Daily Fail: NAACP Marching In Support of Mike Vick

Charlie Klein

Maybe because I am a white male between the ages of 18 and 25 is the reason that I generally speaking do not understand why the NAACP does the things that it does. When I read the news that the NAACP was going to be marching outside of tonight's Philadelphia Eagles v. Jacksonville Jaguars in support of one Michael Vick, it did not surprise me.

J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, released a statement explaining the organisation's decision to orchestrate this march.

"We believe Michael Vick has served his time, paid his debt to society and deserves a second chance and the animal rights groups want to hold him hostage for the rest of his life. We think that's patently unfair. It denies Michael Vick's basic civil rights, denies him his ability to make a living."

I have a myriad of objections to this statement. The first of which is that Michael Vick has already signed with an NFL team and has not been denied the ability to make a living. This would all be very different if Vick had yet to be reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Vick will be making millions of dollars over the next two years, and in my mind, that's one hell of a second chance.

My second objection is that Mondesire's claim against animal rights groups preventing Vick from making a living is misguided. The fact that PETA et. al. are not letting Vick off the hook has nothing to do with how Vick cannot get any endorsement deals. I mean honestly, what company with a PR department would want Vick endorsing their product on August 27th 2009 when he has done little in clearing his name? The sheer fact that Mondesire cannot understand where another interest group is coming from is baffling.

The third objection is that the NAACP should have more important causes to march for than a convicted fellon playing football. There should be plenty of injustice going around the city of Philadelphia that there should be no reason they have the time to march outside of a football season for a man that has achieved a second chance, which is the cause for which they are marching.

What this really is, simply put, a publicity stunt by the NAACP. In an attempt to increase the relevancy of the organisation, they are attaching themselves to a famous cause in order to get some media play.