Dave Zirin: Kurt Busch, Ray Rice and How Sports Disseminates the Burdens of Racism

[marmar]

Kurt Busch, Ray Rice and How Sports Disseminates the Burdens of Racism

Wednesday, 12 November 2014 09:13
By Dave Zirin, The Nation | Op-Ed


Over the weekend, we learned that NASCAR star Kurt Busch was being investigated by police for assaulting his ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. Driscoll has requested both a restraining order and that the court compel Busch to seek counseling after he allegedly "accused her of 'having spies everywhere and having a camera on the bus to watch him' " and then "jumped up, grabbed her face and smashed her head three times against the wall next to the bed."

Busch's lawyer, Rusty Hardin—yes, the same Rusty Hardin who repped Roger Clemens in his steroid trial—accused Driscoll of a "complete fabrication by a woman who has refused to accept the end of a relationship." (The fact that Driscoll is a DC-based executive who runs a nonprofit for vets has not stopped Hardin from rehashing the same sexist clichés of a lying woman scorned, which tells its own story about the limits of "respectability" as a safeguard against sexism.)

Yet one thing did not happen after the news broke of the alleged assault: no one asked Peyton Manning for his thoughts. For that matter, no one asked Clayton Kershaw, Kevin Love or Sidney Crosby if they had any specific insight into how this could have happened. The absence of both that inquiry and any kind of broader uproar speaks volumes about one of the more pernicious aspects of racism in the sports world. This is the way in which the crimes of white athletes are seen as the moral failings of an individual, while the crimes of black athletes are processed by the media as a collective commentary on everyone who both happens to play sports and have black skin.

The video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée Janay and knocking her consciousness not only launched a national discussion about domestic abuse and the NFL's near-pathological serial cover-up of violence against women, but also a parallel discussion about violence against women in "the black community," as if black athletes—and black men in general—were uniquely predisposed to hurting the women in their lives. Despite the fact that there is not a legitimate domestic violence counselor or study on earth that argued violence against women is a "black problem," the media were undeterred. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/27398-kurt-busch-ray-rice-and-how-sports-disseminates-the-burdens-of-racism

[Myrina]

1. I don't have an opinion either way, but would like to ask ...

Why does someone - anyone - being " ... a DC-based executive who runs a nonprofit ..." preclude them from behaving irrationally in their personal life?

I've known alot of successful business people - men and women - who are 150% batshit crazy in private & would totally go Fatal Attraction on someone if they felt 'wronged', then show up at the office and effectively run a board meeting.

That said, I have no love for Busch ever since he was a spokesperson for 'designated drivers' until his drunk driving incident in AZ was covered up several years back.

[Blue_Tires]

2. k+r