you that no shortage of human foibles are ripe for a good lampooning with no risk of dehumanization.
__________________________

* Those who supply the markets may or may not obtain animals legitimately. No need to @ me about that. 

** Please don’t @ me if your brother-in-law’s cousin’s best friend’s old army buddy swears that he heard about an immigrant family that ate someone’s pet hamster. It’s probably not true, but I allow for the rarest rule-proving exception.