Following are one well-known woman’s opinions concerning ultimate dog fighting, cruelty, culture, and ethnicity.
“Michael Vick is from the South, from the Deep South…This is part of his cultural upbringing.”
“For a lot of people dogs are sport. Instead of just saying Vick is a beast and he’s a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned.”
Thus spoke Whoopie Goldberg on her first day as a regular on “The View”, obviously attempting to keep the momentum going of previous bad girl, Rosie O ’Donnell, whose chair she now commands.
The dynamic seems to work like this; the person assigned to that chair says outrageous things which appear to make Barbara Walter’s head spin, ratings rise, and even Babs is secretly happy. Criticism was evident, support for Goldberg’s opinion was not.
The “kid” Goldberg refers to, is a 27 yr. old millionaire and NFL star player, the now infamous Michael Vick.
“View” co-host Joy Behar immediately took umbrage with Goldberg’s statements.
“What part of the country is this? …How about dog torturing and dog murdering?” she asked. Recent video clips have shown how dogs who lose and are not killed in “sport” certainly appear to be tortured to their death.
Behar wasn’t alone. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society disputed that dog fighting was a cultural fixture of the South or any other region. “To suggest that there is some racial, ethnic, or regional group that finds this acceptable is just not accurate.” He told Reuters, adding public opinion polls show opposition to dog fighting, which is outlawed in all 50 states, and a felony in all but two – Idaho and Wyoming.
Obviously the concept of “culture” has changed while I was looking the other way. Once – ethnic culture could be loosely described as food, music, art, ties to family and community. What undesirable aspects of criminal and inhumane behavior would anyone want to have considered part of their own ethnic heritage?
Intelligent people know the African American culture is rich and not based on violence or blood sport.
I also wonder what constitutes okay behavior due to the area in which one was brought up, as Whoopie had reasoned. Where gangs rule, and bullets fly through windows killing innocent people, as well as Gang initiation killing, is that okay and “cultural”?
When rednecks whoop holler, and antagonize blacks, with nooses on their trucks, the Confederate flag flying, is that cultural and thus okay, because it does go back many years in the Deep South?
I can only think of one other blood sport ingrained in a culture, bull fighting. Despite the pageantry and very tight sequined pants of the matadors, I still don’t like it – or cock fighting, which seems to be an all- inclusive horror show where ethnicity is concerned.
The 27 year old Vick , who grew up in Virginia, pleaded guilty last week to federal dog fighting charges, admitting he took part in an illegal, interstate enterprise known as Bad Newz Kennels and helped kill underperforming dogs. He may face up to five years in prison and has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. IOW there is still hope for his old job back after serving a reduced sentence for good behavior – unless there are some dog lovers on his cell block.