Ku Klux Kanine

Belgian ironsmith Bruno Rampelberg insists he is not a bigot. His dog, however—well that’s another story. In fact, that’s the only story Rampelberg offered for refusing a 53-year-old Nigerian-born man a job. The dog, Rampelberg says, doesn’t like black people.

According to Peter Adelanwa, when he showed up to interview for a position found through a vocational training agency, Rampelberg’s dog began barking and acting aggressively. Rampelberg wrote his reason for refusing the Adelanwa on the agency’s forms, handed them back to Adelanwa and sent him away.

“The dog doesn’t like this person,” Rampelberg wrote. “Risk of biting. Reason: colour of his skin.” Rampelberg told a Belgian TV station that he hasn’t got a problem with black people but that his dog, a clearly non-Teutonic black Lab named, appropriately enough, Blacky, was “traumatized” by Adelanwa’s presence. “I can’t do anything about the fact my dog is aggressive towards coloured people,” Rampelberg said.

The FGTB-Metal Union has reported Rampelberg to the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism. Adelanwa says he has been turned away from work due to his skin colour before, but usually with more subtlety.

by Scott Saxon