Chris Brown x Rihanna

Sherri Shepherd of The View recently defended Chris Brown as being a "role model" for second chances. 

Like many others, she argues that he is reformed. He did his community service work picking up trash. He is also a victim of domestic abuse: as a child he watched his mother being beaten by his father. He deserves the warm welcome at the Grammys because he is a role model to others trying to combat violent, aggressive, and abusive tendencies. 

People argue that it was a long time ago, and that if Rihanna's gotten over it so should we. And gotten over it she has, as she stepped out with him after the Grammys and at her birthday party, and the pair have since released two remixes together. 

I'm sorry, but there is no excuse for what is occurring here. Shame on those who decided Brown was deserving of a Grammy a mere three years after a brutal beatdown. Shame on those who have the audacity to blame young women who tweeted about him rather than the aggressor himself.  For any woman, going back to an abusive relationship is a horrible and disappointing thing, but Rihanna is letting down thousands of young women who want to emulate everything she does. Thousands of teenage girls want to be edgy and tattooed like her, want to dress like her, and now they'll think this idea of a "violent, stormy" relationship is somehow romantic. They'll give their own abusive relationships second chances because Rihanna did. They'll see it as a strength. We've seen this a hundred times - it's the bad-boy winning over the nice guy, magnified and distorted. It's this idea girls get of 'helping' a rough guy, into saving him from himself. Yeah, he's bad news and your family hates him, but you can change him if you stick with him through thick and thin, you can be the only one who believes in him and in return you'll have his undying love. Ride or die, right?

Yes, I believe in second chances. I believe in giving chances to former addicts, former alcoholics. I believe in giving responsibility to those who used to be irresponsible, or lazy, or incompetent, or trusting someone who used to sleep around. However, the difference is that second chances are usually given to those who hurt themselves, not others. Sure, a girl with a DUI is indirectly putting the lives of others in danger. I'm not downplaying the dangers of drug use or alcoholism. However, a warm welcome to someone who set out to aggressively  hurt another - his own girlfriend no less - is not something I agree with. This was not a drunken fist-fight with another dude at a bar. This was an attack on his girlfriend in an enclosed space that she couldn't escape. This was his fists pummeling her face as he spewed out death threats and choked her almost until she lost consciousness. Further, he didn't stop on his own. She got away. There's no telling how far he could have taken it.

Joe Paterno recently died having lost his entire life's work at Penn State. After being at Penn State for 61 years, he was fired for his role in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. Paterno was first notified of the alleged abuse in 2002. He reported it to his superiors, and did nothing else. Let's be clear: Paterno was not in any way directly involved in harming or abusing others. He knew this was occurring and when he saw nothing being done about it, he failed to act. Yes, this is a wrong and terrible thing. However, he didn't directly beat someone's face in. Sixty-one years of love, commitment, and dedication, gone in an instant. Yet Chris Brown can directly beat the hell out of a young woman and three years later is receiving the most coveted award in modern music??

Something is very wrong here, and I feel very sorry for you if you can't see that.