Updated 8/7/2007 9:01:57 AM
Last week when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced upcoming events for its five-day annual convention in Atlanta, President Charles Steele said they intended to honor Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick. Now it looks like the embattled athlete is too much for them to handle. At the time, Steele told reporters, "We need to support him no matter what the evidence reveals." But now an SCLC spokesman is saying no such tribute is planned before their convention.
State Representative Tyrone Brooks of Atlanta is quoted in Tuesday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper saying he advised against it.
"There are a lot of young people who need our help," the newspaper quotes Brooks, "Michael Vick is not one of them." Brooks noted that Vick has never been an SCLC reporter and that he thought the convention should not be overshadowed by one man.
"What has he ever done except throw a football, run a football?" Brooks told the newspaper, "I don't think he has done anything to deserve any special recognition." Several civil rights organizations have defended Vick as innocent until proven guilty, but condemned the animal cruelty alleged in a federal dogfighting indictment against Vick and three other defendants, one of whom has already pleaded guilty.
