Blacks urged to reject ‘street culture’
Other prominent black commentators dismiss that argument, however.

Hayes, of the NAACP, maintained that such sentiments were misplaced, saying African-Americans’ legitimate grievances against the criminal justice system should not excuse the very real crimes to which Vick has pleaded guilty.

“What we have to understand is the backdrop,” he said on MSNBC. “We have to understand that what we’re hearing expressed by some African-Americans is their anger and their hurt, distrust, in a criminal justice system that they feel treats them like animals.”

“Certainly, Mr. Vick was not a victim,” Hayes added.

Bryan Burwell, a sports columnist for MSNBC.com who is black, echoed Hayes’ assessment, arguing that it is impossible to claim that “Michael Vick was unjustly persecuted.”

“The negative images that are embraced by too many young (black) men in our society needs to be changed to make them understand that intelligence is right and ignorance is wrong,” Burwell wrote this week. “We need to alter the perception so that it’s cool to be smart and the thug and gangster lifestyle is wrong. When your friends can’t understand that, they aren’t your true friends.”

And in an open letter addressed to “young, black men,” ESPN columnist Jemele Hill, who also is black, wrote:

“I caution you not to make Vick a martyr. Do not applaud him for taking his comeuppance like some modern-day gangster. Do not blame others for Vick’s predicament when he alone should be held accountable for his actions.

“Let this historic unraveling be a wake-up call for the young, black men caught up in the same lifestyle that claimed Vick. Let his prison sentence send the message that a continued allegiance to street culture successfully keeps young, black men frighteningly behind in American society.”

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