Wednesday, August 22, 2007

OK, I lied...

More about Michael Vick. ESPN columnist Jemele Hill has written a very good column that will probably make her very unpopular.

But Vick let you down. He betrayed you. He heightened the stereotypes of black men instead of eroding them. Racists certainly will feast on Vick, but he was the one who made himself an entrée.


But this is what's going to get her the most criticism, I think:
...let's attack this poisonous idea in the black community that equates only negatives with success. Surely, one reason Vick kept his circle of friends is because successful black people are pressured into keeping their toxic buddies around for the sake of "keeping it real" -- even though they've spent most of their lives trying to escape the street lifestyle in which many of those friends remain.


Ow.

There's a very long, very good piece by Myron Magnet in City Journal, too, that was not written about Vick but about the culture that glorifies him.

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