i totally agree
i have a pit/lab mix and i get alot of people saying "oh, good thing he's half lab", or just a dirty look, and he is only HALF pitbull! he is only 6 months now and he has the expected hyperactivity of the lab and overall teenage defiance of pitbulls and large breeds in general. but overall he is a lover, friendly towards children, cats, other dogs, etc. never shown any sign of being vicious. people need to understand that fighting them was a popular sport with a certain crowd of people at a certain time. it was popular enough for the owners and breeders who fought them to have an impact on the temperment of alot of champion lines thus the breed in general. also that macho status that came with owning them appealed to "macho" people, many of which trained or neglect enough to make it vicious furthering the bad reputation. the only difference between a pitbull and another dog is the tendency to be more dog aggressive but that can be fixed with proper socialization and also the fact that pitbulls have greater potential to cause extensive damage or death when attacking because of their physical build, muscular jaws, and weight distribution. its really no wonder why they are now a popular breed, besides the mentioned fact, that they were used as fight dogs, and originally used as working dogs on farms with large cattle and bulls hence their loyalty, determination, stubborness, and dedication to whichever task they were shown how to do...including loving their family and friends! all of this has been mentioned, but i like everyone else had to throw my two cents in and agree with the first comments posted.