He should be held accountable, even three years later. We believe some have been too forgiving.

Grammy Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich told ABC news, “I think people deserve a second chance, you know. If you’ll note, he has not been on the Grammys for the past few years and it may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.”

Let’s make one thing completely clear: the Grammys was not the victim of Chris Brown’s raging fists, Rihanna was.

TMZ leaked a photo showing a battered Rihanna with a severely bruised face a couple weeks after the attack. Chris Brown pled guilty to an assault charge and was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor, according to the Associated Press.
Domestic violence is not taken seriously enough in our society. 

Chris Brown committed assault, and he experienced almost no backlash in the American music industry. The attack happened in 2009. Brown made the Billboard “Top Artists of the Year Chart” – which is based on the artist’s performance on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart – in both 2010 and 2011.

We interpret the music industry’s message to be: domestic violence is bad, but we will forgive you if you can produce hit singles.

The following are samples of scary pro-Chris Brown tweets from after Sunday’s Grammy performance:

“I don’t know why Rihanna complained. Chris Brown could beat me anytime he wanted to,” tweeted @steph_freddd32.

“I’d let Chris Brown beat me up anytime ;) #womanbeater,” tweeted @sarahleighlove.

@steph_freddd32’s Twitter account has since been deleted.

The way women can react so nonchalantly to the abuse of another woman is terrifying. It should raise a red flag about how Americans understand abuse.

Maybe the women who posted these tweets were not aware that one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Or, that every 12 seconds a woman is battered in the United States, according to Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services.

In the wake of the performance on Sunday, media sites speculated about Rihanna and Chris Brown getting back together.

“Rekindled romance rumors ran rampant at Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony, after Rihanna and Brown allegedly spent four hours alone together in his dressing room during rehearsals,” wrote Carina Adly MacKenzie for Zap2it.com.

Chris Brown didn’t dump Rihanna three years ago — he beat her. It’s like the assault never happened, like it was just another celebrity break up for the gossip columnists to thrive on.

We are not OK with this aloof attitude toward domestic violence. Committing assault is a felony. The attitude toward Chris Brown should be one of accountability, not one praising his long-awaited comeback.

Chris Brown being so easily forgiven by the media and the music industry reinforces the idea that domestic violence is an easily forgivable offense.

It is not. Not to the men, women and children who are or will become victims of it.

It is time domestic violence was treated with the same seriousness as the physical and emotional injuries it can cause. 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of domestic violence please contact the police or Crime and Sexual Assault Support Services on campus at
360-650-3700

The editorial board is composed of Editor-in-Chief Paige Collins, Managing Editor Marissa Abruzzini and Opinion Editor Sarah Aitchison.