The elevator video of Ray Rice assaulting his then fiance, Janay Palmer, then dragging her out of the hotel elevator by her feet like a dead animal has been viewed by just about everyone and opinions have been articulated from every side of the issue. But I'm not concerned with rebooting any of the issues that have been discussed and over-discussed since it's all been said ad nauseum. The one question, however, that no one ever discussed that sat in the back of my mind as CNN, Fox and MSNBC all dissected the various social issues surrounding the video was, how would all of this have played out if Mrs. Rice were a young white woman? I mean, many black NFL players have white wives and I just couldn't help but to wonder how the media, and the general public, would have played all that controversy out.
Would The NFL have banned him for life or at least for more than 2 games? Would women's groups have been out front from the beginning demanding harsher punishments? Would there have been boycott's of the Baltimore Ravens and the other players who've assaulted their wives? Basically, would a brighter light have been cast on the violence against women from men who play this brutal, profitable, corporate sport? Would there have been a greater compassion for Janay Rice, instead of questions from so many men asking, "what did she do, though?" Would Ray Rice have gotten the sweet plea deal he got from the district attorney if the woman in the video had blonde hair and blue eyes? Would he have gotten death threats after America watched over and over the footage of him knocking a young, attractive white female unconscious? Would we hear endless comparisons to Nicole Brown Simpson? I'm not sure how it would have all played out exactly in our "post racial" America, but I'm sure it would have been different.
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