A Story About Cats for People Who Say All Lives Matter
By: Missy Crystal
Tags: Politics, Equality, Racism, Short Story, Social Justice

A Story About Cats for People Who Say All Lives Matter

How to help people understand black lives matter

Image by Quang Nguyen vinh from Pixabay

I used to claim I didn’t see color. Back in high school and my early 20s, I made cringeworthy statements like “I’m colorblind.” I was a member of my school’s cultural diversity club and owned a shirt that said “One Race: Human” on the front.

I thought I was doing the right thing.

As I got older, I understood why my statements weren’t helpful. Calling yourself colorblind doesn’t make racism disappear or eliminate racial biases. You can’t fix problems if you pretend they don’t exist in your community.

You also can’t address the injustices black people experience if you make comments like “All lives matter.” Many people believe that every life has value, so they don’t need a reminder. Black lives are in danger, and we need to resolve this issue ASAP. Unfortunately, this important message often gets overlooked in a sea of #AllLivesMatter hashtags.

Maybe you’re guilty of declaring that all lives matter and you don’t understand why you should stop. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who doesn’t get why black lives are getting so much attention lately. Maybe you suspect some of your loved ones are racist jerks so you want to share this post on social media and see what happens.

Either way, this story is for you.

Maci and Her Three Cats

Maci was a middle-aged woman with 3 beautiful cats: Shadow, Marshmallow, and Caramel.

Shadow was a loving black kitty who was abandoned by his owners at the local animal shelter.

Image by Zsuzsanna Tóth from Pixabay

Marshmallow was a fluffy white kitty who joined Maci’s family after Marshmallow’s original owner relocated for work.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Caramel was a mischievous tabby cat who loved exploring the outdoors.

Image by sspiehs3 from Pixabay

Maci loved all her cats equally, but she realized they all had different colored fur. She was nervous that people might treat her furry friends differently even though her hubby always tried to reassure her by saying, “Cats are cats. They all look the same to me, sweetie!”

Her hubby had good intentions, but Maci was tired of seeing negative stories about black cats in the media. She’d seen numerous articles saying black cats are killed more often than other cats because people are scared of them. When Maci found Shadow at the shelter, the vet tech warned her that black cats are also harder to adopt because people believe they bring bad luck to their owners. Maci also noticed that Animal Control seemed to pick up black cats more often than other felines in her neighborhood.

After spaying and neutering all three cats, they still insisted on going outside. Maci tried keeping them in her home, but they yowled and scratched at her door. She finally gave in and opened the door so they could roam the neighborhood. Maci had seen other cats exploring the area, and she wanted her pets to have the same opportunities.

She was nervous, though, and knew she had to keep a closer eye on her black cat because of how people might react to him. Maci realized it was unfair, and she wanted to work on educating neighbors so they could understand her black cat was just as sweet as her white and orange cats. Unfortunately, those talks would take time, and there was no guarantee she could get all her neighbors on board.

In the meantime, it was important for Maci to know the risks before she let Shadow outside. Black cats had been killed in her neighborhood multiple times over the last year, and most people didn’t seem to understand why this was a problem. Maci tried explaining that these black cats were innocent felines who did nothing wrong, but her words seemed to go unheard.

Last year, an incident happened that greatly upset Maci. She saw a neighbor’s calico kitty attack another neighbor’s dog, slicing through his fur with her sharp claws. Instead of leaving, the calico kitty sat under a nearby tree, taunting the pup as he winced in pain.

An older black kitty named Zoom was sitting on his owner’s porch about 10 houses down, minding her own business. Zoom rarely ventured away from her front yard and was too busy sunbathing to deal with the calico’s craziness down the street.

The owner of the injured pup called Animal Patrol and angrily pointed in Zoom’s direction. “I know it was that evil black cat down the street,” she screamed, ignoring the fact that she had a hissing calico sitting in her own yard. Animal Patrol took Zoom away in a hurry, and Zoom never returned to the neighborhood. Maci heard Zoom was put to sleep even though Zoom didn’t attack the dog and willingly entered Animal Patrol’s vehicle.

The situation haunted Maci for a long time, and some neighbors were upset too. Zoom’s owner posted a sign in her window that said “Black cats matter,” and so did a few of Zoom’s owner’s friends. In response, some of Maci’s neighbors placed signs in their windows that said, “All cats matter.”

This annoyed Maci. She already knew that all cats were special, but she wanted to make sure nobody hurt Shadow or any other black cats in the neighborhood. Sadly, it didn’t seem like the neighborhood was becoming safer for black cats, even after the outrage over Zoom’s death.

In the past year, only a handful of calico cats and tabby cats were picked up by Animal Control. She often saw neighbors scream or run the opposite direction when a black cat wandered down the sidewalk. This even happened when a black cat approached one of the neighbors with an “All cats matter” sign in the yard.

Maci developed horrible anxiety about letting Shadow prowl the neighborhood with his feline friends. She bought a decorative collar that was black with a blue stripe and placed it around Shadow’s neck, hoping it would show neighbors he was harmless. Her husband became frustrated as Maci cried about Shadow’s fluffy black mane.

“Should I comb Shadow more? Make his hair less fluffy? I love his thick black fur, but I feel like he’ll be safer if I make him look like the other cats,” Maci explained.

Her husband thought she was silly until one evening when Shadow didn’t return for dinner. Maci placed wet food — Shadow’s favorite — on the porch, but he still didn’t come back. She curled up on the couch and cried herself to sleep, praying that her beloved kitty was okay.

Maci’s restless slumber was disrupted by the ding of her cell phone the next morning. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Maci slowly read the message.

“My porch cam caught this video of Shadow last night. I’m so sorry.”

Tears streamed down Maci’s face as she watched the short clip. A striped cat she’d never seen ran up and bit a little boy across the street from the neighbor. The striped cat bolted for the nearby woods, and the boy’s mom ran outside on her phone.

Animal Patrol arrived a few minutes later and chased after Shadow, who was sitting under another neighbor’s tree. He was terrified and ran toward the woods where the striped kitty had gone. Animal Patrol caught him, shoving him roughly into a cage. The Animal Patrol worker was visibly angry on video and began screaming at Shadow before slamming his cage against the ground several times.

Maci was horrified. She called Animal Patrol immediately, but they denied that any of their workers would behave like this. They assured Maci that all staff undergo thorough training on how to handle animals safely.

“That’s a lie! I saw the video!” Maci sobbed. Animal Patrol hung up on her.

A few days later, Maci went outside to water her garden and noticed some neighbors staring and whispering.

“They wouldn’t have hurt Shadow if he hadn’t tried to run,” one elderly man said.

“I know,” said a slim woman in her 30s. “We’ve never had this problem with the calico cats around here.”

Maci’s eyes teared up, and she debated how to handle herself. She settled for giving her neighbors a dirty look and yelling, “Black cats matter! They aren’t treated fairly around here. Neighbors blame them for everything, and Animal Patrol is just as bad.”

The slim female rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, whatever. What about all the black cats who attack other black cats? It’s not like they’re always the victims here.”

Another neighbor walked up and yelled, “All cats matter! And why on earth would you think we don’t like black cats here? I had a black cat in college, and I love black cats.”

Maci threw up her middle finger and walked inside to call Zoom’s owner. Something needed to be done about this neighborhood, but she wasn’t sure where to begin.