The Villification of Michael Vick and our own Cultural Ignorance

[Duckwater 0]

Michael Vick might as well have shot the Pope, Mickey Mouse and admitted involvement in 9-11 for the way he has been portrayed in the media and public opinion.
I am honestly dumfounded at the rage from the masses at Mr. Vick for his crimes.

I also feel for him. I try to educate myself on someone’s culture, education and environment before passing judgment for anything.

We Americans, as a whole, are categorically ignorant of any culture other than our own, including those that exist in our own country. Many can’t distinguish between Asian cultures, confuse Hindus with Muslims and are for the most part completely ignorant concerning global cultures. I remember a report after the Virginia Tech Tragedy where it was revealed that the High School students that mocked Cho called him “Chinese” when in fact he was Korean.

We must all remember that everyone is a product of their environment. If someone is born in Iran, they will most likely be a Muslim and be taught to hate America. If that same person were born in Small Town Alabama, he would most likely fit the stereotype of that culture. The great majority of us do not have the intelligence, knowledge or courage to develop our own beliefs, religion, morals or culture. We are sheep.

Now, to address Michael Vick and his situation. Very few Americans understand or even care to acknowledge the poor, Southern African American culture that exists in this country. This is a culture very different from any other culture in America. I do not claim to understand it but I acknowledge my ignorance.

I had never really heard or thought about dog fighting. Before I passed personal judgment on Vick, I researched the prevalence of dog fighting in that culture. According to the Government, dog fighting is rampant and obviously accepted in some cultures. If Michael Vick was brought up in a culture that promotes dog fights as accepted activities, then he is not automatically a villain or a criminal for also considering it accepted. Illegal you say? That Office Super Bowl pool you contribute to is also illegal gambling. I would like to know how Michael Vick has treated fellow humans in his lifetime. Has he ever been violent? Is he a gentleman with women? I will give him the benefit of the doubt that basically he is a good man that has been taught that dog fights are acceptable, just like I have been raised to think that Rodeo’s and Deer Hunting are acceptable.

As far as the animal cruelty issue goes, I still have to defend Vick. Was he cruel to animals, absolutely! Is it cruel to tie a rope around a Bull’s privates then hop on it and ride it around? Is it cruel to let a frightened calf run while you lasso it and jerk its legs out from under it at full speed, then tackle and hog tie it? Was it cruel to gaffe and beat with a bat the 1,026lb Marlin I helped catch in Maui last month? Absolutely to all. Ever been on a dove hunt? I could never get used to the ‘beheadings’ of the birds much less ever do it myself.

Mainstream culture has embraced many instances of animal cruelty as sport and entertainment. If another culture has decided to torture an animal your culture deems sacred, don’t judge. Go to India and eat a Porterhouse in Delhi and see what happens.

An animal is an animal. In India, the cow is sacred; here we grind it up for lunch. Just because your own culture has embraced dogs and elevated them to almost human status, don’t judge other cultures that have not. And, we are talking about Pit Bulls here. Your two Terriers or Collies are not going to instinctively fight each other to the death if put in a pin. How many of you would let your child around a Pit Bull? I know, the majority never display aggression but why chance it. Pit Bulls account for the majority of dog mauling deaths. Where is the outcry when a Pit Bull mauls an infant? I find it funny how all these people are rallying around an animal they would never let their kids near. If an animal is raised for a specific purpose, I have no problem with the death of that animal to serve that purpose. Minks would probably be extinct if people didn’t want coats.

Personally, I don’t like to kill an animal for sport or hunt, but I accept and respect the fact that people do. Catching that Marlin was bittersweet because we killed a beautiful creature, even though it was used for food.

I hate to admit this, but the vilification of Michael Vick is racism. I usually roll my eyes when the race card is played but this time, it fits. We are ignorant of a significant culture that exists in America. We vilify that culture because we don’t understand it or even want to admit it exists. Ignorance and judgementalism of a culture we don’t understand is racism, pure and simple.

Sending Michael Vick to prison and ruining his career over this is ludicrous. You don’t change cultures by incarceration. You don’t end racism by dividing two cultures even further by criminalizing parts of one culture. It further rings of racism that a commonly African American pastime is a Felony and a Federal Offense. That one reporter was correct, he would be in better shape in the court of public opinion had he been accused of rape. That is a sad snapshot of our values, focus and priorities as a society. Where were all the courthouse screamers when the rapist or the child molester was brought into the same Atlanta courthouse the day before? When his sentence and NFL sanctions are determined, I am positive that the punishment will far outweigh the crime.

Education is the only answer. We must educate ourselves and learn about other cultures and combat the cultural ignorance that has infested this country like a cancer.

Educate yourself. Acknowledge your own ignorance. Open your mind. Don’t judge. Culture yourself.

Michael Vick is a product of his environment. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is a good man. In his culture, what he did was not wrong. Instead of shunning him, we should give him a chance to educate all of our cultures about each other. There is a true opportunity for change and progress here. We will discard it by sending him to prison which will widen the gap between our cultures even further.

[willard 0]

Of course it's not his fault. He is just a product of his environment and has no choice in the matter.

BULLSHIT!

Your post is just another example of why people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Why should they when they can place the blame elsewhere?

[rushmc 23]

While I understand your point of view, and I have been strugling with some of issues you bring up to, the facts remain that he broke a law that is on the books and went against the popular societal opinion. There, regardless of our opinions, he will have to pay a price.

That being said howere, I feel that the animal rights group has done their job better than the other side and has set the bottom line for this type of activity.

Now, think about the enviornmentalists and other single special interest type groups and look forward to the damage (or the good) they can inflict on us.

Vic will go down. He should in todays world. My question is, how many more situtations will be created because of movements such as the this??

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Duckwater 0]

Why is it a FELONY to kill a Pit Bull and totally accptable to go blow the head off a rabbit, deer, dove or any other animal?

In his culture, dog fighting is not taboo. In his mind, based on his culture, he did nothing wrong.

What if we adopted the Dove as the new national bird. You love to dove hunt and have done it all your life. Are you now a bad person if you bag one?

Why is dog fighting illegal and Rodeos are not?

I don't think what he did should be a federal offense...Thats insane. And, that culture already has no respect for our government or laws so the illegality issue was moot. No wonder they despise the system, we send a black man to jail for allowing two wild beasts to kill each other while some white nut job kills her husband with a shotgun and is out of jail in months.

[rushmc 23]

No wonder they despise the system, we send a black man to jail for allowing two wild beasts to kill each other while some white nut job kills her husband with a shotgun and is out of jail in months.

[beowulf 1]

They are Americans subject to American laws. They can now vote just like everyone else. The fact that they are black doesn't make them exempt from American laws.

[Duckwater 0]

And dont get me wrong, I love dogs. But Pit Bulls scare me and I think it is irresponsible to own one.

If Dog-Ka-Bobs became a popular snack, Id have to accept it, they are animals. I used to have a sheep that was like a dog to me (I just set myself up) and I ended up selling it for Chops. Thats what I raised it for.

The worst pain I have ever felt in my life was when my Dad accidentally ran over my dog. Nothing has come close.

I don't own a dog right now because Im not home enough to give it the attention it needs. And, I dont like poop in my yard and if you are one of those dog walkers that lets their dog poop in others yards, STOP! I sit in my garage to try and catch whoever lets their St Bernard size pooper leave a pile on my lawn every day. Im going to follow them home and take a dump on their doorstep. Poop is Poop.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I guess you are OK with your local Mexican-American community building a bull fighting ring down by the ball diamond.
Should standards for wife beating, female circumcision and honour killing also be variable depending on someone's upbringing?

[Duckwater 0]

The laws are CLEARLY written with harsher penalties for typical 'black' crimes versus similar 'white' crimes.

Crack vs. Coke

A major factor in this disparity was the appearance of crack cocaine as a major drug of choice in the 1980s. Its low cost and high potency compared to regular powder cocaine made it very attractive in impoverished inner-city areas. The new federal drug laws set penalties for the sale or possession of five grams of crack cocaine, the same as five hundred grams of powder cocaine—a felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of prison.

In contrast, possession of five grams of powder cocaine remained a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year in prison. One study estimated that 75 percent of cocaine users were white, were middle class, and held white-collar jobs. Several states passed laws targeting crack cocaine with stiffer penalties similar to the federal law. With police targeting inner-city areas for crack rather than the suburbs where cocaine was the drug of choice, the resulting drug arrest rates were five times higher for minorities than whites.

[rushmc 23]

Quote

The laws are CLEARLY written with harsher penalties for typical 'black' crimes versus similar 'white' crimes.

Crack vs. Coke

A major factor in this disparity was the appearance of crack cocaine as a major drug of choice in the 1980s. Its low cost and high potency compared to regular powder cocaine made it very attractive in impoverished inner-city areas. The new federal drug laws set penalties for the sale or possession of five grams of crack cocaine, the same as five hundred grams of powder cocaine—a felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of prison.

In contrast, possession of five grams of powder cocaine remained a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year in prison. One study estimated that 75 percent of cocaine users were white, were middle class, and held white-collar jobs. Several states passed laws targeting crack cocaine with stiffer penalties similar to the federal law. With police targeting inner-city areas for crack rather than the suburbs where cocaine was the drug of choice, the resulting drug arrest rates were five times higher for minorities than whites.

Well, you want to make the blacks victims.

So be it. So much for being a responcible person. After all, when the world is stacked against you you are screwed before you even start

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Duckwater 0]

Im not OK with Bullfighting, I grew up in a small TX town where 'redneck' was the name of the game. I openly despised Rodeos as cruel and admitted I could never shoot a deer or a bird.

I was pretty much an outcast. Cruelty to animals repulses me.

But Im smart enough to know that Bullfighters, Bullriders, Ropers, and hunters are not rotten or criminal, they were taught that this behavior is socially acceptable.

I just now started eating canned tuna. Those images 20 yrs ago of the dolphins in the nets and pulleys have never left me. It made me physically ill.

I will never understand why killing a Rhino or Elephant is an accomplishment. But I dont judge.

Want to impress me, kill a great white shark with your bare hands while someone chums. THATS IMPRESSIVE.

DON"T Judge people that have different taboos, unless it involves harming another human.

[beowulf 1]

So are you a vegitarian?

[Duckwater 0]

Quote

So be it. So much for being a responcible person. After all, when the world is stacked against you you are screwed before you even start

Responsibility is learned to a degree. I certainly am more responsible because of my fathers example. In some cultures, responsibility is not important. "StopSnitchin" Deadbeat Dads,,,,and its accpted.

And, with the way money goes to education, based on property tax.....Guess which schools are new and have the best of everything. Upper middle class white communities with lots of property tax. You dont see 25 million $ football stadiums at poor black schools.

With a poor education, you are doomed from the start.

The disparity in education is institutional racism and the most destructive racism and nobody wants to address it.

[Duckwater 0]

Not a Vegitarian.

I like Chicken Fish and Beef but I would rather not visit a slaughterhouse. But, God put these animals on earth for our use. The humane treatment of them from birth to slaughter is important to me.

I will not eat veal. Chicken with bones grosses me out, its like watching Daktari.

Beating the Tuna and Marlin I caught on the head with a bat was troubling, but its putting it out of its misery.

I prefer to have my meat served with a nice Merlot at the Four Seasons, I dont want to be a part of getting it on the plate.

[beowulf 1]

yup city boy

You better hope you don't ever get stuck out in the wilderness somewhere and have to fend for yourself.

[Duckwater 0]

Hey...I watched EVERY McGyver episode, Red Dawn and a bunch of Grizzly Adams.

1. Don't eat yellow snow.
2. Don't get between a bear cub and the mom.
3. You can piss in the radiator to fix it.
4. Lord Loves a Workin Man
5. See a Doctor and get rid of it
6. Dont trust Whitey

[beowulf 1]

Quote

The humane treatment of them from birth to slaughter is important to me.

Apparently he didn't tell that to cats. Ever see a cat play with a bird it just caught?

[KJM 0]

Will Rodgers once said " if there are no dogs in heavan, then when I die I want to go where they went". So many of us see our dogs as family members and for this guy to kill them for mere entertainment is completely unforgivable in the eyes of so many Americans, myself included, his acts go beyond the scope of what is legal and just digs right into our heart. Heck, theres one poster here whos sig line is " you guys dont understand he shot my dog" I think that says it all. Maybe someday people will accept Vick again, but not for quite awhile.

[Duckwater 0]

The fact that dogs are family is not universal. Who would ever think a cow is sacred?

The whole point is, dont hold others to your beliefs and villify them if they think differently. Unless you are a vegan, animals are killed for your use.

And, he didnt go into someones back yard and take Fluffy, the animals that died would never have been domesticated and comparing them to pets is a strech. He raised them to fight, they were never someones dear pet.

To me, THIS GUY IS THE TRUE VILLAN.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/12/national/main301135.shtml

[KJM 0]

I understand what you are saying, but I believe you are missing the point. Football in nothing more than entertainment and image. You say he is a true villan, I agree. People dont want to spend $60 on a ticket the game to see this jerk. Who would want him to endorse their product? So for now he must accept the fact that he is a pariah, fortunately for him the public has a short memory and in time he will get another chance. Just my humble opinion

[Duckwater 0]

I refuse to watch the NFL because it does not hold their players to an ethical standard like say ...NASCAR

According to Benedict and Yaeger, 21 percent of NFL players -- more than one in five -- have been charged with at least one serious crime, including two murder arrests, seven rape charges, 45 counts of domestic violence and 42 charges of assault and battery.

Nobody went ape shit over these REAL crimes against humans. The first lifetime ban is for killing some undomesticated animals? Please.....

I would have never bought a Michael Vick Jersey, but I will be his advocate when I think he has been unjustly portrayed. Logically, I have more issue with someone killing a Tiger, Lion or Rhino in Africa than a pit bull.

Force yourself to examine and understand other cultures and their morals. Its tough.

He is guilty of being stupid. Where the hell were his agents to steer him clear? I dont think he deserves jail time, and he should sit out a few months perhaps.

[algboy 0]

I'm a Vick-tim . . . waaaaaaa!!

[Duckwater 0]

There is a report that has surfaced that Vick also organized several 'cow-tipping' events. He also reporteldy drugged the cows with Oxycontin to make them sleep. Its a 32 belly option..on two...on two....

Oh the humanity...

[willard 0]

Quote

Why is it a FELONY to kill a Pit Bull and totally accptable to go blow the head off a rabbit, deer, dove or any other animal?

***Because the goal of every hunter is (or should be) to kill as quickly and humanely as possible. As gruesome as it sounds, a headshot is the quickest and the least painful.***

In his culture, dog fighting is not taboo. In his mind, based on his culture, he did nothing wrong.

***Oh, really? You are intimately familiar with his culture? In your post you claimed ignorance. It matters not, in any case, since he is subject to the same laws as the rest of us regardless of cultural views.***

What if we adopted the Dove as the new national bird. You love to dove hunt and have done it all your life. Are you now a bad person if you bag one?

***Depends on whether hunting them is outlawed or not.***

Why is dog fighting illegal and Rodeos are not?

***Your assertion that bulls are made to buck by a rope around their testicles only proves your ignorance of the sport. Here is some help on the subject. http://rodeo.about.com/od/bullridingfaq/f/bullbucking.htm
On the other hand, dog fights arematches in which the loser is literally chewed into submission and/or death by the "winner". Once a dog is no longer considered competetive it is destroyed, often by means that are neither quick nor painless. Rodeo bulls, once past their prime (and often during it) are turned out to pasture and taken very good care of. Decades of selective breeding to produce bulls with a strong natural bucking instinct are too valuable to just destroy because they get old.***

I don't think what he did should be a federal offense...Thats insane. And, that culture already has no respect for our government or laws so the illegality issue was moot. No wonder they despise the system, we send a black man to jail for allowing two wild beasts to kill each other while some white nut job kills her husband with a shotgun and is out of jail in months.

***So you think he should be let off just because he IS black?? ***

[Duckwater 0]

If the goal of every hunter was to kill quick and painless, they would use a Elephant Gun and blow the game to smithereens.

My bow hunter friends tell me all the time about chasing stuff with an arrow in it, often never finding it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90U2NnSe28

And if you say calf roping isnt cruel, then you and I can just disagree.

The criminality of dog fighting is rediculous. To me, any animal that has the instinct to fight to the death is not a pet and should be considered a wild animal. Did anyone truly get hurt from this? Several dogs are dead that would have never been bred anyway if not for dog fights.

They were HIS property, if a woman can scramble an unborn child and suck it out of her, a man should be able to do whatever he wants with his dogs.

Is this cruelty?

http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/1f9addb21c1ae692