CHAUNTE’L POWELL: There’s a fine line between allowing redemption and enabling

Everyone loves a good sports comeback story.

An athlete overcoming trials and tribulations to achieve great success in their respective field against all odds is what keeps Disney salivating.

As someone who watched and enjoyed the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” I, too, love a good redemption story. I still have to stop and ask when does allowing redemption become a matter of enabling dangerous behavior?

Thursday, ESPN posted a story of Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach June Jones vouching for Johnny Manziel, who is playing quarterback for the Canadian Football League franchise. Jones spoke to how Manziel has matured and deserves to be in the NFL.

Now I would agree with this sentiment if substance abuse and partying were Johnny Football’s only transgressions, but he also has a history of domestic abuse. In a 2016 affidavit, his ex-girlfriend said he hit her so hard she lost hearing in one ear.

Earlier this week, popular rapper XXXtentacion was murdered in cold blood in South Florida. This set off a widespread debate about whether the 20-year-old slain rapper deserved sympathies from the masses and should have his legacy preserved despite his violent past that included torture, rape and a hit to his ex-girlfriend that left her eye socket fractured, amongst other significant injuries.

Earlier this month, Luke Heimlich, the former Oregon State pitcher, went undrafted. The MLB opted not to touch the talented 22-year-old lefty who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his 6-year-old niece. This sparked a discussion of whether he can come back from the conviction that happened seven years ago.

The primary defense of all of the aforementioned young men is that they are young and everyone makes mistakes at that age. This is absolutely true.

HOWEVER …

When we start to paint sexual assault and domestic violence as a youthful indiscretion, we get into a gray area that further perpetuates the idea that those are somewhat trivial matters instead of the heinous crimes that they actually are.

When you prioritize a young man’s potential over the safety and physical, emotional and psychological well-being of young women, you are basically saying that just comes with the territory and that women are somewhat disposable and not worthy of protecting.

We as a society need to decide if we’re going to continue to sit back and say “boys will be boys” when it comes to matters of sexual assault and domestic violence. Are we going to continue turning a blind eye to such crimes while allowing young men to have successful careers at the expense of young women for the sake of art or entertainment?

It starts with changing the narrative. Men, the next time you try to argue why somebody should simply get over an athlete’s past that includes sexual assault or domestic violence, stop and think for a second how you would feel if the victim was, in fact, your sister, significant other, daughter or loved one and the general public was trying to convince you they were a truly great person. It bothers me that that’s the only way to get some of you to understand the situation at hand, but that’s the nature of the beast.

To make sure my point is not misconstrued, let me reiterate; I’m not opposed to a good comeback story. Michael Vick deserves to be honored as the Falcons legend he is. Liangelo Ball should not have a shoplifting incident held against him for the rest of his life.

But stop painting violence against women as a part of growing up and let’s work harder to eliminate the problem entirely. In my opinion, more leagues need to take a page out of the MLB’s book and send a message.

Contact Chaunte’l Powell at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @chauntelpowell.