Filed under: Football
Lt. Robert McCullough of the Baltimore County police says that Reed will "have his due process and his opportunity to talk about the circumstances."
Of course none of us knows what happened in this one, but I'm sure that no one is surprised. The culture of drugs and criminal activity continues to plague the athletic community, and for those of us who are concerned about the plight of black athletes, the alarm bells are going off. Whether you can blame negative elements of hip hop culture, the stupidity of youth or an overzealous criminal justice system, there is surely plenty of blame to go around.
One can only hope that the charges that may be filed against Reed (I suspect that the police have something to talk about or they wouldn't be speaking so gingerly) are not serious enough to derail his life. But if they are, I am hopeful that other young black athletes can learn from his mistakes. We can't keep repeating the same cycle.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.