We'll find out for sure in Deember, when he is sentenced, but all indications are that Michael Vick will be sen away for anywhere from 12-18 months on the dogfigthing conspiracy charge to which he pled guilty.
To me, as an animal lover in general and dog owner in particular, what Vick did was reprehensible. He deserves to do jail time. There is another companion story, however, and that is how what Michael Vick did is perceived across the country. Sadly, as is the case with so many issues, the view of what he did has broken down along racial lines. Caucasians overwhelmingly think that he is guilty, African Americans...........not so much. Jason Whitlock, who is African American, has written a great piece in which he asks his fellow African Americans how they can blame "white racism" for the pratfalls and criminal actions of every one of their athletic heroes: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7160334.
Then again, maybe I'm just off base on this one.
1 comment:
I don't think of this as a racism issue, but as a fairness issue. According to one article http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/cam-anfi-20030128.html there were 40,000 dog fighters and 250,000 dogs involved in this stuff as far back as 2003. There are cultures where dog fighting, or cock fighting, or bullfighting, are mainstream. Vick's penalty should be in line with what other people get, but it seems that he's being made an example of. What he did, what all these people do, is despicable to me, but to punish him more harshly because of who he is is not right.
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