In the interest of full disclosure, I am a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. For most of my adult life, I watched football but didn’t have a real team that I followed consistently. On any given Sunday, I’d just root for whatever team had a Black c
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. For most of my adult life, I watched football but didn’t have a real team that I followed consistently. On any given Sunday, I’d just root for whatever team had a Black coach or a Black quarterback. So a couple of years ago, when Rush Limbaugh attacked Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, I knew that was going to be my team and I haven’t missed a game on either television or radio in about five years. Two weeks ago, the Eagles shocked the sports world and a lot of mainstream media by signing former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to their roster. Vick had just been released after spending two years in jail for running a dogfighting ring along with some of his relatives. In addition to having lost over 130 million dollars in pay and being suspended from the NFL he’s become public enemy number one in the eyes of a small but passionate group of Americans who think his crimes are so heinous that he doesn’t deserve the privilege of playing professional football again.
The anger towards Vick by animal rights activists and even a few sportscasters isn’t entirely without merit. The guy was pretty foolish. As a high profile quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, one has to figure that he had better investment opportunities offered to him than dogfighting seeing as how it’s both illegal and morally contemptible to most people in this country. Vick supposedly electrocuted, drowned and suffocated dogs that were no longer considered “productive” (i.e., they couldn’t fight anymore) in addition to lying to various people including federal agents about his activities. So while Vick has made some mistakes, the anger towards him just seems too intense, similar to the anger you see at town halls across America about Obama’s healthcare plans.
I know that right now some of you are thinking “How dare he compare Michael Vick to President Obama. Vick is a criminal and Obama’s a duly elected president!” In the minds of all too many Americans, on the right and the left, there really isn’t all that much of a difference. The core of the anger is the sense that these are men who are in positions they don’t deserve because of the color of their skin. Nobody screams about Black running backs getting in trouble, but a Black quarterback is still a rarity in the league and something that many fans still wrestle with. We have tons of Black congressmen and even some governors, but a Black president is a bit too far for many Americans.
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