Blog 2: Vick and the issue of race

This blog allows me to bring up a very interesting story I have wanted to dissect for a while: the Michael Vick case. Michael Vick, former quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was a popular, rich pro athlete who had it all. He was the face of the NFL for several seasons. That was before his darkest secrets were revealed.

Turns out he liked to watch dogs literally kill each other and occasionally he would do the same by killing the ones that weren’t up to snuff. Over the past few months, the federal government began building its case against Vick after a raid on his property earlier in the same showed evidence of a dog fighting ring operating on the premises not to mention the nearly dozen buried canine corpses found in the back yard.

The case never went to trial. Vick’s co-defendants ratted him out for better deals for themselves and he in turn pleaded guilty before a jury ever had the chance to make matters worse for him. He is now a convicted felon. His sentencing will take place in December.

The point I’m trying to make here is I am disgusted with the way Vick has been so vehemently defended by many. Numerous high profile athletes, actors and entertainers have came out in defense of Vick and tried to reason why he did what he did. It should be noted that the vast majority of his defenders are black, as is he and they have continually contended that it’s a racial issue.

Call me naive, but what really struck me as odd is how this issue has quickly become a racial issue. What everyone who is defending Vick seems to be forgetting is that what he did a white man or Hispanic man or any other man could do. Vick is not being hated on and protested against by PETA and other such groups because he is black, rather, it’s because he is a convicted felon who took pleasure in personally murdering numerous dogs.

We are a country of pet lovers, especially dog lovers. It doesn’t matter what race you are, if you do horrific things like that, you should be punished. However, so many people have turned it into a race thing and I hate it when the race card is used. Yes, there is racism in this world, but this is not a racial issue and should not be treated as such. For further evidence, just look into Vick’s history.

He has a rap-sheet longer than any touchdown run he ever accomplished. He has a documented history of getting into continued trouble with the law. Vick is seen as innocent by many and that confuses the hell out of me. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must say that I used to truly admire Vick. I thought he had an incredible talent, but he wasted it away, not because he was black, but because he made poor decisions time and time again.