Someone else to remember
January 28, 2020
The loss of a great hero is devastating to all. Kobe’s legacy is everlasting and his contributions to basketball are unprecedented. Throughout today and yesterday, people mourned the death of all of the victims of the helicopter crash, and especially Kobe Bryant. However, I found it difficult to feel such deep sorrow about an alleged rapist.
When social media is blowing up with pictures of Kobe and LA is covered in purple and yellow, I can’t help but imagine what this might feel like for sexual assault survivors, more specifically, his. In our honoring Kobe, we are putting his stardom above a crime he allegedly committed. Not acknowledging Kobe’s sexual assault case as part of his story erases survivors and invalidates their stories. So while we mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant’s life, we should also understand that a woman’s life might have been ruined by it.
The issue of sexual assault is bigger than just Kobe Bryant and I am not criticizing him specifically. He contributed to a long history of people in powerful positions taking advantage of people. Every time I saw Kobe play, I thought about sexual assault; that is the impact he made on me.
Ben Meisels, Chair of the YULA Future Investors Club, Los Angeles • Feb 3, 2020 at 11:44 am
I don’t appreciate all the negative comments on this insightful, absolutely necessary article. I, for one, completely agree with the writer.
Yonah Berenson, Editor-in-Chief, The Panther Post • Jan 30, 2020 at 10:51 pm
Re “Someone else to remember”:
The writer casts aspersions on a man dead fewer than two days based on a case that was dropped and a suit that was settled out of court. Dredging up sordid details about a recently deceased man’s past is almost never acceptable, least of all when he was never shown to have assaulted his accuser and when he was genuinely remorseful for any pain he might have caused her. Truthfully, Kobe and his accuser were both probably telling the truth—he that he believed she had given consent, and she that she never gave it. But 17 years, a hefty settlement, heartfelt apologies, and an untimely death later is not the time to bring up this affair.
Yonah Berenson, Editor-in-Chief, The Panther Post, YULA Boys High School
Saul Barnes, Los Angeles • Jan 30, 2020 at 2:43 pm
I respectfully disagree.
Anna Weiss, Los Angeles • Jan 29, 2020 at 10:02 pm
Maia, I praise you for your bravery and courage to speak your mind and be honest, despite the way others are treating you. Thank you for using your 1st Amendment right to speak freely and put your opinion in the newspaper.
Although I recognize how difficult this is for so many people and how amazing of a person Kobe Bryant came to be, Maia has every right to express her reflection on his life and how she feels during this time. She never discounted his legacy, she never said he was a terrible father, and she never said he was a terrible person. Maia discussed one specific part of Kobe’s life that stood out to her, and it is unfair to blame her for that or say she deserves any less respect than the other writers in the original article.
Clara Sandler, Shalhevet '19, Jerusalem • Jan 28, 2020 at 11:48 am
It is a shame to me that this article has turned into an attack on the Boiling Point and on Maia. The Boiling Point offered a forum for all Shalhevet community members to reflect on who Kobe was — to the world and to him or her. Alumni and faculty members do not typically have the opportunity to write, but the Boiling Point wanted everyone to feel like he or she had a place to publicly express his or her emotions. I am so grateful to have been able to share my feelings, feelings that otherwise would have remained in a journal or in my head.
Regardless of my feeling towards Maia’s article, which I really am not sure I agree with, she has the same right to express her opinion like I do, as Rabbi Schwarzberg does. Kobe Bryant was the symbol of LA; LA represents pluralism and tolerance. As Angelenos, we should be ashamed that we are being so intolerant of one person’s opinion.
I understand that everyone is heartbroken. I am heartbroken. I have a hole in my heart because Kobe is gone and because his daughter is gone and because my city is mourning right now. And I am so far away and so few people around me truly understand my pain. Every time I forget I remember.
It is because I am in pain that I appreciate the totality of this reflection initiative in the Boiling Point. I cannot imagine that Kobe would want someone personally attacked for having an opinion. Kobe was the first to recognize his mistakes which is why he worked so hard to be a better person in the wake of the allegations.
Let’s honor Kobe’s memory by spreading light and positivity and recognizing how precious life is. To quote the Prime Minister’s monologue in Love Actually, “When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love.”
I cannot imagine that Kobe was hateful as he left this world. I cannot imagine that he would want us to spread hate as we continue his legacy.
Asher Dauer, Shalhevet '19, Jerusalem • Jan 28, 2020 at 10:18 am
I’m sick to my stomach reading “Someone Else to Remember.” Regardless of your views on Kobe, sexual assault, or Boiling Point’s freedom of the press, “kavod hamet” should be prioritized over all of them – in a modern orthodox school nonetheless!
Daniel Sentchuk, Los Angeles • Jan 28, 2020 at 10:08 am
Re “Someone else to remember”
There is a time and place for everything, and everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but sometimes we need to know when to filter things that should not be said. Kobe was not only a legend and role model to many, but he was also a person who recently passed away and does not deserve this kind of treatment, especially now that he cannot defend himself. It is not right to bring up accusations that Kobe was never convicted of. Furthermore, many apologies were made, and forgiveness was given by many, even by his wife. It is not appropriate to bring up such accusations, especially when many are going through such tough times while mourning the loss of their father, husband, friend, or hero.