[Green_Monkey23]

Hey, im pretty new to the site, i havent really posted much on here but i kinda have one question that ive been wanting to know ever since ive been on these forums. I dont mean to rant but before i ask my question i kinda wanna give just a little background so you can understand my point of view i guess. So im a young black male from an urban neighborhood in durham nc, which is beside raleigh, chapel hill, cary etc so pretty city in my opinion. In my neighborhood, almost everyone has a "pit bull" so ive been around them my whole life and until this forum considered myself to be somewhat of a fancier which i use loosely, because i know i have tons to learn. Ive done a lot of reading on this site and other pit bull wed sites and whenever the discussion comes up about the downfall or bad reputation of the breed, someone points out "thugs" or what not. I personally am in no way a "thug" im currently a college with plans of going to grad school when i grad, but in apperence in some peoples eyes i may resemble a "thug" but maybe not, but in no way am i a thug. Now in my opinion i think that its the opposite away around, its not the dog fighters or thugs thats giving this breed its bad rep because if that were true then wouldnt the dogman of the past be labeled in that same category? Its not the thugs who take these dogs to the dog park and something happens, and majority of the time its not their dog who attacked someone else. Personally i hate any negitive press that gets attributed to breed, but i think that it comes from irresponsible owners. In a way i feel like a lot of people on these forums contradict themselves because they talk about not judging the breed as a whole but people judge a group as a whole(and im not talking about race but in some situations it applies). To make a long winded question short, why is that SOMETIMES people blame "THUGS" or used on another website "URBAN" for the bad rep that pit bull owners get when most of the people are going by looks and dont really know the person at all.

(Im not saying that everyone feels this way but a lot of people do, and im just looking for opinions bc its a stereotype that isnt deserved in my opinion)