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What if Michael Vick Were White

What if Michael Vick Were White

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Updated Aug 19, 2015 at 11:23AM EDT by Don.

Added Aug 26, 2011 at 06:40PM EDT by Don.

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About

What if Michael Vick Were White is an exploitable photoshop meme in which American football quarterback Michael Vick is transformed into various people, animals and objects.

Origin

An ESPN article titled "What if Michael Vick were white?"[1] featuring a photoshopped image of Vick with white skin was published on August 25th, 2011. The article written by American essayist Touré criticized the hypothetical argument that Vick might have been punished less severely for his 2007 conviction of unlawful dogfighting if he were of Caucasian descent.


Spread

The same day the ESPN article was published, Business Insider[2] and The Daily What[3] reported on how the headline and image were not approved by Touré, citing tweets by the author.

Here's my ESPN mag essay about Michael Vick & race. http://t.co/u3DRkAc I asked them not to call it What If Vick Were White but they did.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyTouré
Toure

I had no idea they'd put a pic of Vick in whiteface. Makes no sense w an essay saying it's impossible to re-imagine him as white?less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyTouré
Toure


The first parody was tweeted by @JoeSportsFan[6] the same day, showing Michael Vick transformed into a bald eagle. An image of Michael Vick as barbeque spare ribs was subsequently posted to Reddit, and reached the front page with 1,854 up votes. By August 26th, enough derivatives had been created that Total Pro Sports[4] and CBS News[5] were able to post Michael Vick photoshop round-ups.

What if Michael Vick was...an actual eagle? Since the day he was arrested, people have been asking that question. The answer isn't what you think By Touré ESPN The Magazine 四Ernail召Print Comments 町 Photo iustration by D'arcy Hyde for ESPN The Magazine Race is an undeniable and complex element of Vick's story, both because of his style as well as the rarity of black QBs in the NFL What if Michael Vick...were made of barbeque spare ribs? Would you eat him? Since the day he was arrested, people have been asking that question. The answer isn't what you think. By Touré ESPN The Magazine Ernal Print Comments Photo mustration by D'arcy Hyde for ESPN The Magazine Race is an undeniable and complex element of Vick's story, both because of his style as well as the rarity of black QBs in the NFL

Editor's Response

On August 26th, 2011, ESPN Senior Editor Raina Kelley appeared on CNN claiming that the image was used to address the racial issue directly.


ESPN Editor In Chief Chad Millman published a post the same day addressing the issue, with an embed of the CNN clip:

In the past, designers have challenged readers to consider their views on race by portraying a black Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II.

We had several conversations about how to support the essay with imagery that made people think as much as the words did.

Notable Derivatives


What if Michael Vick...had no head? Since the day he was arrested, people have been asking that question. The answer isn't what you think. By Touré ESPN The Magazine Email Print Comments Photo illustration by D'arcy Hyde for ESPN The Magazine Race is an undeniable and complex element of Vick's story, both because of his style as well as the rarity of black QBs in the NFL Hurricane Irene Models hamweather.com New York City WHAT IF MICHAEL VICK WASA WHITE HURRICANE? Richmond Arlanta Dallas Bermuda Austin New braaaCity Port OConnor Brown sville Pesca Cabo San Antonio Cabo Rojo Campeche Grand Cayman Belize City tigua Barbuda Salina Cruž Sipacit P Cabezas Barbados Mon Aug 22 2011 07:1& P EbT Barranquilla Tobago Caracas

External References

[1] ESPN – What if Michael Vick were white?

[2] Business Insider – ESPN Makes Michael Vick White To See If We're All Racist

[3] The Daily What – This Looks Shopped of the Day

[4] Total Pro Sports – ESPN Vick Article Fall-Out: The Best “What If Michael Vick Were…” Photoshop Jobs

[5] CBS News – ""What if Michael Vick were white? inspires other "What If?" memes

[6] Twitter – @JoeSportsFan

[7] Reddit – What if Michael Vick were made of barbeque spare ribs? Would you eat him?

[8] ESPN – Mag: EIC Millman on Vick

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