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Being a Good Person Does Not Absolve Anyone of Responsibility
Intent matters, but impact matters more
“If you knew them…”
Sometimes when a person gets called out publicly after they mess up (often, these days, it’s a content creator on social media) their “fans” or supporters come to their defense. Even in cases where it’s clear the person made a mistake, and the supporters acknowledge this, they still come back with statements like, “don’t be so quick to judge, they’re such a good person!”
Great. Glad to hear it. So what? If they’re a good person, they’ll want people to make them aware of their misstep, and will want the opportunity to make amends or correct their error. We all mess up, including “good” people — regardless of what people think of our character, we still need to take accountability and repair any harm we have caused, however unintentional.
For example, a Deaf content creator named Eric teaches ASL, performs ASL poetry and theatre, and coaches Deaf performers as well as ASL Interpreters. He has made a number of videos (stitches/duets) pointing out mistakes that people have made in their signing. It’s important to note, these people are often hearing signers who are benefitting financially from their videos — either through monetized content, or by advertising ASL…
