A Hill Times columnist says all white people are racist because they like dogs.."I don’t know who needs to hear this but dogs do not equal people," Erica Ifill tweeted on Thursday.."It’s amazing to me how white people show more compassion to animals than to people on the street."."You people are reprehensible.".Ifill also included a tweet of a man French kissing a dog..She also mocked the public reaction to the shooting death earlier this week of a Toronto police K9 called Bingo..The Hill Times is a daily news website, published in Ottawa, covering politics..Twitter users were quick to fire back at the journalist for the comments.."Sorry to burst your bubble but my canine in Afghanistan saved many, many lives on our patrol," one Twitter user wrote.."He found explosives (IEDs) that a human wouldn't have. Your comments show just how vile you are."."How is liking dogs now racist? Where do you people get these ideas?" ."You're quite the disgusting person wow you’re Pathetic," another person wrote..Ifill linked a study in her tweet by Shontel Stewart of the University of Alabama School of Law..The study was named, Man’s Best Friend? How Dogs Have Been Used to Oppress African Americans.."The use of dogs as tools of oppression against African Americans has its roots in slavery and persists today in everyday life and police interactions," Stewart said in the study.."Due to such harmful practices, African Americans are not only disproportionately terrorized by officers with dogs, but they are also subject to instances of misplaced sympathy, ill-suited laws and social exclusion in their communities.".Stewart said, whether extreme and violent or subtle and pervasive, the use of dogs in oppressive acts is a "critical layer of racial bias in the United States that has consistently built injustices that impede social and legal progress."."By recognizing this pattern and committing to an intentional effort to end the devaluation of African Americans, the United States can begin to address the trailing pawprints of its racial inequities," Stewart said.."Negro dogs, misplaced sympathy, K-9 units, bias in dog law, and social segregation all demonstrate the weaponization of dogs against African Americans. When people weaponize dogs, they gain a powerful tool —hellhounds.".Stewart said, "This weaponized tool" has consistently built injustices that impede social and legal progress.."These injustices infest interactions with police, courts, and neighbourhood communities," Stewart said.."How can African Americans escape the echoing barks and piercing bites of weaponized dogs? If society is committed to reshaping its present interracial discord, it must recognize that people have used dogs as an instrument in the oppression of African Americans; it must recognize that it’s time for the hellhounds of societies song to play a different tune.".The reference to "You people" has gotten celebrities fired in the past..Since 1986, Don Cherry had been a host on Coach’s Corner, known mostly for his colourful matching suits and language..That all changed when he said “You people that come here” don’t wear poppies or support veterans..“You people that come here … whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy,” Cherry said..Cherry was eventually cancelled and fired from CBC Sports for the comments.
