Convicting Michael Vick

By Marcus D. Rushing

While I agree that dogfighting represents animal cruelty at its finest, does it warrant the termination of Michael Vick’s pro football career? Perhaps.

Experts say that entertaining such vulgar pastimes could mask a much deeper problem and that, if unchecked, could negatively manifest itself in everyday social interactions.

Come to think of it, I have noticed Mr. Vick become a little more aggressive at work over the years. Apparently dogfighting, an illegal, but popular underground sport (especially among minorities), is incommensurable to the more acceptable or at least more legal sports of boxing, hunting and even horse racing (where the losers of the latter two have more dire consequences than the former).

Digressing from the moral controversy surrounding dogfighting (which I do not support by the way), the take-home message from Mr. Vick’s conviction is that justice has no price. But does it have a color?

We have witnessed over the past few months that having the right complexion, or at least the right hair style, can grant you a pat on the hand for DUIs and clear your criminal resume of drug possessions (cocaine only, of course, as crack charges are seldom dropped).

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Let’s be real folks … driving drunk and abusing illegal substances have as grave an implication if not more serious than dogfighting – as each kills hundreds of thousands annually. I’m no politician so I don’t have all the answers, I’m just curious as to what a brother has to do to get off the hook these days … sell sex tapes or become a connoisseur of narcotics?