Dogfighting Culture?

As a follow on to the conversation over at OTB as regards Dogfighting, I said:

Are their moral absolutes? I would answer in the affirmative, however, I do not think us intelligent enough to claim a lock on their definition. I will however say, that the culture and the people who get it the closest are probably going to be the ones who prosper most greatly. At the moment, that would be America, though along with and in parallel to, our moral decline, that situation is starting to change. At least at one time, comparatively speaking, we were the closest to that absolute. These days, however, with so many it has become something of a joke to even bring up the word ‘morality’…. Much less the attempt to define or implement it.

I, for one, believe the American culture at its base to be superior of the majority of the rest of those in the rest of the world. I am convinced that as a result of our culture being better, our nation has prospered like no other in history. I am willing to hold it so , both in discussions with my children, and with visitors from other lands, and incidentally people I run into on the net.

That said, there are a number of Americans who are not so willing in those areas. Who, alas!, do not hold American culture so high. one example would be the eurocentrics that tend to inhabit both our coastlines, east and west. They also tend to inhabit our newsrooms and power places of higher learning, in greater numbers than we find in the whole of America. The results of the positioning of these people, is that American culture has not been instilled. It is to the point now, several generations on, where our own children do not recognize American culture as such , except in the most superficial way, despite their having lived here all their lives.

All this is one major reason why the teaching of history… specifically, American history, is of such vital import. How else, after all, are such values to be passed down?

One of the reasons for this cultural disconnect,, particularly as regards American blacks, for example, is that we have allowed them… nay, forced them into their own subculture, by means of the welfare state… a subculture with its own values, many of which run afoul of that of the majority.

To give you an idea of the effects of the cultural value not having been taught:

Back in July of 2003, the university of central Florida released a study that examined arrest and detention rates for blacks in the Orange county area… that would be Orlando. at the time of the study blacks only made up 18% of the Orange county population, yet they accounted for 40% of all arrests, and on the order of 55 to 60% of the jail population.

And the first charge that came up , as regards the difference, was poverty. But, no, the fact is that young white males living at the same poverty levels is young blacks do not commit crimes to the same extent according to the study. So, we take it one step further and we charge racism. Yet, that doesn’t explain for the location of the crimes involved, which has it happened were in areas of higher black population percentages.

This study, as accurate picture is it paints, is however not seminal. We’ve been hearing this kind of report for decades, and done nothing. We’ve let ourselves get tired up with charges of racism, instead. As I said on this very blog about a year back, and others over the lastv7 years, It’s not race, it’s the culture.

The difference as I’m sure you know I’m leaning here, is the culture. we’re talking about a culture that embraces violence and crime has a way of life.

Another example, I take to be Michael Vick. that he was operating outside of the cultures values, is plain to see. Is also plain to see that he had no moral problems with the activity he undertook.. At least until such time as the authorities showed up at the door.

Finally, let’s take music… not as a ‘value of the music’ argument, but rather as a fuzzy indicator… let’s speak to Rap music, certainly a part of the subculture we’re talking about here (From my own blog a few years back):

Can anyone come up with big name Jazz acts having this kind of reputation? Bigtime Rock acts? When’s the last time we heard of a knife fight at the Philharmonic? I don’t recall anything like this at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in all the years that’s been running, do you? I’ve been unable to find records of anything of the like happening down at the theatre district in Branson, MO. I haven’t seen anything like this on the Gospel Music circuits, or the Modern Christian music circles, either. Ya know, at some point, someone’s going to figure out that there’s a rather well-established pattern, here. And no, this is not a ‘racial profiling’ thing. This is a ‘rap profile’ thing, and it’s getting as predictable as the outcome of tossing a can of gasoline on a campfire.

I certainly could offer other examples, and I suppose that were I to do so, I would receive less flock from those who would call me a racist, but I think that would get over a long, and I’ve already taken up plenty of James’ bandwidth here.
The points are making, however, are not racial, but rather, cultural. Let’s just bridge that gap by saying these are some of the larger sore thumbs we’ve been dealing with.

And yet, very shortly, if I don’t miss my guess by much, we’re going to find ourselves inundated with other people who do not share our basic values, a situation that the British and the French and the Danish and to a lesser extent, the Canadians are already finding themselves in. And does anyone really think that the battle over immigration with Mexico isn’t about cultural values?

And so, interestingly enough, along comes Boortz this morning, to put a finer edge on my comments:

Now … let’s address the race angle. I’ve been reading some of the blogs out there, and I did have a chance to listen to some sports talk radio over the weekend. What I’ve read and heard is entirely predictable. Everyone is out to get Michael Vick because he’s black. The whole investigation is racially based.

This isn’t about race. It’s about culture. Black urban culture, to be more precise. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that organized dogfighting has increased by well over 300% since 1992. In many cases the dogfighting takes place in conjunction with drug dealing. The director of the Capital Area Humane Society in Ohio told the Cincinnati Inquirer “”Dogfighting is a family event, often held in a large warehouse. Children watch and there can be concession stands at one end, gambling somewhere else, and over in this corner they’ll be selling cocaine and crack.”

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that dogfighting has been glorified in rap music. DMX and Snoop Dog have promoted the practice in their “music” videos.

Eileen Lou-Harrist wrote “In recent years, pit bull terriers have become a macho accessory in urban culture, where kids are attracted to the animals’ reputation as inherently mean dogs. Add the hard-edged glamour of the dogfight—the gambling, drugs and weapons; the illegality; the ‘fight ’til you die’ credo—and dogfighting flourishes in places where cultivating a tough reputation is often paramount to survival.” Now is Lou-Harrist describing any sort of a racial characteristic with those words? Hardly. She’s describing a culture; urban street culture. Gangsta culture. So for all of you out there who will try to make this whole Michael Vick affair into a racial issue, put a sock in it. We’re talking culture here, not race; a violent, immoral and cruel culture that promotes violence and disrespect for common decency and the law; a culture now vividly represented by Michael Vick.

Here’s the problem as I see it; In our efforts to be “multicultural” we have also become “amoral”, for the two are inexorably connected.