Thursday, August 09, 2007

Of vick, dogs, and race

this whole michael vick dog fighting thing has kind of captured my attention. i know most of the sporting world is tired of it...i know i am weary of seeing images of tortured dogs and federal court buildings and the blah, blah, blah of sports radio talking heads predicting the outcome and discussing when, or if, vick will be back on the field.

the whole time this has been going on, there has been this uncomfortable feeling that there was a deeper story line...one i didn't really understand. it's getting clearer now. at the risk of being immediately discounted, i want to say that i really do believe that there is a race issue going on.

don't get me wrong. i believe crimes have been committed. horrible, disgusting crimes. i wouldn't exactly call myself a dog lover...if you've ever been around me and my little yappers, you'd know that, at best, i carry on a love-hate affair with them...but i do believe that how we treat these creatures that show innocent, unconditional love and acceptance and who bring such incredible companionship, says alot about the condition of our hearts.

when i looked at the grotesque footage of dogs bred for fighting and horrible conditions they lived and died in, my stomach ached and my heart was wounded. no. wrongs were done and the guilty must pay. is mike vick guilty? he sure looks like it to me. and that's where this thing gets a little clouded to me.

i view things from my perspective...from my history...from my point of view...from how i have been raised to view things. i am free to see things through the lenses that have been given to me. but they are not the only lenses. there are others.

i'm going to give you a link to an article on the vick situation that really resonated with me. it was not written from my point of view. it was written from a totally different perspective...looking at the situation through entirely different lenses. why don't you read it and see if there is anything that touches your heart.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=vicksatlanta

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know there has been something pretty wonderful about the past three weeks being "unplugged" from news, internet and yes, ::gasps:: even my email...AND my myspace & shoutlife pages.

I haven't had to think about the Michael Vick's of the world...just going more basic and simple - "Parsimonizing" (is that a word?) my life.

While I don't know the story, would never agree with hurting an animal...sometimes the disconnection to get connection is a pretty cool thing.