Feline racism.

Div was a cat that shared a lot of experiences with me, passing away at the grand old age of twenty due to a cancerous tumour that was inoperable at his age.

He was jet black in his day, and a handsome young chap who'd let you stroke him until he was bored. He'd then turn around, bite you, and wander off for some lunch.

As the years wore on, Div was less and less capable of defending his territory (back gardens) until we moved house to new back gardens that were already the territory of other cats in the neighbourhood. He had no chance of winning a fight at fourteen, and conceeded the territory to the other cats, spending most of his time indoors and going to the toilet in our own garden instead.

When we first moved, he experienced some resistance and was beaten up occasionally by the other cats.

I was explaining the above to my younger sister, and without even missing a beat or stopping for thought for that matter, she asked:

"Why did they beat up Div? Is it because he was black?"

I couldn't decide whether it was tragic, funny or just plain confusing that she'd asked that question. If the (admittedly confused) younger generation are convinced that race spans across other species, is the issue of race eradicated as much as we'd like?