Criminalizing Success

Recent stories concerning PacMan Jones and other NFL players demonstrate a surprising degree of racism.
I am not saying the players did not commit any crimes, but as mentioned previously, NFL players would have to commit many more to rank dead even with the general population.
What seems to be at work is a backlash against the Black Athelete. Their success makes them popular targets of ire & envy amongst the general.
"They must be punished" we read and yet most of them (over 99%) are law abiding citizens.
At its root is that successful African-Americans are viewed as threatening and worse yet as undeserving of what they get.

John Mcmillan

John Mcmillan was an economist. His claim to fame was organizing the market for spectrum for the FCC.
I read his book Reinventing the Bazaar. What I took away from it (along with other things) was that wealth can be created. That markets are created and regulated and that the players in these markets are awarded their positions by the political elite.
African-Americans have far more political power than we might know. We should use it to ensure our participation when these markets are created.

The NFL and Crime

This well written thoughtful blog post points out that NFL players are actually less likely to be involved with the law than the general population.
It would seem that the criminal athelete is all smoke and no fire.