A true legacy

There are millions of sports fans across the world who celebrated the retirement of Kobe Bryant yesterday.

I wasn't one of them--mostly because I'm not a big fan of rapists.

I can't say I was particularly surprised that the traditional media managed to spend an entire season lionizing Bryant without mentioning his greatest legacy in America:  turning the act of slut shaming into an art.  In the process womens' lives are ruined and sports stars go on being superstars making their millions instead of being sent to prison where they belong.  Thanks to Bryant, Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got away with sexually assaulting two women, Blackhawks' forward Patrick Kane got away with one, and no one's really sure how many former Florida State, and now Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback, Jameis Winston got away with.

Fortunately, there is still a thriving alternative media and Think Progress yesterday called into question all of the hoopla surrounding Bryant's last days in the NBA--calling out the ignorant idolatry while a guilty man goes free just because he has lots of money (well worth the read).

For those who think the women involved in these cases were merely gold diggers, I highly suggest reading the Think Progress piece--to a person, each of these women's lives were ruined and some even had to go into hiding.  They are not victims once, but victims again and again because rich men can afford lawyers that get paid to destroy their reputations, lives, and families to protect sexual deviants.

As noted at the end of the article, it's highly likely that had Kobe Bryant been Kobe Bryant, janitor, or Kobe Bryant, shoe store manager, he'd be in prison.

And for those who still choose to celebrate his accomplishments, I ask you this:  would you be comfortable having your wife, your mother, your sister, or your daughter in a room alone with Kobe Bryant (or Roethlisberger or Kane or Winston)?

I know I sure wouldn't.

Peace,
emaycee