Marty Mac on Vick: is there a point in there?

Michael Vick
Dogs were executed
by hanging, drowning,
and crushing

Can anybody tell me what Martin McNeal is attempting to say in today’s piece about Michael Vick? He talks a lot about the “race card” and how it doesn’t really exist. I haven’t really been paying much attention to the media coverage of this scandal. It seems like he’s trying to say that the Bonds home run chase and the Vick scandal point out that black and white people think differently, but I don’t understand what specifically he means. Are people saying that Vick is being unfairly prosecuted? And what exactly does Barry Bonds, who probably rubbed cream on his butt to make his muscles bigger, have to do with Michael Vick, who probably allowed his friends to torture animals and made money off it? I’ll assume they belong in the same sentence only because the scandals are “dropping” in the same calendar season.

Also, in his conclusion about war, is he saying that American soldiers or Iraqi citizens are equivalent to dogs? One or the other.

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Author: CoolDMZ

"X-ray vision to see in between / Where's my kimono and my time machine?"

7 thoughts on “Marty Mac on Vick: is there a point in there?”

  1. I heard a talking head say, on Vick and the race issue, that when you have a group of white people standing in front of the state house in a southern state with signs that read, “Castrate Michael Vick,” you’re probably going of raise the hackles of the black community. I think I understand this. Political and social issues never stay in neat categories. There is spill over. There is such a thing as a historical context.

    MM’s writing isn’t the most cogent, but what he seems to be saying is that whites tend to dismiss the viewpoints of blacks on political and social issues by using the phrase, “Oh, they are just playing the black card again.”

    RE: MM’s closing comments, he is clearly not comparing the troops or the Iraqis to dogs. He is saying that there are vastly more important things that the media should be directing our attention towards. I agree 110% with that.

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  2. This article does seem a bit convoluted. However, I think Marty is trying to make a few different points. First, it seems like he is somewhat frustrated with the use of the term “race card”, because he thinks that it is over-simplifying the opinions that people have on these two issues (Vick and Bonds). It implies that black people defend Vick simply because he is black and not because of their life experiences. You can discuss the merits of their opinions and agree or disagree, but to simply discard opinions by saying the “race card” it remove room for real debate.

    Secondly, I think Marty is saying that if you put everything in perspective, these issues are non-issues when looking at things such as the war in Iraq. I think Marty makes a weak attempt to parallel Vick’s treatment of dogs to the government’s use of soldiers in Iraq. I think Marty should stick to sports.

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  3. DMZ from what I can tell the material aspects are:

    1) Different people have different opinions.
    2) Donna Reed was a show about white people.
    3) There is no such thing as playing the race card. People only refer to race when germane to the issue at hand.
    4) Michael Vick is being prosecuted for “using dogs for money.”
    5) Because some moral problems remain unsolved in the world no moral judgments should be made. Or, until there is an end to war animal cruelty should not be prosecuted.

    I feel like the next paragraph was going to be “and it really sucks that my parents are so lame and give me a curfew.” I have to say I’m completely guilty of writing stream of consciousness arguments but I think if you’re a paid columnist it’s good to try and have something a little more cogent than this one.

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  5. Making this more of a local issue, Thunder Valley has a new “Race Card” game. The odds aren’t as good as over in Nevada. But since this casino is run by and for “minorities” (that is, adults representing themselves to be of a racial group consisting of fewer people than ol’ whitey), they are somehow allowed to make more fun of themselves and others than the white bread Vegas card games. Thus, ironically, they are playing the race card in the course of playing Race Card.
    (Plus, if you slip the dealer a little whiskey, they’ll sell you the parking lot for a few beads and some smallpox-impregnated blankets!)

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