Yesterday there was a front page diary talking about the stupid Fox News piece regarding Michael Vick. Apparently, President Obama talked to the owner of the Eagles (mainly to talk about the green energy initiatives at Lincoln Financial stadium) and mentioned that he appreciated the Eagles giving Vick a second chance.
The controversy is about much more than a high-profile athlete who has been an extremely successful quarterback this year. Vick has taken over for Donovan McNabb, and the Eagles front office looks brilliant. McNabb's Redskins have stunk, and Vick has been a human highlight film. From a football fan's standpoint, it's obvious that Obama is right.
The real issue, however, is about how we treat ex-offenders and how we support their re-entry into daily life. I want to highlight that today but simply linking you to this page from the Dept. of Justice.
The plight of those who have been incarcerated is one of the most significant civil rights issues in America today, particularly because black offenders tend to be arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated much more frequently than their white peers. And it's not just about racial profiling, although the job is easier when you have a relatively smaller pool of potential criminals to catch (Look for the black man!).
The NAACP has been working for years to bring attention to the inequalities in our criminal justice system. When young black men are denied opportunities to get a second chance, they are left with very few choices. I have spoken with many African-American clients in addiction recovery who have said to me things like, "Well, at least in prison I had work to do, three hots and a cot." But while incarceration pads the pockets of the for-profit prison industry, it sucks energy out of the American economy and destroys the social fabric of our communities.
The "discipline and punish" approach to criminal justice doesn't work. Without opportunities for rehabilitation and re-entry, the American criminal justice system perpetuates generational cycles of poverty, joblessness, and social drift. And a disproportionate number of those denied the opportunity for re-entry are minorities.
The Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Holder, has made it a top priority to promote successful re-entry into the general population for those who have done their time. The Making Second Chances Work project is an example of collaboration between state, local, and federal government to provide extra support and assistance to the families of ex-offenders. And while much of our attention in the progressive blogosphere has been devoted to warrantless wiretaps, Guantanamo detainees, and more recently, Julian Assange, the fact is that tens of thousands of lives are impacted by the positive leadership of Holder's DOJ.
I've always believed that a "carrots and sticks" approach is much more powerful and effective than a "never satisfied" approach to social change. If we don't tell the positive stories of change and celebrate those who are getting out of the criminal justice system to become productive members of society, we are selling ourselves short as progressives.
Take a moment today to review the DOJ's work on re-entry resources and to learn about the positive work being done by grant recipients in 2009 and 2010.
This is the change we need in America. This is what we need to be discussing in our neighborhoods, our churches, and our local watering holes. This is a time and place where the progressive blogosphere can show once again that we're more beautiful, more hopeful, more powerful, more creative, and more successful than the forces of hate and resentment.
UPDATE: In the spirit of showing that we're more hopeful, powerful, creative, and successful than the forces of hate and resentment, thought it was worth sharing this virtual flogging of Tucker Carlson. Jon Stewart was right. So was Shirley Sherrod.
UPDATE 2 2:10 PM CST: It turns out that a few hours before I said, "Jon Stewart was right," Ta-Nehesi Coates said, "Jon Stewart was right". This wasn't plagiarism so much as a similar thought-process at work. Coates on Carlson: "At least he was concise."