forgiving but not forgetting

this just in from the women of Rutgers and Coach Stringer:

We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team accept — accept — Mr. Imus’s apology, and we are in the process of forgiving. We still find his statements to be unacceptable. And this is an experience that we will never forget. These comments are indicative of greater ills in our culture. It is not just Mr. Imus. And we hope that this will be and serve as a catalyst for change. Let us continue to work hard together to make this world a better place.

Imus is boring; Stringer rocks

C. Vivian Stringer, coach to the Rutgers women's basketball team sums up the state of the union pretty well, I'd venture:

Have we lost a sense of our own moral fiber? Has society decayed to such a point that we can forgive and forget because you know what, it was just a slip of the tongue? I'm going to suggest that bright, thinking people give thought before they speak.

She's right dammit. As tired as I am of all this Imus coverage, I'm equally tired of forgiving and forgetting. Call me PC, call me overly sensitive, but he's a jerk and I'm glad they fired him. Freedom of speech is one thing; turning a blind eye to racist and sexist "casual remarks" is another.

My colleagues may disagree with me...the door is open for debate...

But briefly, on another note, the Duke players were let off this week. It may go down in history as one of the most royally botched cases of all time. It was definitely the right move to throw out the case, but it does raise a red flag for those of us concerned with the cases of future rape victims. As the editors of Salon's Broadsheet write:

Those who see every rape charge as a probable false accusation may read the Duke case outcome as validating their position; assault survivors may worry that the Duke case outcome erodes their credibility...Going forward, we're hoping this unusual, unfortunate case won't become a cultural touchstone for future rape allegations -- but we're not terribly optimistic.

Here's hoping.