Blacksmythe

The central meme that will define Vick’s circumstance is a simple one.

He didn’t leave the hood in the hood. People make the same argument about Pacman, and used to make the same argument about AI.

But here’s the thing. While there is a set of geographical markers that distinguish Detroit/Baltimore’s East Side (or Chicago’s South Side, or Saint Louis’ North Side) from its West/North side, even within this place there’s a whole lot of stuff going on. Even within one thin demographic slice you’ve got hustlers, workers, intellectuals, artisans, etc. And even within the straight up criminal class you’ve got people who understand the value of discretion, who know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. People who might not be able to tell you how to allot your 401K, but can tell you within a minute of meeting someone whether that person is trustworthy. Can give you both strategic and tactical advice about how to negotiate a given situation with a minimal use of rhetorical/physical violence.

The question then isn’t why Vick “didn’t let the hood go.” Because the “hood” contains as many different characters and character types as any other place that we might find on a map.

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