Michael Vick indictment is not a racial matter

Filed in archive NFL on July 18, 2007

Courtesy Deadspin.com

Here's a big, fat Shut Up for all of the jerks, who say the Mike Vick indictment is race related.

I don't usually like to use this platform to vent, but I've never been so sick of people playing the race card, every time a black athlete does something stupid, and the media points it out.

Of course, when Vick was indicted, it was the sports story of the day. Jim Rome was discussing the issue on his nationally-syndicated radio show, and he, not surprisingly, was being very hard on Vick.

Presently, every racist from 'Frisco to Raleigh started calling or e-mailing Rome to say that the only reason he was coming down on Vick is because he is a black quarterback. Some even suggested that dogfighting, one of the charges Vick faces, is "not a big deal."

Why does the color of Vick's skin matter? Are people really so narrow-minded as to believe that if Peyton Manning were indicted for the same crime that Jim Rome would say he was being wrongly targeted?

This kind of speculation is exactly what proliferates racism in sports and in America. It's reckless, and it has to stop.

Vick hasn't been found guilty, yet, and this case likely won't be settled for a year, but Vick deserves criticism for this issue, whether he's white, black or Hispanic.

Dogfighting is a crime, and if Michael Vick is involved in it, he's a criminal and should be prosecuted.

He should also be scrutinized by the media.