It’s a common occurrence that people — especially in the South — will eventually need to resolve.

Immediately after being convicted on 60 federal indictments detailing a five-year practice of trading public dollars for private cash, the now-former mayor of Birmingham, Ala., Larry Langford, declared himself innocent, persecuted and prosecuted only because he is African-American.

“In Alabama, black people will never get a fair trial,” his wife, Melva Langford, declared to reporters outside the courtroom. “There should be a total investigation of the Justice Department.” She might want to check that comment. Eric Holder, the attorney general of the United States, as well as three of the 12 jury members who voted unanimously to convict her husband on all counts after deliberating less than two hours are also black.

Specifically, the evidence showed Langford, while president of the Jefferson County Commission, sought bribes in exchange for funneling $7.1 million in bond business to an investment banker. Langford accepted cash and luxury items worth some $236,000, the evidence showed, and has agreed to forfeit $241,843 in ill-gotten gains. The man is just another corrupt politician who betrayed the trust of the people to enrich himself. Even one of his attorneys, Glennon Threatt, who is black, said he has defended previous corruption cases with white defendants and race was not a factor in Langford’s case.

Yet the “victim” litany resounded as it so often does in similar situations.

Was it racist for the people of Jefferson County to elect Langford to the county commission, the equivalent of a board of supervisors in Mississippi?

Was it racist for the people of Birmingham, which has been one of the South’s most dynamic and progressive cities, to choose him as mayor in a landslide? No. They did that because of his charisma and oratorical skills and his promises. And when he turned out to be a user and an extortionist, the U.S. Department of Justice did what it’s supposed to do — coming down on him like a ton of bricks just as federal prosecutors have done countless times for white officials who couldn’t keep their hands out of the till.

There is real racism, and plenty of it. When people like Langford claim racial injustice, they dilute legitimate claims and, worse, chill timid prosecutors who may ignore criminal acts merely to avoid being called racists. It holds us all back.

Eventually people — especially in the South — must get past “I’m the victim here” claims by the Larry Langfords among us. A thief is a thief.