Michael Vick: race, reality and society

Michael Vick's crime is much more than a dog fighting case. Beyond what has been purported to have occurred, it is the social ramifications that have caught my attention. Beginning back when the story first broke, the race card played by both the SCLC and the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP begat cries of racial injustice. I failed to see then, nor now, how race factors into the equation. SCLC President Charles Steele, Jr. said, "We need to support him [Vick] no matter what the evidence reveals." In response Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, President of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, accurately replied,

"The NAACP and the SCLC are so corrupt and racist that they're oblivious to their own hypocrisy. The groups have no objectivity or proper sense of moral outrage against any black offenders. These same groups didn't have a problem rushing to judgment during the Duke rape scandal when three innocent white athletes were wrongfully accused of raping a black female. Their outrage only applies to white offenses, real or contrived. "

"Michael Vick is not a victim of racism. He will have his day in court and he's wealthy enough to afford the best legal representation money can buy. But for the leader of a civil rights group once associated with Dr. King to state that blacks should support Vick 'no matter what the evidence reveals,' demonstrates just how morally bankrupt modern day civil rights groups have become and how little respect they have for the character of black Americans."

http://www.earnedmedia.org/bond0801.htm

Aren't such racial stances racist in themselves? I don't see how you can support someone just because of the color of their skin while calling for racial equality, in spite of how damning and disturbing the evidence is to the crime. It's almost as if those groups are suggesting that Michael Vick should be let off because he is black. Despite whatever ones cultural views are, dog fighting is cruel and inhumane, bringing life into being only to torture and kill. And regardless of ones views, it's a crime. Race has no place in this issue.

Equally as troubling is the acceptance of the plea Vick is entering, in which he will admit to the interstate dog fighting conspiracy charges, but not admit to gambling allegations or assisting in the tortured executions of eight pit bulls, which he admits being present for. He has admitted to supplying the money used in the gambling ring, but claims he did not place bets himself and did not share in the winnings. It is a travesty of justice that our courts allow such loopholes to exist, as if Vick, after all the lying he has done, is worthy of the benefit of the doubt. No way is it acceptable for Vick to get off on the Animal cruelty charges, nor the gambling allegations, simply by copping a plea, promising to serve as an informant to testify in other federal dog fighting cases, as part of the deal. What kind of source is he, and how is this plea acceptable? Vick has done nothing but lie from the get go, lying to the Atlanta Falcons, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the media, outrightly denying any wrong doing or involvement with dog fighting. Now our government wants to take him for his word and use him as a trusted informant? This whole case stinks of elitism, not racism. It wreaks of celebrity justice. The average American citizen isn't afforded such privilege and opportunity, possessing neither the ability or resources to so obviously sidestep the law. There is no reason to allow differing sets of norms to rule differing classes of people. Perhaps U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson will see it this way when sentencing Vick, who still could see the maximum five years instead of the recommended 12-18 months as sought by federal prosecutors. It's just reflective how broken our system is, how un-democratic our society has become. Inequality is deeper than race.

http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=6987352

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