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  • » Name: Anthony Springer, Jr
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Vick Gets Pass at the Expense of Hip Hop?!? Negative


July 23, 2007 | Tags: michael vick, Jason Whitlock, Hip Hop culture

In America, we live under the presumption of innocent until proven guilty… supposedly.



 



You and I know better and the presumption of innocence, more often than not hinges on how the media spins a high profile story. I hate to cast judgment before the jury delivers a verdict, but not only has Michael Vick already been hung in the media, this writer also has a strong feeling that, well… he did it.



 



I don't know if he's guilty or not, but I believe that Vick is guilty of something in this dog fight matter.



 



At the very least, he’s guilty of being dumb ass.



 



The one individual who’s more than happy to give Vick a pass at the expense of current media sacrificial lamb Hip Hop [1] is columnist Jason Whitlock.



 



If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he was one of the journalists who appeared on Oprah’s joke of a town hall meeting after Don Imus uttered the now infamous “nappy headed ho” phrase. Whitlock railed against a Hip Hop culture that allows characters like Don Imus to think its okay to call women ho’s and suggests that we should check ourselves, lest we find these incidents occurring more often.



 



Point taken.



 



However, linking the Vick dog fighting incident to Hip Hop culture is like saying that Ouija board rapping Bone Thugs-N-Harmony had a role to play in the Columbine High School shootings some years ago (wait, that happened too).



 



In a commentary that recently appeared in the Kansas City Star, Whitlock writes, “My desire is to see Vick evolve as a human being and for his troubles to serve as yet another wake-up call for black athletes to reject the hip-hop/prison culture that glorifies much of the negative behavior and attitude that has eroded the once-dignified and positive reputation of African-American athletes.”



 



Granted, there are some credible arguments to be made that Hip Hop, or better yet, MAINSTREAM Hip Hop promotes a lot of things, misogyny and senseless violence being two.



 



Main stream Hip Hop and dog fighting? Not so much.



 



Whitlock goes on to say that the “hijacking” of Hip Hop culture began in the late 80’s with NWA, and gangsta rap hasn’t looked back sense. While these comparisons may resonate with people who just don’t know any better, Whitlock isn’t fooling anybody with an ounce of Common Sense (pun intended) and knowledge on Hip Hop culture.



 



Perhaps Whitlock lived on another planet when the black community began to take a nose dive into the abyss of apathy, disorganization, and division. However, I’ll assume that Whitlock is a credible journalist for the sake of this argument and with that, its safe to say he knows the black community started to take a turn for the worst before Cube, Ren and them came straight outta Compton.



 



There’s much to be said for the decline of black America, the idiocy of the Vick case and Hip Hop’s hold on pop culture and AmeriKKKan values, but the comparison to dog fighting and Hip Hop just doesn’t fit.



 



Let’s call it what  it is, Vick  wasn’t embracing Hip Hop culture when he chose to get involved[2], he embraced being a damn fool.



 



Perhaps he and Whitlock have something in common.



 



[1] Don’t worry, wrestling is about to be the media’s new whipping boy, just wait.



 



[2]Or allowed his boys to be involved with illegal dog fighting on his property



 


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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