Editorials & Other Articles

alarimer

(16,245 posts) Wed Dec 5, 2012, 01:16 PM Dec 2012

Kassandra Perkins did not have to die.

This from Jessica Valenti in The Nation:

A good person. Genuine. Pleasant. Nice. Hard-working. A family man. The media has used all of these terms to describe Jovan Belcher after he murdered Kasandra Perkins, shooting her nine times. In fact, these glowing descriptors are all from just one article in The New York Times. But don’t worry, there are plenty of pieces sharing lovely sentiments about the man who killed his girlfriend, the mother of his barely 3-month old daughter.

While mainstream media and supporters of Belcher have no problem spouting off flattery, most are hesitant to call what happened domestic violence. They’ve gone out of their way to suggest that Belcher murdered Perkins—who friends called ‘Kasi’—because of sustained head injuries or because of alcohol or drug abuse. A police officer, Sgt. Richard Sharp, has even suggested that Belcher committed suicide after killing Kasi because “he cared about her.”

“I don’t think he could live with himself,” he said. What a romantic.

It’s horribly offensive to laud a man who murdered his girlfriend and left his daughter parentless. It’s also irresponsible. When the media reports domestic violence murders as random tragedies—or when individuals say the perpetrator must have “snapped”—they enable a culture of violence against women. Because when you don’t contextualize this violence as part of structural misogyny, you give credence to the myth that there was nothing anyone could have done to stop it.

more:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171607/kasandra-perkins-did-not-have-die#

He was NOT a nice guy; he had a long history of violent behavior against women. But no one ever did anything about it. No one ever does. The biggest threat to women is their partners, especially when those partners are violent and when they attempt to leave them.

And "couples counseling"? Really? As Valenti says, that is the worst way to deal with domestic violence issues. She should have been encouraged to leave him and get a restraining order, though that is difficult enough for regular people, not to mention star football players.

Look, he was NOT a decent guy and I'm glad he's not around to hurt another woman. But I am very sorry he had to take her with him and leave his child an orphan. Can you imagine having to tell that kid what he did?

I am thoroughly disgusted by the coverage of this event so far. "He just snapped." or "We had no idea." Yes, you did, you just chose not to get involved, beyond some bullshit couple counseling.