ESPN turned Michael Vick into a white man. In a photo created by D’arcy Hyde of ESPN The Magazine, the picture was published with an article called, “Imaging Michael Vick as a White Quarterback in the NFL.”
Written by Toure, I figured that the article would be an attempt to confront the lingering racial issues that continue to plague all sports. I was wrong.
While the story’s title and photo was daring, it didn’t connect with the story. It’s obvious that the story doesn’t completely explore the possible effects of Vick being a white quarterback in the NFL and how the media would cover him. The story also failed to use the premise to present how different Tom Brady’s or Peyton Manning’s careers could have been if they were black quarterbacks. However, Toure’s story was more about class than race.
Apparently, Toure was unaware of the story’s title and photoshopped picture of Vick.
“I wrote an essay about Vick and race,” Toure said through Twitter. “ESPN The Mag titled it and added art without me [normal procedure]. My essay on Vick is nowhere near as inflammatory as the pic of him in whiteface, which contradicts me saying you can’t imagine him as white.”
ESPN later pulled the photoshopped image of Vick as a white man. However, they placed the image back on their websites hours later. It was only a cheap ploy by ESPN to spark a racial debate without actually bringing forth the real issues. –amir shaw
