Michael Vick Commentary
by Shakesha Coleman

You’ve heard the saying: “You can take the child out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the child”. Sometimes the “child” is a girl; sometimes the child is a boy. In the case of the Atlanta Falcons, it’s Michael Vick. (The term “ghetto” is used to describe an economically and socially depressed area.) A few Black commentators have raised this issue about the now infamous dog fighting and breeding scandal involving Michel Vick. They have said that Vick should have learned to leave the ghetto mentality behind—that maybe he was hanging out with buddies that led him astray. But that’s as far as I’ve seen the commentary go with respect to the reasons why Vick would participate in such destructive behavior. Vick’s behavior sheds light on a deeper issue: Blacks tend to not have a filtration system. (The term “Black/Blacks” refers to anyone partly or wholly of African descent. This includes people born and raised in North America, South and Central America—the Caribbean, and the continent of Africa.) We tend not to be debriefed upon our exit from poverty. And we tend not to have appropriate role models waving us to the finish line.

In the Black community, more than in other communities, there is less of a distinction between the lower, middle and upper classes. Our classes tend to be less distinguishable by behavior, particularly because we often are the first in our families to achieve and do not have a frame of reference for wealth.

I have long argued that there are two types of poverty—mental poverty and physical poverty. Mental poverty is a reference to self-destructive, careless behavior. Someone suffering from mental poverty, for example, will buy gold fronts for his or her teeth and an X-box before making sure bills are paid and that one’s offspring have money put away for college. The one living in mental poverty is economically, socially and emotionally irresponsible. There are people with lots of money who do not understand the value of the money they have. A lot of Black celebrities--hip hop artists and athletes—fall into this category. You’ll see these folks on television with pink mink coats on in August displaying their short-term wealth. Mental poverty exacerbates physical poverty.

Physical poverty references a lack of material items. Someone experiencing physical poverty, for example, may live in “the hood” but is economically, socially and emotionally responsible enough to use his or her monetary gains to pay bills on time, save up for tuition or invest in long-term financial security. The one experiencing physical poverty—most of us working folk—do not possess the material items we need or want, but when we attain wealth we know how to manage it. We may not be concerned with wearing the latest and greatest fashions—unless it happens to be sold on the sale rack.

Then of course, one might experience both. Most children growing up in “the hood” experience both. Michael Vick’s bio suggests that he grew up impoverished. At least one bio of him implies that his father’s presence was sporadic—for economic reasons. It is not uncommon for males growing up in impoverished neighborhoods, where the security of father figures and other positive male role models tend to be almost non-existent, to find another form of security. For many, this security comes in the form of a dog—a pit bull or rottweiler. Pit bulls, rottweilers, dog fighting and, usually illegal, dog breeding are common. It is not uncommon to see even older males strolling through “the hood” with a pit bull or rottweiler masking their fear and insecurity. Fighting dogs is a way of showing prowess in some ghettos, where a mean, vicious dog represents his scared, fatherless owner’s desire to overpower his enemies—the drug dealers that won’t leave him alone unless he agrees to sell for them—the “hators” (jealous people) that don’t want to see any show of confidence except their own. Dog breeding ensures that one will be represented. You lose a dog in a fight; you have a deputy ready to step up. Breeding also ensures income. But Vick didn’t need income. He is—or was—a promising Atlanta Falcon, one of the highest paid players in the National Football League.

I suspect that Vick’s fighting and breeding of dogs was more about self-esteem—his past. And with no mentors to debrief him, how would he know to confiscate equipment used to hold female dogs in position so they could be raped by male dogs? Some of Vick’s possible mentors are supposedly grown men who are too busy engaging in destructive behavior their own selves—retired athletes trying to act Lebron James’ age, other older celebrities hanging out on yachts chasing high school girls, still trying to be the cool adult—instead of pulling their young Black predecessors aside to explain the pit falls of attaining wealth and not understanding the need to evolve.

Sadly too, the scandal surrounding Michael Vick’s breeding and fighting of dogs is reminiscent of ills in the Black community that most of us refuse to address: Black elders failing their children by depriving them of proper parenting, the lack of appropriate role models for youth, Black leaders’—educators, pastors and so-called civil rights activists—unwillingness to address the root causes of poverty, our birth rate, education and parental responsibility. Besides, most “Black” leaders are more interested in gaining the popular vote and visibility than in discussing real issues and solutions.

The Black Church will say Vick’s woes are a trick of the Devil--Satan has him bound. There is unlikely to be a critical analysis of Vick’s childhood, his surrounding and the adults who failed him—or Vick will start tithing and all will be forgiven.

The Vick scandal provides an opportunity for Blacks to dialogue about the demons that plague our community, but this scandal is not likely to ignite logical, responsible discussion in the Black community—the same way the Michael Jackson and R. Kelly sex scandals didn’t provoke us to discuss the prevalence of physical and sexual abuse, and pedophilia, in the Black community. (Physical and sexual abuse, and pedophilia, are prevalent in other communities as well—but the onslaught of the Jackson and Kelly scandals would have been an opportune time for us to discuss it’s impact on our communities. Further, one might argue that the impact of these ills in our communities tends to be more apparent.) And the same way Hurricane Katrina did not ignite discussions about the importance of preparedness and the reasons--social and economic decay—we were not prepared on personal levels. When some Blacks did try to suggest that Hurricane Katrina could be a lesson in the importance of attaining education and gaining economic advantages, they were called traitors.

I dare Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michael Jordon, Eddie George and other such heavyweights to convene a conference with younger, particularly Black, athletes to discuss the social evolution that has to take place in order for rising stars to reach their full potential and avoid the pit falls of new-found wealth.

The CW network has a show called “The Game”—a show about rookies trying to make it in the NFL. One episode of this show featured one of the seasoned players lecturing the newer members of the team on life in the NFL. The veteran spoke about girls and other experiences the younger players should be aware of. At the end of his talk—which took place in a classroom—he handed out condoms to the players. I thought: “Wow, what a great idea. I wonder if that really happens in professional sports.” I guess it doesn’t.

Shakesha Coleman has a background in political science and public policy.