The World in Black and White

The past few weeks, I've sadly been watching the downfall of my Virginia brother, Mike Vick.

For me, it's disappointing on so many levels. I've followed Mike's career since high school, through Virginia Tech and, until recently, the Atlanta Falcons.

I always try to support the homeboys, or girls, from my beloved state, whether in sports, politics, entertainment or whatever. If they're from VA, I generally have their back. It's that way with everyone from Allen Iverson to Tiki Barber to David Wright to Pharrell to Missy Elliott and so on and so forth. Even though I may not know them personally, that fact that they and I call the same place home is enough for me. It's that way through the good and through the bad.

But there comes a point where you have to pull back. And with Mike, I have to do so. It's been hard for me to watch and listen to the allegations of the whole dogfighting mess that's been going on. It's disappointing because, whether he's guilty or not, to me, he should've known better -- or been smarter.

I was fortunate enough to not grow up in the 'hood. Unlike many I knew, I didn't have to struggle as much as others did. But the reality is, some did -- including Mike. Fortunately enough for him, he was blessed with the athletic ability, which he used to make it out, and in return was rewarded with a $100-plus million contract from the Falcons and endorsements from Nike and others.

But, in wake of the Vick dogfighting scandal, all of that is potentially heading down the drain -- for now at least.

As I stated in a previous blog, dogfighting is nothing new to me. Have I participated in it? No, but I'm aware it goes on. What has been interesting, to me at least, has been the racial divide amongst the opinions of the case. For the most part, black folks are of the opinion that this has either been blown way out of proportion and Vick is essentially being targeted by "the man" or Vick is just another young black man who has made another dumb decision and given everyone something to talk about. The white community tends not to see race in issues as much as the black community does. And in many cases, you can understand why. The black community sometimes can't accept the fact that we need to look in the mirror sometimes and stop blaming racism and other people for our indistrections.

Also, white folk tend to have a love for animals that doesn't exist as much in the black community. We sometimes have the "it's just a dog" mentality.

In a city like Atlanta, this has been the way of life for years. As much as it has progressed, there are still racial overtones there and everywhere. We can only wonder if this were to happen to someone like Peyton Manning -- what would the reaction be.