A Dog Named Ni**er

A Dog Named Ni**er

There was a dog in 1943 that belonged to Guy Gibson from the Dambusters, part of the RAF. His name was Ni**er and that was put on his tombstone when he was hit by a car the day of the Dambusters raid. After 77 years, they’ve just removed that dog’s name. James Holland, who is a Dambusters historian and author praised the RAF’s move to remove the offensive name.

He said removing the name was “not changing history” and should not overshadow the “heroism” of the dog’s owner, Guy Gibson.”

I’m gonna have to disagree with this. I think if you name a black dog Ni**er, no matter what else you’ve done, it should be remembered, discussed and condemned.

Look, Thomas Jefferson is remembered for doing some good, but he also raped an enslaved African who bore his six children, who he then sent into slavery as well. We can’t celebrate the great things someone did, without mentioning what they did wrong, and THIS, was wrong. If we do that, we’re just continuing this false narrative of white sainthood. This man, was clearly not a saint. sure, he was heroic, but what makes any black man see this and think that if he had been there, this man would’ve gone out of his way to save him? It certainly makes me question it.

Maybe, just maybe, we can try to remember people the way they were, in a more realistic way? Because this man did good, but it looks like he was also a racist. And let’s, just for shits and giggles, say that Gibson didn’t name this dog and inherited it. He didn’t change the name. At the very least, he was clearly OK with it. He left that dog with that name, calling him that, and then putting that name on his tombstone.

I rescued my black lab from the shelter and when I got her, she had a name. She was named after candy. She was young, and I didn’t like it, so I changed it. It’s literally that easy. Taking the racist name that this man was apparently at least comfortable with, off of the tombstone, after 77 years, doesn’t change that. It took 77 years. It came off in July 2020. That’s absurd, and the interviews about this with the actors and the people that were involved in the film about this, entitled “The Dam Busters” from 1955, it’s just gross. Nobody is trying to erase this history, in fact I think it should be spread. Spread that far and wide but when you tell it, make sure you’re telling it historically accurate. Don’t just leave it at yes, this dogs name Nier. Make sure you tell people who named that dog, why he named that dog that and why he was comfortable with doing so. Because in all honesty, that’s what I want to know. Because I can learn about the raid, and what was going on in 1943 without a dog named Nier.

Do a Goggle search for Guy Gibson’s Dog, and see what comes up. They can now call that dog Trigger all they want, but it does not change history. I’m just hopeful there’s no statue to this dog somewhere. The fault doesn’t lie in the dog, it lies in its owners and handlers.

It was a different time, I get it. He risked his life everyday for his country. I get that. There were black folks living there, who benefited from what he was doing. I get that as well. But I’m doubtful that any of those black folks living there at the time, named their dog Nier, and this entire thing makes me question how black men would’ve been treated in that group of men. We’re talking a lot about his heroism, and we should be. But we should also be talking about the fact that he named his dog Nier. that has been brushed under the rug for over 70 years. Can we at least acknowledge that?