Quote:
Originally Posted by USA Today Articler
"Mitchell sent a letter to every NHL team acknowledging what happened and apologizing for his behavior. Mitchell made a huge mistake, but we are providing him with a second chance to prove himself. We hope that he uses his platform moving forward to raise awareness about bullying and to discourage this type of behavior.” - Bill Armstrong
"I have generally found that a lot of these guys have learned from their mistakes. It kind of crystallizes for them that what they love and care about can be taken away from them because of their own actions," - Peters
"Here's a kid who made a mistake when he was 14 years old. He's grown from it, he's learned from it, he's changed. He's become a responsible young man." - Coach Noreen
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The problem isn't that the Coyotes picked him under the rationale that everyone deserves second chances and can learn from their mistakes.
The problem is that those in power trivialize Mitchell's actions, ignore the impact on the victim and really don't care what Mitchell has learned from it, if anything.
- Coach Noreen says, "Here's a kid who made a mistake", implying that he made one single mistake. Rather than acknowledging that it was racist bullying that lasted years.
- ESPN Analyst Peters refers to the lesson Mitchell learned from his mistakes as "what they love and care about can be taken away from them because of their own actions." That's what you learn - don't be a racist bully because you can get into trouble? That's the lesson here?
- GM Armstrong - refers to it a single "huge mistake" rather than a series of on-going behavior that lasted years.