Ray Rice & Domestic Violence: A Critical Perspective

After the fallout from the latest video released of the February domestic violence incident between Ray and Janay Rice, what does it say about society in general?

I’m sure everything that has needed to have been said about the subject has already been said. But I’m going to chime in, anyway.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last 48 hours, I’m sure you’ve seen the latest video, released by TMZ Sports, of now-former Baltimore Ravens RB Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée (now-wife) Janay Palmer-Rice in the face inside an Atlantic City casino elevator. I won’t show the video in this post, but you can see it here, should you choose, if you haven’t already. The footage is brutal, shocking, and it has left whomever has seen it with a visceral reaction of shock, disgust, and anger.

Since the video’s release to the public early yesterday morning, the fallout has been nuclear for Rice, who had previously been given a two-game suspension by the league for his actions during the incident on February 15. Earlier video evidence already indicated an assault, with Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator, seemingly with little regard to her welfare. Despite this, Palmer defended her recently betrothed, and the league felt that a two-game ban was appropriate.

As a result of the latest footage, however, the response was swift and severe – the Ravens terminated the remainder of the franchise RB’s contract with the team. They have since made extensive efforts to distance themselves from the six-year veteran, going so far as to offer a “Ray Rice Exchange Program” – fans will be allowed to officially turn in their No. 27 Ray Rice jerseys for, likely, undisclosed merchandise.

Meanwhile, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell dealing with a PR firestorm of his own, the league suspended Rice indefinitely. Early reaction from the media presumes Rice will never play on a professional football field again. The newest Madden NFL video game has scrubbed Rice from its virtual lineup, and his endorsement deals are also up in smoke. The former celebrated runner from Rutgers University is now an Untouchable.

Now, I can try to wax poetic about how the league failed miserably in their handling of the incident. I can denounce and call for the jobs of everyone involved in what some have called a cover-up (like one Keith Olbermann insisted on doing on Monday). I can even project what this might mean for the situation involving 49ers DE Ray McDonald, who was arrested August 31 for a domestic violence charge.

However, I want to focus on the video. I want to focus on the assault, itself – and the visceral reactions it caused. Because that, above all the white noise of the ramifications for the league, its players and its franchises’ front offices, is what I think is most important.

That said, with the severity of the fallout that Rice and his wife are suffering today – a fallout that Janay Rice has called “a horrible nightmare, feeling like I’m mourning the death of my closest friend” – there is one silver lining that can be taken from this entire mess of a situation.

It gave us all an uncensored, if not necessary image – in all its disgrace – of domestic violence.

There have been many people who have asked, in light of this latest video, why it took the images depicted for the public outcry to be as loud as it has become in the recent days, and for the league’s reaction to be more than “give Rice two games, and see if we can sweep this under the rug.” After all, the images released earlier of Rice carrying Janay out of the elevator as if he was dragging a heavy bag, rather than his beloved fiancee, across the floor was bad enough. And, yet, there was little outrage expressed by the NFL.

It’s simply because that, unless one has experienced the horrific realities of domestic violence, one cannot imagine its cruelty, nor its visceral brutality. We, as a society, wish to shed light on domestic violence as a social problem, but discussions on people’s stances on the issue, through no fault of anyone, fall on the deaf ears of a general public that might be desensitized to the idea of it.

It’s why the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words. Speaking about the devastation of domestic violence is completely different to the average person than watching the devastation of domestic violence.

This isn’t a point lost on people like ESPN’s Mark Schlereth. The former offensive lineman-turned-analyst/radio host admitted that he could not process how brutally violent domestic violence could be … until he saw it with his own eyes. It was important to him to see it – rather than have a conceptual depiction of it – in order to understand the problem at hand.

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As you can see, Schlereth – a father of two daughters, as well as a grandfather – was holding back tears.

I can understand that this episode is terribly difficult for the Rice family – especially for Janay, who is now a victim forced to relive the violence every time a media outlet chooses to show the video. More accurately, I will never understand what Janay Rice is going through. I can admit that.

However, as cruel as this may sound, the issue that this incident represents isn’t just about Janay Rice. This isn’t about Ray Rice, or the Baltimore Ravens, or even the PR image of the NFL. This is about the greater good – projecting a visceral, unforgettable image of the social problem that is domestic violence. This is about reaching the millions of people who are like Mark Schlereth – people who are aware of the problem, but are relatively blind, for whatever reason, to its visceral, personal impact.

That’s all I can say about this.