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Michael Vick Should Be Able to Return to NFL, Says NAACP

"As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," said R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons, and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country." Whether fans will actually derive enjoyment from watching Vick, who is reportedly going to plead guilty to federal charges of illegal dogfighting, is the question that the NFL and Atlanta Falcons must answer. "At this point ... you're thinking, 'What I better do is cut my losses and take a plea,'" said White of Vick's decision to plead guilty. "But if he saw this as the best thing to do at this point for his future, then I think he made the correct choice." Read more. (See also: Race and Sports: When Fast-Moving Objects Collide)

Meanwhile, NBA player Stephon Marbury says Vick is being vilified by the media. In comments made to reporters, the New York Knicks guard questioned society's conflicting messages about animal cruelty: "We don't say anything about people who shoot deers and shoot other animals. You know what I mean? From what I hear, dogfighting it's a sport. You know, it's just behind closed doors and I think it's tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down. And I think he's one of the superb athletes and he's a good human being. I just think that he fell into a bad situation," said Marbury. Read more.

Did Michelle Obama Take a Jab at Hillary?

"Our view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House," Michelle Obama said recently to would-be voters. While not mentioning Hillary Clinton specifically,  the debate among political pundits is whether Michelle Obama was implying Clinton is unfit for the presidency because of the indiscretions of her husband. "She has been making that speech constantly about the decision we made to make sure that our family was strong," Obama said, "because if our family wasn't that strong then we couldn't be a strong leader in the White House." Read more and watch video of Michelle Obama.

MySpace, MTV Sponsor Presidential Contenders' Online Chat

MySpace and MTV will bring together presidential contenders with voters in real-time online chats held September through December. Contenders will talk for about one hour to voters through e-mail, instant messaging or text messaging. The audience's reaction to their answers will also be polled in real time. First up will be former Sen. John Edwards on Sept. 27; other Democrats participating include Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Bill Richardson. Participating Republicans include former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Sam Brownback and former Gov. Mitt Romney. Read more. (See also: YouTube Viewers Grill Democrats During Online Video Debate)

Sexism Is More Than a Glass Ceiling

The lack of women in top positions throughout corporate America is the result of more than a glass ceiling. It's the result of a collective sum of sexist practices in America's offices that keep women from attaining top posts, say Alice H. Eagly, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, and Linda L. Carli, an associate professor of psychology at Wellesley College. Eagly and Carli recommend companies appoint several women to any team and stay in contact with female managers on maternity leave to rehire later. They also advocate more specific performance evaluations to guard against hidden sexism and say companies must cast a wider net when searching for female recruits rather than relying on traditional social networks. Read more.

Racism Affects Emergency Treatment

Doctors say they don't see race when they're helping patients. But when tested, doctors allow race to affect their decisions. A Harvard Medical School study reports that researchers used computer-based Implicit Association Tests to measure doctors' unconscious bias. They found that doctors' unconscious biases strongly influenced whether they treated patients properly. As doctors' pro-white unconscious bias increased, so did their likelihood of treating white patients and not treating black patients. Read more.

Homeland Security Creating Second-Class Citizenship for Legal Immigrants

The Homeland Security Department wants legal immigrants with old green cards to turn in their cards for new ones that include redoing the photo and finger-printing. But immigrant advocates say this is furthering second-class citizenship for legal immigrants because a 1996 immigration law expanded the list of crimes for which immigrants, legal or not, could be deported. As a result, some legal residents have been deported for crimes committed when they were younger and for which they've already paid their debt. Homeland Security plans to terminate cards not updated. A terminated card could make it hard for a legal immigrant to travel or get a new job states The Houston Chronicle.

White Plains Schools Face Possible Segregation

For 18 years, White Plains in Westchester County, N.Y., has maintained diversity in its schools by requiring each school to have the same proportions of blacks, Latinos, whites and Asians. But when the Supreme Court in June rejected similar school-assignment plans in Louisville and Seattle, White Plains' school administrators feared the court would turn down its plan and then the community's white families would abandon some of the neighborhood schools. "We are in the minority, but it works for me," said Maureen DiMarco, a white mother of two students at Post Road. "The teachers are wonderful, and that's the priority for me. It has nothing to do with the race factor." Read more.

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