Pet Keeping and Pet Hiding in Black America
Policymakers and societal norms interpret the presence of animals in the home and on the street differently for groups along the axes of class and race, even when the motivations for pet keeping are the same. The wide variety of decisions and experiences surrounding pet ownership in the black community reflect the many ways that they have negotiated with belonging and citizenship, negotiating with animals as family members, tools of white supremacy, and markers of respectability.