That’s the story we should be talking about, but instead the big story is that, even after that, the woman who says she loves him went on to marry him and is now defending him and blaming the media for ruining their lives. She has a problem, no doubt, and every one of us hopes she comes to her senses and leaves this jerk right now. But it’s her abuser who has the biggest problem.
He can’t get away from who his is. He can make excuses and promise never to do it again. (Which, in Rice’s case, he hasn’t done–at least not publicly. At his press conference, he apologized to the NFL, to his fellow players, to his fans, to everyone except his wife–the woman he knocked out cold in the elevator.) He can agree to some sort of counseling and he may even do it. But in the end, he is in charge of his ability to care enough about another human being so as not to do her harm. He, and only he, can control himself.
Nearly everyone who has been involved in abusive relationships–the victims themselves or the clinicians who care for them–have said, on seeing the tape, that this is not a one-time “mistake”. Rice’s careless disposal of this woman, his fiancee, rendered unconscious by the application of his fist to her face, indicates a history of violence.
He is the problem. She is the victim. If she decides to seek help, there will be many experts ready to help her. If she’s lucky, she’ll break the bonds that attached her to a violent abuser and her life will take a new and better turn.
But Ray Rice will still have to live with himself. He will either have to come to terms with the horror of what he has done or he will go on insisting, even to himself, that he didn’t mean to do it, that they were both angry, that she lunged at him, she spit at him, and what could he do? That for that split second he was out of control and it’ll never happen again. That this isn’t who he is.
Every abuser believes this. Every abuser has to believe this, because anyone who systematically uses fists or a weapon to injure someone weaker is living in the body of a monster. And nobody wins when the monster wins.
tiredoftea September 10th, 2014 at 12:12
These horrible stories turn to either blame the victim, sometimes subtly, or excuse the offender as “out of control” and otherwise a good guy. This one is doing both because of Rice’s profession and the NFL’s desire to deny that it fosters criminal behavior in the men it offers up as “hero’s” to a fawning public.
Anomaly 100 September 10th, 2014 at 13:19
I’ve read comments from people claiming she’s after his money. How do they even jump to that conclusion?
tiredoftea September 10th, 2014 at 15:22
It’s an easier explanation than the truth?
Suzanne McFly September 10th, 2014 at 15:37
He is an American hero as a football star, a lot of people idolize him and we know we can’t blame an idol for what they do, blame the one without a voice….the victim.
tiredoftea September 10th, 2014 at 12:12
These horrible stories turn to either blame the victim, sometimes subtly, or excuse the offender as “out of control” and otherwise a good guy. This one is doing both because of Rice’s profession and the NFL’s desire to deny that it fosters criminal behavior in the men it offers up as “hero’s” to a fawning public.
Anomaly 100 September 10th, 2014 at 13:19
I’ve read comments from people claiming she’s after his money. How do they even jump to that conclusion?
tiredoftea September 10th, 2014 at 15:22
It’s an easier explanation than the truth?
Suzanne McFly September 10th, 2014 at 15:37
He is an American hero as a football star, a lot of people idolize him and we know we can’t blame an idol for what they do, blame the one without a voice….the victim.
juicyfruityyy September 10th, 2014 at 13:43
He can’t escape his problem. No matter what other relationship he is involved in. He will repeat the pattern.
juicyfruityyy September 10th, 2014 at 13:43
He can’t escape his problem. No matter what other relationship he is involved in. He will repeat the pattern.
William September 10th, 2014 at 15:01
However.
Suzanne McFly September 10th, 2014 at 15:35
Exactly, had that video remained unseen, Rice would still have a job.
Ramona Grigg September 10th, 2014 at 15:36
Exactly! Thank you, William.
William September 10th, 2014 at 15:01
However.
Suzanne McFly September 10th, 2014 at 15:35
Exactly, had that video remained unseen, Rice would still have a job.
Ramona Grigg September 10th, 2014 at 15:36
Exactly! Thank you, William.