WARNING: I "do not" support nor condone the behavior, actions of Michael Vick.Please leave Michael Vick alone. The man has served 19 months in Federal (not state) prison with the remaining being served in home confinement in Virginia. Vick has been instructed by the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, to show remorse for his actions to be reinstated to the NFL. How does he do that?!?!?
First, he will work on programs aimed at preventing urban youth from getting involved in dogfighting (I thought dogfighting was a rural problem...). Second, I am sure he will make several appearances on TV talk shows to display his remorse (possibly even Oprah). Third, he will meet with the NFL commissioner and for certain break down and cry on his shoulder (i.e., Rosewood, Mississippi Burning, Time to Kill, Amistad...catch my drift). Finally, he will do construction work for a minimal wage of $10 an hour after once being the NFL's highest paid player. The other "options" of remorse are out the door. For example, him giving to charitable organizations because the creditors and the Atlanta Falcons have asked for their money back (and rightfully so!).
The conservative in me says, "Michael Vick, you a big dummy, go hide under a rock!!!" The liberal says, "he has paid his debt to society, give him another chance :-)." The conservative says, "the world was your oyster, why would you participate in such a heinous and foolish act?" The liberal says, "he was just trying to 'keep it real' with the fellas and still be true to the hood--for acceptance." The conservative says, "keeping it real is knowing when to separate yourself from friends that will jeopardize your career." The liberal says, "these were the people that he believed truly loved and cared about him, boy was he wrong."
Personally, I am of the opinion that, he has done the time so we (as a society) should move toward forgiving him (many already have and didn't think what he did was all that bad). He has paid his debt to society. So, the NFL commissioner should reinstate him to resume his playing career. But hold up, the NFL is a corporation. What happens to an employee in corporate America if they commit a heinous act that misrepresents the corporation? Do they get to work there again? Sorry, that's the conservative talking :-(
So, let the liberal speak. The NFL should reinstate Michael Vick, only allow a team to pay him the league minimum for the first 3 years, and in the off-seasons he should perform 5,000 community service hours (yes I know thats alot!) for NFL related programs that target youth achievement.
In the words of Malcolm X, I say to Mr. Vick, "If you have no critics you'll likely have no (post)-success."
William T. Hoston is a professor of political science at Wichita State University in the Department of Political Science.
3 comments:
Micheal Vick has paid his time to society. everybody just needs to leave it alone. this is a million dollar lesson learned.
Micheal Vick was found guilty by a jury of his peers and is in the process of completing his sentence for his crimes...It's time for us to forgive Micheal Vick and let this man get on with his life.
I believe that it is okay to make a mistake but you should learn from it and if we use our mistake to teach others we should be forgiven by society as a whole and given a second chance and it michael vick wants to play foot ball again he should be given the opportunity to do so.
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