Football star Ray Rice knocked his then girlfriend (now wife) out cold last February, then dragged her body from an elevator. A judge just lifted his suspension, which means that the wife beater can now play as soon as he finds a team!
ESPN reports that at least four teams are interested in Rice. That would send an extremely harmful message to young male fans about violence against women. Tell NFL team owners: Beating women is a deal-breaker! Publicly announce that you will not sign Ray Rice!
As a society, we must stand against rape culture at every turn and make it clear: There is no room for that here. This means our institutions must always do the right thing, and the rest of us must hold them accountable when they don't.
We need to teach young boys how to behave properly, and one way to do that is to be sure that when they see a man hit a woman, they also see him face justice. If Rice returns to the NFL, it will tell young fans that hitting a woman is not a serious crime, and that will only help perpetuate more violence. As large and visible as it is, we need the NFL to do better.
It won't matter that the NFL can't ban Rice from playing if no teams are willing to sign him in the first place. Stand against domestic violence and raise your voice today!
Image credit: Wikipedia. Licensed under GFDL.As a society, we must stand against domestic violence at every turn and make it clear: There is no room for that in the United States. An important part of that shared mission is to teach young boys to respect women and behave properly. One way to do that is to be sure that when they see a man hit a woman, they also see him face justice.
The NFL is a visible and important cultural institution in this country, giving its teams an important role to play role in the fight against rape culture. If Ray Rice returns to the NFL, it will tell young fans that hitting a woman is not a serious crime, and that will only help perpetuate more violence. Please do the right thing, and publicly announce that your franchise has a zero-tolerance policy against wife beaters and will not sign Ray Rice!
