In the past I've found it hard to feel bad for someone who has earned over $100 million, but my heart truly goes out to Michael Vick at this time.
The latest news in this overhyped, made-for-TV drama is that the government is trying to slap two more charges on brother Vick. If he's convicted on each count of animal cruelty, he could spend up to FORTY years in prison(5 years for each of the 8 dogs killed).
The conVICKtion of this brother is a throwback to classic American racism. Sure the law states that dogfighting is illegal. And yes, maybe Vick should be punished if he took part in it. Maybe. But the media's all-out assault on this man's character has been a modern-day lynching.
Here are some examples of animal cruelty that not only didn't face prosecution, but are heralded in our distorted history:
1. Buffalo Bill popularized the slaughter of the buffalo during America's Westward Expansion period in the 1800's. Americans bought expensive rail tickets to travel to the midwest. Armed with their rifles, they would shoot and kill the buffalo from their train car windows. The millions and millions of buffalo slaughtered changed the entire ecology of the midwest from a grassy flatland to a dust bowl. Buffalo Bill went on to become of the most famous and wealthy entertainers of his time, recounting his 'adventures' in the Wild Wild West.
2. Our dairy and poultry farmers continue to pump artificial hormones into our meat, milk, cheese, and eggs. These animals are crowded into small sheds with no light, and often end up disfigured and/or diseased. And this shit ends up on our plates daily. Most of us don't bitch about because 1.) we don't even want to think about it, or 2.) as long as that bird is 50 cents cheaper in the store, let it be.
3. Hunting is legal throughout the country, yet dogfighting is outlawed. So basically, killing animals is cool as long as we humans do the killing. With a semi-automatic assault rifle.
Here are some reasons why I don't think Vick should not face any punishment:
1. He gained all of his notoriety by engaging in an ultra-violent sport, which millions of Americans watch every weekend to see him get his body crushed play after play. If Vick can get his ass tossed around on the field every Sunday, let a brother watch a couple pooches go at it.
2. Like ignorant-assed Clinton Portis said, dogfighting is everywhere. EVERYWHERE in the U.S. And it ain't just in the country, cuz I done seen it go down in Harlem before. Don't make a forty-year, hundred million dollar example out of Vick for doing something that much of our country already does.
3. Horse racing, one of the most attended spectator sports, is equally cruel to its participants. Aren't the Equus sent to the glue factory if they perform poorly? Never seen a case about that in the news. Some little rich girl might just love one of those 'not so thoroughbreds' as a pet.
4. Really and truly, who really thinks that Vick had a hands-on involvement in this dog business? Between football practice, endorsements, and other public appearances, when the fuck was Vick getting time to kill dogs.
Vick owned the property where the dogs were kept, true. But he didn't live there. Bought it for his ignorant ass cousin. If you were born in Newport News, or somplace like it, and then earned $100 million, chances are you might buy some shit for your family too. Ignorant or not, that's your family. If anything, his cousin is a bitch-made nigga for not taking the rap for Vick. They could've set up some kind of trust fund for him when he got out. Now the whole family gotta go back to being fucked up.
Now THIS is an appropriate moment for this statement here:
Snoop Doggy Dogg--Doggy Dogg World
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