When Michael Vick throws a sweet, heaven-kissed touchdown pass to Algie Crumpler, the media does not pay attention. Only when he scrambles like a scared slave running to freedom or when he participates in traditional urban gaming activities does anyone raise a stink.
Am I excusing Mr. Vick’s actions and recasting his horrific cruelty as an issue of race, poverty and crime endemic to marginalized black populations, thrust upon us by the dominant white discourse? Some questions are best left unanswered … but yes, there’s a strong likelihood I am doing that.
Consider this: If the police caught Brett Favre running a dolphin-fighting ring out of his pool, where dolphins with spears attached to their foreheads fought each other to the death, would they bust him? Of course not. They would get his autograph, commend him on his tightly-spiraled forward passes, then bet on one of his dolphins. (Probably the dolphin that can do the most flips — those dolphins would possess stronger necks, more skill manipulating their death spears and something like 3-1 odds.)
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