Anyone who loves dogs has to hate someone who uses, abuses and kills them for sport or profit. And those were my sentiments about Michael Vick, the star quarterback on the Philadelphia Eagles football team. In fact, when I first learned about Vick's dog-fighting racket, I not only wanted him to forfeit his freedom, but also his right to ever play professional football again. A man of such moral turpitude should never be allowed to enjoy celebrity hood and the adulation of sports fans.
President Barack Obama's phone callphone call to Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, a conversation heard around the world, changed my mind. No, my opinion about Vick's reprehensible conduct has not changed, but I realized that my passion for man's (and my) best friend had tipped the scales of justice unfairly against a man who had served his sentence, paid his penalty, a severe one involving millions of dollars, and wanted the chance to display his God-given talents before they were lost to time.
Presidents, of course, live in glass houses. They cannot throw stones, send e-mails or make phone calls and expect to enjoy any zone of privacy. Their private ruminations, once uttered, become food for thought, and grist, for all. Predictably, President Obama's critics were quick to charge that he had, once again, stumbled out of his presidential lane, and that he should have higher priorities and ethical standards than expressing support to Mr. Lurie for employing a convicted felon.
But I think that President Obama, in making that congratulatory call, was fulfilling one of his highest obligations by drawing attention to the need to give a second chance to people who run afoul of our laws. Michael Vick is more than just one man who was in need of redemption. He's a black man in America, and his incarceration and release have wider implications about our system of laws. While Vick himself was admittedly guilty of committing a crime, many men and women, especially those of color who have been sent to prison, are not.
America holds the dubious record of imprisoning a greater percentage of its population than any other nation on the planet. African-Americans, who constitute only 13% of our population make up more than 50% of the inmates in our penal institutions. Sadly, one out of every three black male babies born today can expect to experience some form of incarceration during their lifetimes. This is an alarming statistic that has serious moral implications and societal consequences.
Last year, I had the privilege to co-chair a conference examining the subject of "Justice in America." Among the many legal experts who addressed the conference, were Attorney General Eric Holder, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and co-founder of The Innocence Project, Barry Scheck. The facts discussed were not in dispute: our laws and their administration are unfair and unequal for African-Americans. Discriminatory drug laws, mandatory sentencing, police profiling and conspiracies of silence, exclusionary jury selection and the growing appetite of our prison-industrial complex all contribute to what author Michelle Alexander called, "The New Jim Crow."
The use of our laws and policies to bring about the mass incarceration of African-Americans is but a return to the pernicious practice of segregating, marginalizing and controlling millions of people who are no longer considered of value.
In short, Alexander maintains that we are witnessing the invidious creation of a new caste system where people who are not wanted or needed are removed from the presence of those deemed to be more worthy of the full benefits of American citizenship.
The future facing those who have lost virtually everything, including their right to vote, is bleak. No matter how skilled they might be or how many degrees they might collect, those whose resumes are stamped with a criminal seal have little chance of securing employment. They are thereby forced to live a life of hopelessness or one of crime.
As Americans, we can no longer passively accept the persistence of a racialized system of justice, not if we intend to continue to trumpet our dedication to due process and equal treatment under the law. President Obama has performed a much-needed public service in endorsing Michael Vick having the chance, once again, to play professional football. My hope is that his next call will be to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, urging them to review and repeal the laws that trap millions of people into penal colonies from which there is no exit nor second chances.