Selective Indignation

Today Michael Vick copped a plea in an attempt to minimize jail time and other penalties that are sure to come. He realized that in spite of his constitutional presumption of innocence, most of America has already tried and convicted him, and it would be impossible to get a fair trial on the merits of the case, so the only other alternative was to cop a plea. Despite all of her lofty sounding ideals, America has once again proven that she is full of talk, without regard to really true justice. It is also still sadly true, that for many whites, a black man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect.

The anti-Vick rhetoric has been so selective, hateful and vitriolic, it reminded me of the racist orgy of words and actions, that spewed forth during the OJ case. Black people are apparently the only ones who truly believe in the constitution and it's principles, which is amazing given how little regard the constitution has had for them since day one of their arrival in this country. This is why many blacks are supporting Vick, not because they believe he is innocent, but because they want him to be treated fairly and appropriately and at least have the presumed innocence he deserves.

Many of these haters think nothing of snaring a fish and watching him die gasping for breath on the bottom of their boat; or using a high-powered rifle to kill an unsuspecting deer so they can have a macho trophy for their living room wall; or supporting a war in which the distinguished British medical journal, Lancet, says upwards of 1,000,000 Iraqis has been murdered during our uninvited occupation of their country. Their indignation is targeted and selective because a black quarterback from the projects, has already broken records such as the first black quarterback selected as #1 in the draft, has the richest contract in the league, is the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yds. in a season - all of this is way too much for so many, that the dog allegations are as good as any that can be latched onto to bring him down. If it wasn't dogs, they would latch on to any other cause that they could safely hide behind.

Many whites feel that they did Vick a favor by rescuing him from the projects, and allowing him to be a first-pick pro quarterback with the richest contract, ever. Their racist paternalistic minds can't understand how he could betray them and be so unappreciative of all the largess they bestowed on him. They feel that he has instead rewarded them with thuggish, brutish, bad behavior, and brought shame and disrepute on their hallowed game of football. And he has disgraced himself and abdicated the model minority role that they wanted him to star in, and be the poster boy for. These are some of the same whites who sided a few years ago with arch-racist, Rush Limbaugh, when he claimed black quarterbacks got undeserved special treatment and acclaim in the NFL.

This is one of many particularly vicious attacks by a sportswriter - this one was written by someone in the Fox faux news network. Clearly he values the lives of dogs over the life of a young black man who has made a costly mistake. He appears to be salivating like the famous dogs of Pavlov's experiments, at the thought of permanently ridding the world of Michael Vick. He appears to be more beastly than what he accuses Vick of being - judge for yourself.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293854,00.html

Does anyone besides me see why Vick and other athletes, might possibly identify with dogfighting, because they too are valued based on their size, strength and ferocity, they are thrown into an arena to perform, and are sold and transported across state lines when a better price can be received for themselves, and then they are discarded when hurt or too old to perform anymore. What they do to dogs, is an interesting parallel to what is done to them. If I was making a list of the most heinous crimes, I'm pretty sure that dog-fighting wouldn't crack the top 100. A rational person without an agenda, doesn't erupt in faked outrage like so many are doing in this case, particularly since they remain silent about much more serious abuses of dogs. This is what the Boston Globe had to say about legal dog abuse: "The California-based Greyhound Protection League estimates that in the two decades from 1986-2005, 606,633 dogs from the industry were killed: 184,604 puppies judged to be inferior for racing and 421,129 after their "careers" ended, usually by 4 years old. Things are nowhere as bad as they once were. In its worst years, critics said greyhound racing was death row for dogs. The Web site of the Greyhound Racing Association of America says that the peak year for the sport was 1992, when $3.5 billion was bet at more than 50 tracks. That year happened to come right at the end of a frenzied era in which, according to the Greyhound Protection League, between 42,000 and 58,000 dogs were killed in the search for winners. There is no difference between this and what Vick did, other than that dogfighting is illegal and greyhound racing remains legal in many states. For his depraved hobby, Vick will be shamed with prison stripes, while Greyhound racing, despite its primitive exploitation of dogs, remains a $2 billion business."

Vick has wisely pleaded, perhaps just to salvage something from the nightmare of American racism being directed at him. It appears that this is the only alternative that will allow him to cut his losses and go on with what's left of his life. The moral of this story for all black athletes - don't buy the hype of sports adulation and celebrity that is given and just as quickly, can be snatched away. Jack Johnson, O.J. Simpson, Barry Bonds and now Vick and so many, many others, can attest to this.

Hopefully Vick socked away some of the millions in salary and endorsements that he has already received, that will enable him to ride out this racist storm.