“It is regrettable to us that Michael Vick had to settle for a plea bargain,” Rev. R. L. White said. “All of us, the fans of Mr. Vick, had hoped for a more favorable outcome." (See this article.)
Rev. White is the president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. What more favorable outcome could Rev. White have wished for? Maybe if Vick said, "pretty please" or "abra cadabra" or uttered some other magic phrase, the indictment would simply disappear and he could show up at training camp as if he'd just awakened from a nightmare. Is that the more favorable outcome Rev. White was hoping for?
I mean no disrespect, but Reverend White's statment is idiotic. It ignores the fact that Vick had few options: plead out or face a trial, with two close associates turning state's evidence. In a country where people spend millions of dollars on their pets and in a case where there is evidence of Vick's involvment in financing the dog-fighting operation and treating the animals with wanton cruelty, I'd put Vick's chances of an acquittal on all charges between zero and zero. He'd need conviction on only one of the charges to put his NFL career in jeopardy, and any appeals could have lasted years. So, a plea that could Vick out of at least the federal pen somes about as good as it could get.
In an earlier post, I was very critical of the Southern Christian Leadership Council's plan to honor Michael Vick, which the SCLC has since reconsidered. And I think what I wrote above is pretty indicative of what I think of the Atlanta chapter's position on this case. Civil rights organizations lose credibility when they give blind support based primarily on race.
Thankfully, this article provides an alternative view to that of Reverend White and the local NAACP chapter. I like that Dennis Courtland-Hayes, interrim president and CEO of the NAACP, stated clearly and unequivocally that, "Michael Vick is not a victim. He absolutely must account for what he has done."
No doubt African-American men suffer the most injustice under in our judicial system. That said, if Michael Vick is guilty, as it appears he is, there is nothing unjust about calling him to account for it. Maybe the government is singling him out, making an example of him. That strategy is as old as the law itself, and if anything, just confirms that Vick is a big fish who will give the federal government a lot of publicity bang for its prosecutorial buck. Remember Martha Stewart? She too was a big fish who was prosecuted as much for who she was as for what she did.
So in short, I appreciate Courtland-Hayes' statements. His is a voice of reason.
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3 comments:
If Mr. Vick had only beaten his wife instead of his dogs, he would be playing again soon, like so many others.
Ironic, isn't it.
I watched Vick's public apology with my little son who USED TO wear Michael Vick jerseys to school. It is disturbing to think a certain percentage of the population is honestly going to be swayed by Michael Vick's "enlightenment" carefully crafted by his overpaid attorneys. Call me a cynic, but I don't believe a man who has been allegedly torturing animals since childhood coincidentally has a religious epiphany as a result of getting caught and losing his job. I hope I am wrong.
If there is anything good about the Michael Vick story, it is that there is an emerging increased awareness about animal cruelty and animal fighting. There is so much anger about this issue. If we channel it into a positive direction, hopefully, something good can come of it. However...
I think it is a sad commentary that we, as a culture, are using the Vick story to compare "What's worse?" "What's worse", we ask, "carelessly fathering illegitimate children, or dogfighting?". "Dogfighting or gambling?" "Dogfighting or rape?" "Dogfighting or racism?" "Dogfighting or hateful nationalism?" "Dogfighting or (fill in the blank)....?" The comparisons to dogfighting have been endless.
Dogfighting is one more piece of evidence our country is in need of a spiritual transformation (please note I said spiritual and not necessarily religious). Animals are sentient beings - they feel pain, and they suffer, just like we do. They are not more important, or less important than human beings, but like human beings, they are important, too.
Dogfighting pits one dog against another until one of them dies. The survivor gets his flesh torn off, ears ripped off, eyes pulled out, etc., and the reward for being "a winner" is to writhe in pain until the next fight. Enough said. The pictures make my flesh crawl. The losers are tortured, beaten, starved, electrocuted or drowned. For what? Because these poor creatures were unlucky enough to be born a dog!
Every major faith teaches its followers to be responsible stewards of animals and the Earth. Please help us get the word out that caring for animals, just like caring for people, is an important part of just being a decent person and citizen. If we make this a priority, there will be no more dogfighting horror stories, and no more pointless comparisons of evils. Let us all rise, together, to be better people than we are today, shall we?
Chaplain Nancy Cronk
Founder, www.AnimalChaplains.com
I, too, am a tad cynical about Vick's religious conversion. I thought he was doing a good job selling the remorse until he got to his confession of finding God. I can't judge a man's heart, but assuming it's sincere, I think that's something his PR people should have shown some discretion and left out of his statement. His actions will speak volumes.
I think we have lost our ability to empathize with life and those who live it. Whatever will inspire people to consider the effects of their actions from different perspectives besides their own, whether that's religion,, spirituality, yoga, or whatever, will make our society better.
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