Why Noah Crowley Can Keep His Fake Ass Apology
It’s that time of year again: prom season. And with prom season comes various cute, creative, and quirky prom proposals or, in other words, “promposals.” Students all over the nation are asking that special someone to accompany them on one of the most magical nights of their adolescence.
But there’s one promposal that’s gotten everyone, except those involved, a little upset. 18-year-old Noah Crowley of Riverview High School in Florida asked one lucky lady to prom via Snapchat with a disturbing message. One that she found to be completely enamoring.
Predictably, and rightfully so, this has sparked national outrage. Hundreds of Twitter users, and even Wendy Williams, have called for action against the boy. Crowley has since apologized about the tweet, which can be viewed in NBC’s report here. The apology reads
I want to sincerely apologize if I have offended anyone with the picture going around. That was not my intention. Anyone who knows me or [redacted] knows that that’s not how we truly feel. It was a complete joke and it went too far.
After reading the text and Snapchat’s, I truly see how I have offended people and I’m sorry
As of the writing of this post, Noah’s parents and the school have decided that he won’t be allowed to attend any school functions in the future. Additionally, the family told the Huffington Post that they “also express our most sincere apologies for the terrible words used in his ‘promposal’… As a family, we truly recognize this incident is a very difficult but important life lesson and pledge to do all we can to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. Certainly, we hope that all of the people and communities who were hurt and offended will forgive our son and family.”
Here’s the thing. What Noah has done is inexcusable, but not only for the obvious reasons. This one single photo truly is worth a thousand words. Not only does this casual “joke” of a promposal fail in every facet that would make a promposal special, it is truly a sign of where racism stands in this country. It’s not only something to be casually referenced but “joked” about at the expense of an entire race of people when he could have referenced literally any other thing. What I found especially shocking is not that this boy would even think this was funny but that his proposed prom date found it cute and charming.
Noah Crowley is a legal adult who has grown up in the age of social media and is most undoubtedly well aware of the racism in his “joke.” A joke is only funny with context. Based on the context, it’s clear Noah learned about picking cotton from somewhere, and instead of gleaning something from it chose to do something “funny” with it. So, in his apology when he says, “I sincerely want to apologize if I have offended anyone…” he can put that garbage right back where it came from. This is more than just the simple mistake of a young man. This was a premeditated thought literally drawn up to completion and showcased to someone he knew wouldn’t have a strong reaction to it. This was something that wasn’t intended to get out but did. And now he’s apologizing if he offended anyone.
No, Noah Crowley deserves no sympathy. He deserves no slack. He made a mistake, yes, but it was no accident. Just like his joke, when put in the context and backdrop of innocent men being arrested for merely sitting in a Starbucks, of men and women getting shot and killed by police when literal terrorists of a different color somehow get arrested and live to get burgers, fan mail and money, it becomes that much more disturbing.
