No word yet on whether Ray Rice will face suspension from the NFL following an incident in an Atlantic City casino in February. Rice allegedly assaulted his fiancée (now wife Jenay Palmer). The Ravens' coach said he was "disappointed" in Rice, essentially slapping him on the wrist by making him share reps with Justin Forsett. Even though his legal situation is wrapped up the NFL can still suspend him for the alleged beatdown at commissioner Roger Goodell's discretion.
Coach Harbough mildly reprimanded Rice through the press, saying he was disappointed in him (via NewJersey.com):
"'Your spot is never guaranteed on this team or any job,' Harbaugh said. 'You have to know how you carry yourself and handle yourself (because) it's going to be reflected in how successful you are and how many opportunities you get to do your job. Our guys need to understand that.'"
While the Ravens organization and the league are going through the motions of finding some sort of fitting punishment for Rice at least one writer is questioning the public's lack of outrage over the incident and their lack of concern for violence against women in general (via Fox Sports):
"Yes, his (allegedly) abused fiancée has since married him. So what? There's a pattern among domestic violence victims of co-dependency and returning to the abuser. Unfortunately, especially on these and other matters affecting women, especially in the sports world, there's a pattern among the masses of not caring enough.
"When an athlete is accused of rape, there is still so much talk, on record and off, hinting that she deserved it... that the poor guy had been set up, that you can't know how hard it is to be a dude with so many women throwing themselves at you ..."
In his bold opinion piece Bill Reiter praised the NBA and the American public for dealing with race in a proactive and progressive way, but questioned Americans' refusal to do the same with regards to misogyny. In the patriarchy, women are far too often marginalized even in the spotlight of their own narratives, suffering abuse and exploitation almost as a matter of course.
Until Americans can catch up on issues of gender, sexuality, and identity we can hardly stand on a soapbox for one good deed done in the wake of centuries of racism.
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