Michael Vick In Black And White
By CBSNews.com's Lindsay Goldwert
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's fall from glory has been swift, public and painful.
Even after Vick pled guilty to federal felony dog fighting charges and admitted to killing pit bulls, many black Americans feel that Vick has been the object of overzealous vengeance by authorities.
A CBS News/New York Times poll taken before Vick entered his plea showed that 32 percent of black Americans believe Vick's status as a star athlete has caused him to receive worse treatment by the authorities, compared to only 6 percent of white Americans.
Falcons fans at Playmakers, a barbershop that caters to a mostly African-American clientele in Atlanta, said while they may not approve of dogfighting, they still support Vick because they believe him to be a victim of a racist judicial system.
"It's bad. I don't condone it at all, but the punishment is too severe. They're ruining a man's career," barber Dontrell Mapp told CBS 46.
Vick, who grew up in the projects of Newport News, Virginia is still considered a hero among those who know him personally. Many have cited his generosity to locals in need as well as the fact the he donated money to assist families affected by the massacre at his alma mater, Virginia Tech. Most Falcons fans agree that he is responsible for the sold out games in Atlanta.
More than half of the team's season ticket holders are African-American.
"It's kind of a touchy subject," Jeff Richwagens, a 53-year-old white software developer told the Los Angeles Times."It's difficult to have a conversation about Vick that's not muddied by race."
The case against Vick has unleashed a national debate on how athletes are treated by the press and by the police.
"When we scratched the surface of our poll data on Michael Vick, we found a significant racial gap," says CBS News Deputy Director of Surveys Sarah Dutton. "There was a similar gap in data about Barry Bonds earlier in the summer, with more African-Americans saying that race was a factor in the allegations of steroid use, and that those allegations weren't true."
Whether or not Vick is being treated the same as any other man, black or white, is complicated by his enormous wealth.
"He may in fact be being treated better than some African-Americans and Hispanics who don't have the resources and financial means that he has," said Dennis Courtland Hayes, interim president and CEO of the NAACP. "On the other hand, there might be some of a different race or different ethnicity who might be treated a bit differently."
Anyone who pleads guilty or is convicted of Vick's crime would face the same approximate sentence under the federal guidelines, says CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. But that doesn't change the apparent feeling by many black Americans that Vick is being made a scapegoat for animal cruelty.
"I personally wouldn't mind if Vick were banned for life as long as there was a full investigation to root out the entire sub-culture of dogfighting, drug taking and gangster-ism in the NFL," says Gerald Early, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who has written extensively about black Americans in sports. "But since Vick is likely to be just a fall guy, he should be permitted to return."
There is also a sense of disappointment in Vick, especially from those who believed him when he professed his innocence. Many hope he can achieve some redemption, if he is truly sorry.
"What he needs to do when he comes out (of prison) is to call a press conference and explain where a young man making $130 million would get caught up in something like that," said Gerald Rose, a local civil rights group leader who had organized a march in support of Vick a month earlier.
There has also been a split among black and whites on how seriously to take Vick's ill-treatment of his animals and his violent methods of dealing with the pit bulls that did not perform to his satisfaction. Animal rights groups have demanded maximum punishment for Vick while others think the charges are overblown.
"He's made this city a ton of money every Sunday," Hiram Melvin, 50, of Decatur, Georgia told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "This dogfighting has been going on for years. It's not something that just started. It's not a big deal."
Bobby J. Brown, director of the 2005 documentary "Off the Chain," says that dog fighting indicates a larger problem: America's obsession with violence.
"When people have no feeling for animals, when they will steal your pet from your yard to use as bait, to kill dogs without a thought, that's scary," says Brown. "That doesn't bode well for us as a society."
It's too soon to tell if America will ever forget Vick's participation in dogfighting but there are signs that he may some day be forgiven. PETA has reached out to Vick, offering signs of approval for his statement that killing dogs for sport is a "terrible thing." The NFL and the Atlanta Falcons haven't ruled out Vick's chances of playing again.
Now that the preseason has begun, Atlanta fans want to get on with their season, without or without Vick. Fans, both black and white, have come out and said that now that he's come out and apologized, he should be allowed to play professional football again.
"It didn't make a difference before he apologized," said Evette Summers, an African-American Falcons fan told CBS 46 just before the first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. "I look at his age and I look at life and we've all made mistakes."
"He admitted his guilt," said Carl Conforti, a white Falcons fan. "Let him go ahead and do his time and then let him come out and play."
Copyright 2007 CBS. All rights reserved. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's fall from glory has been swift, public and painful.
Even after Vick pled guilty to federal felony dog fighting charges and admitted to killing pit bulls, many black Americans feel that Vick has been the object of overzealous vengeance by authorities.
A CBS News/New York Times poll taken before Vick entered his plea showed that 32 percent of black Americans believe Vick's status as a star athlete has caused him to receive worse treatment by the authorities, compared to only 6 percent of white Americans.
Falcons fans at Playmakers, a barbershop that caters to a mostly African-American clientele in Atlanta, said while they may not approve of dogfighting, they still support Vick because they believe him to be a victim of a racist judicial system.
"It's bad. I don't condone it at all, but the punishment is too severe. They're ruining a man's career," barber Dontrell Mapp told CBS 46.
Vick, who grew up in the projects of Newport News, Virginia is still considered a hero among those who know him personally. Many have cited his generosity to locals in need as well as the fact the he donated money to assist families affected by the massacre at his alma mater, Virginia Tech. Most Falcons fans agree that he is responsible for the sold out games in Atlanta.
More than half of the team's season ticket holders are African-American.
"It's kind of a touchy subject," Jeff Richwagens, a 53-year-old white software developer told the Los Angeles Times."It's difficult to have a conversation about Vick that's not muddied by race."
The case against Vick has unleashed a national debate on how athletes are treated by the press and by the police.
"When we scratched the surface of our poll data on Michael Vick, we found a significant racial gap," says CBS News Deputy Director of Surveys Sarah Dutton. "There was a similar gap in data about Barry Bonds earlier in the summer, with more African-Americans saying that race was a factor in the allegations of steroid use, and that those allegations weren't true."
Whether or not Vick is being treated the same as any other man, black or white, is complicated by his enormous wealth.
"He may in fact be being treated better than some African-Americans and Hispanics who don't have the resources and financial means that he has," said Dennis Courtland Hayes, interim president and CEO of the NAACP. "On the other hand, there might be some of a different race or different ethnicity who might be treated a bit differently."
Anyone who pleads guilty or is convicted of Vick's crime would face the same approximate sentence under the federal guidelines, says CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. But that doesn't change the apparent feeling by many black Americans that Vick is being made a scapegoat for animal cruelty.
"I personally wouldn't mind if Vick were banned for life as long as there was a full investigation to root out the entire sub-culture of dogfighting, drug taking and gangster-ism in the NFL," says Gerald Early, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who has written extensively about black Americans in sports. "But since Vick is likely to be just a fall guy, he should be permitted to return."
There is also a sense of disappointment in Vick, especially from those who believed him when he professed his innocence. Many hope he can achieve some redemption, if he is truly sorry.
"What he needs to do when he comes out (of prison) is to call a press conference and explain where a young man making $130 million would get caught up in something like that," said Gerald Rose, a local civil rights group leader who had organized a march in support of Vick a month earlier.
There has also been a split among black and whites on how seriously to take Vick's ill-treatment of his animals and his violent methods of dealing with the pit bulls that did not perform to his satisfaction. Animal rights groups have demanded maximum punishment for Vick while others think the charges are overblown.
"He's made this city a ton of money every Sunday," Hiram Melvin, 50, of Decatur, Georgia told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "This dogfighting has been going on for years. It's not something that just started. It's not a big deal."
Bobby J. Brown, director of the 2005 documentary "Off the Chain," says that dog fighting indicates a larger problem: America's obsession with violence.
"When people have no feeling for animals, when they will steal your pet from your yard to use as bait, to kill dogs without a thought, that's scary," says Brown. "That doesn't bode well for us as a society."
It's too soon to tell if America will ever forget Vick's participation in dogfighting but there are signs that he may some day be forgiven. PETA has reached out to Vick, offering signs of approval for his statement that killing dogs for sport is a "terrible thing." The NFL and the Atlanta Falcons haven't ruled out Vick's chances of playing again.
Now that the preseason has begun, Atlanta fans want to get on with their season, without or without Vick. Fans, both black and white, have come out and said that now that he's come out and apologized, he should be allowed to play professional football again.
"It didn't make a difference before he apologized," said Evette Summers, an African-American Falcons fan told CBS 46 just before the first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. "I look at his age and I look at life and we've all made mistakes."
"He admitted his guilt," said Carl Conforti, a white Falcons fan. "Let him go ahead and do his time and then let him come out and play."
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Posted by treadmiller at 04:23 PM : Sep 01, 2007
Any "White outrage" would be turned into a racist diatribe so most people that might normally comment keep their thoughts to themselves. I and Most of my friends (white and Black) think Vick has been given a chance by the NFL and Atlanta Falcons to do his pennance then resume hise life at the end of it. (It is for sure that if it were a white athlete, no Black would wish him any thing but ill.) sounds like something a Black would say, doesn''t it? Justice was almost done to the Duke boys but a power hungry attorney and two Black rabble rousers screwed it up and the only one really hurt was the victim and the families involved.
I don''t know if this individual was seriously looking for some thoughtful dialogue or simply trying to sling mud, because "common sense" or critical thinking should suffice..
For the record, most of the ones'' you''re referring too undoubtedly came from poverty/crime-ridden, drug infested, dysfunctional homes and neighborhoods--of which they have probably had never ventured out and intermingled beyond their limited surroundings.
Many have been absented a strong positive male role model or mother figure, which created their dilemma, and I don''t see why it has been inconceivable for many whites to understand considering all the evidence/data has pointed to that fact.
Why is it so difficult to understand, if you had been reared or raised in a negative, unproductive, apathetic, etc. environment it shouldn''t take Sigmund Freud, Piaget, B.F. Skinner, Eric Fromm, Eric Erickson, Vogotsky, Bandura, etc. to predict the outcome..
It is obvious these particular black athletes you are speaking of came from extremely dysfunctional environments, for example the comments Vick''s father made enlightened me to the type of environment he had come from, so I don''t understand why is it so difficult for some folks to comprehend..
The plain and simple fact is that MOST black people do NOT support what Vick did. He''s a sadistic monster.
So anyhow, I hope most of you racist thugs just shut the hell up.
Why is that?
Posted by Keithle1 at 07:17 PM : Sep 01, 2007"
From where do you get your figures? Pull them from your white supremacist hat? LOL
This much we know, Black athletes are harassed, tailed and OVER PERSECUTED AND PROSECUTED, first by the racist and envious white supremacist cops, and them by by the equally racist in-justice system of the good ole US of A!
How many Black cops are citing Black athletes for trouble?
It is ALWAYS the racist and envious and pale PROFILING POLICE who are harassing Black athletes over their PIGMENTATION and their hefty POCKETBOOKS!
Yep! When we ketchum, we jail''um.
"African countries HAVE THE LOWEST INCARCERATION RATE IN THE WORLD.
PROOF THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE SOME OF THE MOSE UPSTANDING HUMANS ON THE PLANET."
Yep! when they ketch''um, they kill''um..
"And yes, Black men are the ones displaying your ''''self-destructive streak'''' by building Weapons of Mass Destruction in massive quantities."
Yep! I''ve been telling you about the Nubian Muslim threat for a long while now.
"And the wicked world wars 1 & 2, which self-immolate millions were created by evil Black men from Europe."
Yep! If the Barbary Pirates had left German/European interests alone, they would not have tried to take over the world
"And Black American males are the ones sending America''''s homosexuals soldiers to Iraq to sodomize, mass slaughter in the hundreds of thousands, and sacrifice American limbs and lives FOR NOTHING!"
Yep! Colin Powells one of yours alright. But he did have sense enough to get out while the getting was good.
"Because only half brains could KNOWINGLY ELECT & RE-ELECT A CERTIFIED IDIOT AS THEIR SO-CALLED LEADER. LOL "
Posted by Agnim at 11:48 AM : Sep 01, 2007"
Yep! we tried to tell you not to vote for him, but the proof is in the pudding!!!!