Mike Check
It seems that Michael Jackson has once again been accused of inappropriate contact with a child. I was really incensed when the investigation of the previous allegations against Michael halted after the parents in question received a settlement. In my opinion if you have reason to believe that an adult had some sort of sexual contact with your child, and you will accept "hush money", then you may as well don the red coat, white hat with blue feather, and drive a Cadillac with Zebra skin seat covers. To me, the first claimants were nothing but pimps. There is no amount of money on earth that could appease me. If I couldn't get my hands around Mike's throat I would want him in jail.
We, as black people, have the tendency to circle the wagons when "one of our own" is threatened. However, wrong is wrong, no matter what. I know that some people are wrongly accused of crimes, but a great deal of the time "where there is smoke, there is fire." If they find compelling evidence that Michael Jackson has had sexual contact with this 12 year old, or any other kids, I think they should lock him up and throw away the key. Just like with the Catholic Church, there will someday be a reckoning. If Michael has done wrong eventually it will come out.
On the subject of the Catholic Church and pedophile priests, I can actually offer a personal perspective on the matter. As a Catholic I was not only shocked, but quite embarassed about many of the events, namely, Cardinal Law, John Geoghan, and Father Shanley. As a matter of fact our Bishop of the Lexington Diocese stepped down amid allegations from the seventies, and our Priest stepped down because of accusations that he slept with a teenage girl. While it is easy to cast aspersions on those who investigate people or institutions we have come to identify with, we have to realize that these investigations do serve a legitimate purpose. While I do laugh and joke about Conspiracy Theorists, I am pretty sure that J. Edgar Hoover is dead, and perhaps nobody in the FBI is out to damage the reputations of Michael Jackson, or R. Kelly, or Al Sharpton for that matter. (A la the video tape that shows him listening to a guy talking about a drug deal.) We as black people need to not only not tolerate people who refer to us, deal with us, and make statements about us as if we were some monolithic being. Any racial group whose membership ranges from Clarence Thomas to Flavor Flav certainly has a wide array of opinions, attitudes, behaviors, and ideologies. Because of this, we shouldn't take it so personally as a collective when someone is getting crucified in the courts and in the media for bad moral judgment and/or illegal behavior. I don't want anyone to "lay off Mike". I want them to put more pressure on him because the truth needs to come out. Children have to be protected, and if that means that I have to see an Icon of my time, and my church go down in flames, then I am all for it.
It seems that Michael Jackson has once again been accused of inappropriate contact with a child. I was really incensed when the investigation of the previous allegations against Michael halted after the parents in question received a settlement. In my opinion if you have reason to believe that an adult had some sort of sexual contact with your child, and you will accept "hush money", then you may as well don the red coat, white hat with blue feather, and drive a Cadillac with Zebra skin seat covers. To me, the first claimants were nothing but pimps. There is no amount of money on earth that could appease me. If I couldn't get my hands around Mike's throat I would want him in jail.
We, as black people, have the tendency to circle the wagons when "one of our own" is threatened. However, wrong is wrong, no matter what. I know that some people are wrongly accused of crimes, but a great deal of the time "where there is smoke, there is fire." If they find compelling evidence that Michael Jackson has had sexual contact with this 12 year old, or any other kids, I think they should lock him up and throw away the key. Just like with the Catholic Church, there will someday be a reckoning. If Michael has done wrong eventually it will come out.
On the subject of the Catholic Church and pedophile priests, I can actually offer a personal perspective on the matter. As a Catholic I was not only shocked, but quite embarassed about many of the events, namely, Cardinal Law, John Geoghan, and Father Shanley. As a matter of fact our Bishop of the Lexington Diocese stepped down amid allegations from the seventies, and our Priest stepped down because of accusations that he slept with a teenage girl. While it is easy to cast aspersions on those who investigate people or institutions we have come to identify with, we have to realize that these investigations do serve a legitimate purpose. While I do laugh and joke about Conspiracy Theorists, I am pretty sure that J. Edgar Hoover is dead, and perhaps nobody in the FBI is out to damage the reputations of Michael Jackson, or R. Kelly, or Al Sharpton for that matter. (A la the video tape that shows him listening to a guy talking about a drug deal.) We as black people need to not only not tolerate people who refer to us, deal with us, and make statements about us as if we were some monolithic being. Any racial group whose membership ranges from Clarence Thomas to Flavor Flav certainly has a wide array of opinions, attitudes, behaviors, and ideologies. Because of this, we shouldn't take it so personally as a collective when someone is getting crucified in the courts and in the media for bad moral judgment and/or illegal behavior. I don't want anyone to "lay off Mike". I want them to put more pressure on him because the truth needs to come out. Children have to be protected, and if that means that I have to see an Icon of my time, and my church go down in flames, then I am all for it.
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