Report: 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree under investigation for sexual assault
I just read the above headline (article link below) – and yes, it is an investigation and not a conviction — but it is hard not to think, ‘what is wrong with some people?’ If it is a false accusation, that is horrible and cruel and shame on the accuser. False accusations are terrible. False accusations ruin caeers and lives. If it is true, that he committed a sexual assault, it is horrible, he should be prosecuted and shame on NFL wide receiver Michael Crabtree. There are many people who have looked up to him and been in awe of him. One of them – the accuser or Crabtree – has disgraced himself or herself.
And us? what about us? I suppose there is not much we can do but these allegations, just like violence in this country, is so commonplace that I suspect many of us are numb to them and think as we read them, ‘just another football player behaving badly..what’s for dinner?’
Maybe it is time to step up and speak out. Where are our nation’s role models? Should our leadership speak out about moral issues? Would that put a damper on some of this conduct?
I was surprised that no leader spoke out about the now aborted reality show about a man who had 11 children with 10 women. You know being a single mother (or father) is extremely tough and fathers not taking responsibility makes it even harder for the mother and the children. Hollywood making it a joke and entertainment was tasteless. It sure does not help matters.
Shame has power – it is not the answer, but it does help. When I was a teenager, drunk driving was a crime but I don’t remember it having any shame attached to it. It wasn’t until a few shocking tragedies and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) was organized that things changed. MADD went on a national campaign and did not let up. They made sure everyone stopped and thought about it. It was not just a snapshot reaction to a tragedy and then moving on – but a campaign that did not let up. Eventually peoples’ viewpoint of drunk driving shifted significantly and today it is a very, very, very serious crime….and the roads are much safer.
What do you think? Maybe we need more shame? More scandalized and less desensitized? What do you think? It is certainly not the answer but it might start changing things.
