Defending atrocious cruelty by calling it “culture” does not excuse your actions. I will agree and say that I have heard more than one African-American person in the south refer to dog fighting as “culture”. I will also agree that you likely came from a neighborhood that sought out violence as a form of release.
Let me ask you a question. Do you condone stoning women? In some countries that is the culture. How about torturing humans? That is the culture of militaries across the world and across history. Or burning a 6 year-old girl because you think she is possessed by demons? Yes, sir, religion is culture too. And seeing as you’re black and from the south, how do you feel about slavery? That was the culture of the south pre-Civil War. Let me guess, you’re offended by that one? Why? Read the history books, the pre-Civil War south used both the Bible and culture as a reason for their acceptance of slavery. You’re probably going to make some excuse though, like, “Well, slavery was different. It was cruel and oppressive.” Sure as hell was! And I’m so glad we have furthered ourselves as a country and outlawed it. However, what you, and others like you, need to realize is that violence against animals for pleasure is known to lead to violence against humans. You can view your acceptance and participation in dog fighting as acceptance and participation in the violent neighborhood from which you came. Actually, you probably should view it that way.
Yes, as humans we are part of the animal kingdom. Yes, that does mean that we, as a species, are capable of what seem too many to be unthinkable atrocities. Yes, that does mean that we can cave to our basest instincts. Yet it also means we have the unique ability to think about our actions and the consequences of those actions. We have the ability to empathize and sympathize. We have the ability to look at ourselves and our own actions logically. We have the ability to determine that our actions are not in line with our proclaimed values. This is the basis of our humanity. The ability to see determine what we need to change about ourselves to make our communities, our societies, our world better. Culture has been used to excuse violence in all forms throughout history yet it doesn’t make it a valid reason for violence.
Culture should not be an excuse used to condone and continue a cycle of violence. Since you claim to come from a culture that appreciates violence, then perhaps it is your duty to humanity to try to change that culture in a positive way rather then excusing that culture.