There's no question that last week's bombings at the Boston Marathon were a tragedy.
The loss of life, the injuries and the fear resulting from the plans of some sick minds — all terrible. Emotions are still running high, especially for those with ties to the victims, and it's still difficult to handle the subject with grace.
Social news and entertainment site Reddit is one site that's managed to do so. While the site has its fair share of controversies, it's also done a lot of good.
In 2010, multiple boards on the site fundraised for charity while competing with each other and last year, users banded together to donate money to protect an orphanage in Kenya.
During the Boston tragedy, users of the site speculated on the culprits, scanning photos for suspicious-looking individuals and sparking hunts for possible suspects.
Unfortunately, in this case, a lot of that speculation was flat-out wrong.
It's not the first time the site's been wrong, and despite the often noble intentions in identifying perpetrators of crimes or wrongdoings, the site has disallowed the distribution of personal information as a result.
Because of this huge mistake in such a tense climate, the manager of Reddit posted an apology for the "witch hunt" sparked by its users.
Their apology was handled with grace and acknowledged the good intentions, while refusing to back down from admitting that the users of the site — many of whom also apologized — were wrong.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for other parties who wronged innocent citizens. One victim of the bombings, a student of Saudi origin, was questioned in the hospital. His apartment was searched, and his roommate was interrogated while questions about his race swirled around the media.
The official suspects in the case were Chechen and had lived in the U.S. for years.
Tensions run high after national tragedies — that's unquestionable and often inevitable. Finding the suspects was of the utmost importance, but the way the situation was handled, especially with this Saudi man who did nothing but try to escape the area along with everyone else, was entirely unsympathetic.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick begged people to avoid prejudice based on categorization in the midst of the chaos, and for that, I applaud him.
While not everything was handled well, the Boston bombings have actually led me to continue believing in a basic goodness from humanity. Between the Reddit apology, Gov. Patrick's denouncement of prejudice and an outpouring of support from Boston residents and businesses, it's obvious that in the face of trials, we can maintain some sense of decency.
Even with some gross mistakes, it's heartwarming to see situations like this handled with grace, humility and, most of all, sympathy.
Reach the columnist at baorteg1@asu.edu or follow him at @BrandoBoySP
