Monday, September 21, 2015
Privilege Articles
I found it kind of shocking the fact that there are so many people who get a lighter sentencing, if any, based on their background. In the video from the articles, it said that in the years 2009-2014, out of 90% of male college basketball and football players who had committed a crime, 70% of those men had the charges against them dropped. Not only that, but non-athletes in general are over two times more likely to be prosecuted than athletes. The University of Florida running back, Chris Rainey, was involved in 8 criminal incidents during his time at Florida, but only ever faced charges on one of those incidents. If we knew that the president, or a coach, or a local police officer had criminal charges dropped against them just because of their social status, wouldn’t that make people uneasy? Where do we draw the line and say that enough is enough and disregard one’s social status in order maintain the law?
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I totally see where you are coming from, Haley. It does make me uneasy because a crime is a crime, no matter who committed it. Just because these people have special "jobs," (or are skilled athletically) does not mean they should receive special treatment. The Declaration of Independence states, "that all men are created equal." Therefore, people of higher statuses should be treated no differently than those of lower statuses.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Haley. These articles exposed the secret world of professional sports. This has been witnessed within the NFL in instances when players have been involved in crimes ranging from assault to domestic abuse. Most of these cases you will notice have gone unpublicized and players have not been punished for their wrong doings. Their athletic abilities should not make them exempt from the law. They should face punishment just as the rest of society does.
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