Criminality and Misbehavior: there is a difference
A year ago, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars and instantly set the world on fire. Since then lots of people have weighed in with their opinions on the actions of both men and how it affected intra-racial race relations, gender relations, and the state of American politics. Months later Kanye West engaged in a series of actions and statements that equally launched more opinions than the global population. In both cases, questions ultimately focused on traditional American behaviors, the things that your parents taught you never to do or say in public. True to form, it did not take long for someone to respond to defend the offender. And suddenly, the person lending a hand to the offender was subject to the same or even greater levels of scrutiny. Lessons learned from these two incidents is that American society can be forgiving or unforgiving, not depending on the offense, but on the manipulation of the offense. I can say or do the most heinous things and get away with it if