Ike
2/12/2008, 03:43 PM
sometimes, you run across something on the web that makes you stand up and think for a minute or five.
Interesting stuff
http://dwil.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/pedro-martinez-cockfighting-and-america/
What is this Pedro Martinez deal? There was a video posted (to You Tube, I guess) from about two years ago that shows New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Fame Pitcher Juan Marichal at a cockfight. Martinez is purported to be either an honored attendee or be the owner of one of the roosters engaged in a fight.
The video is two years old.
What is so rich about this round of animal care rhetoric is that it automatically brings back the topics of Michael Vick and racism, but this time with the added context of imperialism. On May 23 of last year I wrote a long article titled, “Untangling Michael Vick from the Dogs.” In it I provided a very brief description of socio-cultural and socio-historical contexts for both dog fighting and cockfighting:
Dog fighting has its roots in ancient Rome in the days of the Roman Coliseum. Centuries later the activity was alleged to have reappeared in medieval Europe, particularly England. Dog fighting was not confined to Europe. The activity is documented in Japan during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).
Today dog fighting still occurs in some parts of England and in pockets throughout Europe. However, dog fighting is especially popular in Latin America. This reporter has seen dog fighting pits alongside ****-fighting pits in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and been invited to **** and dog fights in both Belize and Guatemala.
The responses to that article were understandably varied. Most commenters offered salient opinions and well-thought out analyses of the dog fighting issue and its relation to Vick and race. Other people commenting offered a peek into what ails U.S. society. And it brought this sentence in the article sadly to life:
“… the Michael Vick-dog fight story reeks on several fronts. It reeks of racism, imperialistic worldviews, cultural insensitivity, and jingoism.”
Some of those responding were particularly peeved with that sentence. What followed were defenses of Western culture and a subset of this culture, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Groups like the HSUS act to project an image to the world that the power construct and its faithful proponents in America are capable of expansive acts of kindness; the we will go so far as to protect beings without voices - animals.
Yet the bare truth of the socio-cultural and socio-political construct in which we live is that it is mostly a nightmarish twist on bits and pieces of repeated but idiosyncratic acts stolen from souls of cultures its people sought to, and did, conquer. This culture, with its rhetoric based on the manipulation of words, where truth is just a “manufactured in Malaysia” obsolescent, before its shelf life is done - thing, has about as much meaning as a shattered string of Mardi Gras beads on a French Quarter street. We use this purposely-malleable rhetoric to trample rights of humans that should have never been in question in the first place and to ensure that, encase we are caught in the wrong, we can use whatever legalese we need to slither away from the damage we wrought unpunished.
The collective ‘we’ care about little more than ourselves and at best, what is closest to us, be that family, friends, or possessions. And anything else is a matter of convenience - an image we drape over our ever-consuming country to provide others with an impression that we are something we are not. Anyone looking at us with an eye toward realism can see these alleged cares for nature are a fallacy. No country can allow it people to spew tons of toxic debris into the air, in to our water, into our soils, ruining the very nature we allege to protect, and go unpunished. We, the people have taken on the psychological makeup of the corporations that shower us with the illusion of riches.
We have become psychopaths.
Only in America can a man like ESPN’s Howard Bryant, on national television, tell viewers that because Pedro Martinez is employed in the United States, he should honor the feelings of the people of America - and his employer, the New York Mets - instead of the people in the land of his birth, the Dominican Republic. Martinez, according to the Bryant the paternalist, should feel some sort of contrived angst at those who participate in cockfighting in the Dominican. Bryant can certainly express his feelings and his opinions about cockfighting - in America. But to subtly ascribe the tag of barbarism to Martinez, Marichal, and the people of the Dominican, is the stuff of jingoistic lore. That sort of speech is, along with a co-sign from a Christian god, the verbal gate that flings open the doors of ideological perception that were and continue to be the root of the yen to conquer under the guise of Manifest Destiny.
Ironically, it is speech that is hung around the neck of Howard Bryant, a black man, like a slip knot noose.
Another peek at just how sick we are was also provided by two more members of ESPN’s cast of characters.
Just days ago Major League Baseball Hall of fame voter and journalist, Tim Kurkjian was asked about Martinez and cockfighting by Jay Crawford on ESPN’s First Take, “What is legal and what is moral?” Kurkjian replied by letting us know that the “moral of the story” is that everything ends up on You Tube and today’s well-known athlete is watched wherever he or she goes. Therefore they must be more mindful of what events they attend and careful with the people with whom they surround themselves.
Kurkjian’s reply is as American as WWE wrestling. It has absolutely nothing to do with legality or morality. But it has everything to do with that good ol’ USofA credo, “Watch your back and cover your *** because everybody’s looking to take you down.”
In Kurkjian’s accidentally savant answer is our heartbeat. It is a rhythm that Pedro Martinez listens to only when it is time for pitchers and catchers to report to training camp. And even then he is doing his level best to put off that charter jet ride to the States for as long as possible.
You see, Pedro Martinez knows he is nothing more than a freakishly talented import brought here to entertain the masses. And if he forgets this fact, if only for a second, he needs only to check his wallet and peer at the card that says he can work here but not permanently reside here. He is a cruel oxymoron come to life, the man without a true New York home helping to build Citi Field, Fred Wilpon’s new home for the Mets in 2009. Martinez has spoken his mind about this country and its people in the past and has been verbally slapped back into place by the New York City media; reminded that the card in his wallet means N.F.L. if he gets too far out of line. It is why he spends as little time and money here as he needs - it is his way of saying “Not For Long” can work both ways.
This man with the freakish gift grew up in a home with dirt floors and a tin roof. When the hard winter rains come and those serrated tin roofs fly away, the people of the town call out, “Zzzzzink!” when a member of the family passes by; it is the sound of the tin sliding quickly off shanty house walls. And the joke persists until it is the next family’s turn to face this annual disaster. Now though, Martinez’s family resides in a series of manses behind gates and protected by personal security guards.
In the Dominican Republic Martinez is a true hero with the intelligence to have been a doctor if he had chosen and with the kindness to give of himself and share his money with those who grew up just like him. He is responsible for the building of homes, a school, ball fields, and a church in his hometown of Manogayabo, just northwest of Santo Domingo.
In his hometown Pedro Martinez is known as “an angel.”
But here, he sees only the land of greed and the home of the slaves. A place where friends barely exist. A place where only a foe would be so psychically destitute as to put him front and center at a dog fight in the country of his home for all of America to see.
Whoever did this to Pedro Martinez is callous, deceitful, and incapable of feeling guilt; and they want to make a statement. The person wants to make sure that Martinez is looking over his shoulder at all times - not just here, but in the Dominican Republic, too.
They want to make sure that wherever he goes he knows the corporate collective that is America, follows.
Interesting stuff
http://dwil.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/pedro-martinez-cockfighting-and-america/
What is this Pedro Martinez deal? There was a video posted (to You Tube, I guess) from about two years ago that shows New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Fame Pitcher Juan Marichal at a cockfight. Martinez is purported to be either an honored attendee or be the owner of one of the roosters engaged in a fight.
The video is two years old.
What is so rich about this round of animal care rhetoric is that it automatically brings back the topics of Michael Vick and racism, but this time with the added context of imperialism. On May 23 of last year I wrote a long article titled, “Untangling Michael Vick from the Dogs.” In it I provided a very brief description of socio-cultural and socio-historical contexts for both dog fighting and cockfighting:
Dog fighting has its roots in ancient Rome in the days of the Roman Coliseum. Centuries later the activity was alleged to have reappeared in medieval Europe, particularly England. Dog fighting was not confined to Europe. The activity is documented in Japan during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).
Today dog fighting still occurs in some parts of England and in pockets throughout Europe. However, dog fighting is especially popular in Latin America. This reporter has seen dog fighting pits alongside ****-fighting pits in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and been invited to **** and dog fights in both Belize and Guatemala.
The responses to that article were understandably varied. Most commenters offered salient opinions and well-thought out analyses of the dog fighting issue and its relation to Vick and race. Other people commenting offered a peek into what ails U.S. society. And it brought this sentence in the article sadly to life:
“… the Michael Vick-dog fight story reeks on several fronts. It reeks of racism, imperialistic worldviews, cultural insensitivity, and jingoism.”
Some of those responding were particularly peeved with that sentence. What followed were defenses of Western culture and a subset of this culture, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Groups like the HSUS act to project an image to the world that the power construct and its faithful proponents in America are capable of expansive acts of kindness; the we will go so far as to protect beings without voices - animals.
Yet the bare truth of the socio-cultural and socio-political construct in which we live is that it is mostly a nightmarish twist on bits and pieces of repeated but idiosyncratic acts stolen from souls of cultures its people sought to, and did, conquer. This culture, with its rhetoric based on the manipulation of words, where truth is just a “manufactured in Malaysia” obsolescent, before its shelf life is done - thing, has about as much meaning as a shattered string of Mardi Gras beads on a French Quarter street. We use this purposely-malleable rhetoric to trample rights of humans that should have never been in question in the first place and to ensure that, encase we are caught in the wrong, we can use whatever legalese we need to slither away from the damage we wrought unpunished.
The collective ‘we’ care about little more than ourselves and at best, what is closest to us, be that family, friends, or possessions. And anything else is a matter of convenience - an image we drape over our ever-consuming country to provide others with an impression that we are something we are not. Anyone looking at us with an eye toward realism can see these alleged cares for nature are a fallacy. No country can allow it people to spew tons of toxic debris into the air, in to our water, into our soils, ruining the very nature we allege to protect, and go unpunished. We, the people have taken on the psychological makeup of the corporations that shower us with the illusion of riches.
We have become psychopaths.
Only in America can a man like ESPN’s Howard Bryant, on national television, tell viewers that because Pedro Martinez is employed in the United States, he should honor the feelings of the people of America - and his employer, the New York Mets - instead of the people in the land of his birth, the Dominican Republic. Martinez, according to the Bryant the paternalist, should feel some sort of contrived angst at those who participate in cockfighting in the Dominican. Bryant can certainly express his feelings and his opinions about cockfighting - in America. But to subtly ascribe the tag of barbarism to Martinez, Marichal, and the people of the Dominican, is the stuff of jingoistic lore. That sort of speech is, along with a co-sign from a Christian god, the verbal gate that flings open the doors of ideological perception that were and continue to be the root of the yen to conquer under the guise of Manifest Destiny.
Ironically, it is speech that is hung around the neck of Howard Bryant, a black man, like a slip knot noose.
Another peek at just how sick we are was also provided by two more members of ESPN’s cast of characters.
Just days ago Major League Baseball Hall of fame voter and journalist, Tim Kurkjian was asked about Martinez and cockfighting by Jay Crawford on ESPN’s First Take, “What is legal and what is moral?” Kurkjian replied by letting us know that the “moral of the story” is that everything ends up on You Tube and today’s well-known athlete is watched wherever he or she goes. Therefore they must be more mindful of what events they attend and careful with the people with whom they surround themselves.
Kurkjian’s reply is as American as WWE wrestling. It has absolutely nothing to do with legality or morality. But it has everything to do with that good ol’ USofA credo, “Watch your back and cover your *** because everybody’s looking to take you down.”
In Kurkjian’s accidentally savant answer is our heartbeat. It is a rhythm that Pedro Martinez listens to only when it is time for pitchers and catchers to report to training camp. And even then he is doing his level best to put off that charter jet ride to the States for as long as possible.
You see, Pedro Martinez knows he is nothing more than a freakishly talented import brought here to entertain the masses. And if he forgets this fact, if only for a second, he needs only to check his wallet and peer at the card that says he can work here but not permanently reside here. He is a cruel oxymoron come to life, the man without a true New York home helping to build Citi Field, Fred Wilpon’s new home for the Mets in 2009. Martinez has spoken his mind about this country and its people in the past and has been verbally slapped back into place by the New York City media; reminded that the card in his wallet means N.F.L. if he gets too far out of line. It is why he spends as little time and money here as he needs - it is his way of saying “Not For Long” can work both ways.
This man with the freakish gift grew up in a home with dirt floors and a tin roof. When the hard winter rains come and those serrated tin roofs fly away, the people of the town call out, “Zzzzzink!” when a member of the family passes by; it is the sound of the tin sliding quickly off shanty house walls. And the joke persists until it is the next family’s turn to face this annual disaster. Now though, Martinez’s family resides in a series of manses behind gates and protected by personal security guards.
In the Dominican Republic Martinez is a true hero with the intelligence to have been a doctor if he had chosen and with the kindness to give of himself and share his money with those who grew up just like him. He is responsible for the building of homes, a school, ball fields, and a church in his hometown of Manogayabo, just northwest of Santo Domingo.
In his hometown Pedro Martinez is known as “an angel.”
But here, he sees only the land of greed and the home of the slaves. A place where friends barely exist. A place where only a foe would be so psychically destitute as to put him front and center at a dog fight in the country of his home for all of America to see.
Whoever did this to Pedro Martinez is callous, deceitful, and incapable of feeling guilt; and they want to make a statement. The person wants to make sure that Martinez is looking over his shoulder at all times - not just here, but in the Dominican Republic, too.
They want to make sure that wherever he goes he knows the corporate collective that is America, follows.