Is Michael Vick Being Treated Fairly

At times I feel it is necessary to go on a tangent and speak on the health of our society. Michael Vick is an extremely talented, successful, and wealthy African American athlete. His records on the football field are outstanding and he is the highest paid athlete in the NFL. His contract was 113 million dollars for 10 years and this does not include his endorsements. He made a mistake!

This mistake he made was fighting dogs. It was cruel. When dogs don't perform to a particular standard, they are discarded. This is a bloodthirsty sport but people enjoy different sports that end in killing. In Spain the matador displays bravery when he kills the bull. It is an accepted behavior and matadors learn this skill as a child. The matador is held in high esteem in the society and it is a way to channel the aggressive nature in men. I am not condoning this behavior, but a dog is an animal and not a human being. Is 12 to 18 months 1n jail and destroying a man's ability to provide for his family fit the crime? In other words does the sentence fit the crime?

High profile superstars sell newspapers, and if they happen to be a successful African American there is a certain degree of satisfaction when their name can be dragged through the mud. Justice in America many times is just us. Many times African Americans receive the worst treatment for a insignificant infraction because of sidle racism. We now live in a color blind society but when something happens to us, it is blown out of proportion.

Jamie Fox states "that cruelty to animals is bad but sometimes people shoot people, and kill people and don't get time". We are many times consumed by situations that have nothing to do with human crimes and violence. Sometimes we are concerned with a movement such as violence to animals, or killing minks for coats. The movement becomes more important than the deaths of our children in the war. Michael Vick is an escape into a false sense of reality because the powers that be convince us that they are doing their jobs. The resources and time that are wasted could be better utilized fighting real criminals. Killing animals is sport that people put their trophy in their game room. There is no difference killing dogs or when sportsmen go hunting.

Michael Vick needs support and more stars need to speak in support of him. Dog fights in many communites is an accepted behavior and receive support from the police. It is done on a smaller scale and most people don't know it is a federal offense. It was done on a grander scale because this individual was the highest paid athlete in the NFL. If he was wrong let him pay a fine and then let him play football. We all have made dumb mistakes when we were young, and consider we were having fun. Let him play football and let him continue to learn the rulebook for super stardom. It is a dumb lesson to learn over dog fights, but I think he now understands the example and role model that is expected of a person in his position.
Roger