Minority Report

Lila Miller woke up feeling ill. The Cornell University vet student climbed into her car and took a different route from normal through the campus town of Ithaca, New York, to get to the infirmary.

"A lot of veterinary colleges are in rural areas and may not be as welcoming as we'd like," she recounts. "But I was at Cornell, in a university town where people should be highly educated. Still, as I was driving down the street, people were yelling 'Nigger!' at me. You just don't think you're going to encounter that, but you do."

Today, Dr. Miller, DVM, is chairman of the Board for Veterinary Medicine in New York State and the head of ASPCA's services. But the painful memory has remained, along with the knowledge that she is truly a minority in her chosen profession.

"I had a very hard time at Cornell," she recalls. "And even though I now teach there, it's still not a welcoming atmosphere for African Americans or other minority groups. I think seriously before I encourage other young men and women to come there because they may be subject to that."

If trying to get a foot in the door of an established, decidedly white occupation as a student is fraught with difficulty, rising through the ranks is even harder. We like to think there is equal opportunity for all people in our country, but there is a noticeable lack of minority representation in animal welfare organizations.

But what is shocking - or at least should be - is that within the humane community there is still so little opportunity for advancement to the top of the field.

"I went to a conference, and I began chatting with the woman who was driving me from the airport," Miller recounts. "She had a limousine service, and she asked me what I was doing in town. I told her I was there for an animal welfare conference, and she said 'Well, I used to work at the animal shelter.'

"I asked why she'd become a businesswoman. She said she got tired of being passed over for a promotion all the time. Other people would come in who didn't work as hard as she did, so she finally spoke to one of her supervisors and was told - confidentially - that she would never get promoted there because she's black.

"One of the things that racism does is make you doubt your own abilities. People think the reason minorities don't pursue animal welfare careers is because they don't care about animals. That's just not true. Believing that means there's a group of people who get written off."

Racism isn't something that most of us like to admit. But the fact is there will never be a complete solution to the problems facing homeless animals until this issue is properly addressed.

The lack of ethnically diverse representation at every level is undermining the overall efforts of the humane community and the message it tries to promote.

Lori Noel holds a degree in animal science from Rutgers and is the coordinator for the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey - an umbrella for the state's animal welfare groups. At humane conferences, she's often just about the only African American present.

"There are very few, if any, minorities at the head of humane organizations," says Noel. "So what I bring to the table can be very important. It's really just getting that chance to be able to give your perspective on an issue. That can bring a lot to an organization if they're receptive.

"African Americans just want to say 'Look at what I can do. Just give me the chance.' That's why I'm happy to be with the group I'm with right now. I have the qualifications. I can do the job, and I think they thought, 'Hey, this is a black girl, and this is a rare opportunity.' I think they wanted to be on the leading edge, which is great."

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