Do White Guys Get Away With Beating On Women While Black Men Don't?
Interesting question in a piece by Ernest Hardy in the LA Times. Rihanna-beater Chris Brown has that dogging him still, while accused chick-beaters Glen Campbell and Charlie Sheen have been treated quite differently:
In her 1997 autobiography "Nickel Dreams", singer Tanya Tucker alleged that physical abuse was a staple of her brief early '80s affair with Campbell, when he was 42 and she was 21, with the violence often playing out in front of others.Here's what she wrote of one especially brutal episode: "[F]inally Glen reared back his arm and brought his elbow down in my face, shearing off my two front teeth right at the roots.... I reached my hand up and felt my mouth, and there was a gaping hole where my teeth should have been.... I was without front teeth for a week, and from that time on."
Although Campbell denied Tucker's claims and was never prosecuted, he had discussed their stormy relationship in his own autobiography published three years earlier, "Rhinestone Cowboy," where he wrote, "We even fought during sex once or twice."
Not before, during or after the Grammys did anyone say a word about Campbell's alleged abusive past or suggest that he should not be allowed onstage because of it. Then why Chris Brown? Because it's recent? Because, unlike Campbell, he was prosecuted? Because Brown is his own worst enemy, prolonging the controversy with his behavior and his songs?
...If you Google the words "Charlie Sheen" and "domestic violence," the Internet gently weeps. Yet Sheen's well-documented fisticuffs-on-females (restraining orders from ex-wives; allegations from girlfriends and sex workers, alike, that he battered them) have not resulted in his name being synonymous with domestic violence except in an excusatory wink-and-nudge kind of way. A snickering humor trails his persona, as demonstrated in a "Comedy Central Roast" in his honor last year, where a lot of the night's humor hinged on his out-of-control rep.
Imagine the outcry if Brown made light of his public persona the way Sheen does with his new TV series "Anger Management."
"Historically and today," says professor Tamara K. Nopper, sociology lecturer in race and ethnic relations at the University of Pennsylvania, "it is presumed that black people are by nature a violent people and thus they get dealt with quite differently than when non-blacks engage in violent acts.
"The level of intensity and the degree of vigilance that celebrities and some in the general public show towards Brown is less about a concern for a black woman experiencing violence as it is a general obsession with and policing of what people assume to be the inherently criminal nature of black people in general."
Charlie Sheen is disgusting. It is sick that anyone participated in a roast and made jokes about any of Charlie's women cowering in the corner or that they found domestic violence a joking matter.
I think Sheen had the benefit of being Marty's son and years of good PR before we really heard stories whereas with Chris Brown, Rihanna was loved as an artist and the pictures and accounts were leaked early on. I do wonder if the hip hop thing is part of it though it has been a benefit in other ways. The hip hop community and fans are standing by Brown. In fact, Rihanna's own father came out and said that Brown and his daughter make a perfect couple and he'd welcome a reconciliation. If that isn't sick, I don't know what is.
As far as Glen Campbell goes...I think that has more to do with the era. Abuse was considered a private problem and nobody's business back then. I wonder how that would go over if it were to happen today.
Kristen at July 6, 2012 7:11 AM
Four things
1. Campbell was in the 80's and people didnt talk about DV
2. Sheen was rich, most of his victims were hookers, and as crid shows, people dont give a shit about hookers, and no one saw graphic pics of his victims. Outta sight, outta mind
3. From what I was able to gather in the early hours of the Brown/Rhianna situation was she hit him and grabbed the steering wheel while they were driving down the road. Dont know if its true or not and that claim seemed to disappear in to the ether. But it always made me wonder until his more recent out bursts of rage.
4. People give their 'heros' all sorts of lattidue and ignore all sorts of behavior in them that they would never tolerate form strangers they didnt worship
lujlp at July 6, 2012 7:49 AM
Never heard of Campbell. Sheen and Brown are equally contemptible in my opinion, but I agree with lujlp there disparate outrage in the media has to do with the fact that Sheen's victims were sex workers/nobody really famous. I hadn't considered the experience PR angle, but he's also probably right about that. Also, not only does Rhianna have many fans and other hip hop/R&B celebrities publicly on her side, but we all saw the damage Chris Brown did to her face. Seeing it is much more powerful than reading or hearing about it. I don't think this has anything to do with race.
Ike and Tina were before my time so my only exposure was her biopic and Fishburne's (sp?) acting was so good it was disturbing.
LL at July 6, 2012 8:49 AM
I seem to remember (and perhaps inacurrately at that) OJ Simpson not receiving too much of a stigma until, that one day....
Feebie at July 6, 2012 8:53 AM
"Because, unlike Campbell, he was prosecuted?"
I love how people gloss over this as if it were a mere inconvenience to their strained argument.
Yes, there is a big difference between being accused of something and it being proven.
snakeman99 at July 6, 2012 10:20 AM
"Never heard of Campbell. Sheen and Brown are equally contemptible in my opinion, but I agree with lujlp there disparate outrage in the media has to do with the fact that Sheen's victims were sex workers/nobody really famous."
It wasn't just sex workers. It was also his wives, the mothers of his children as well as old girlfriends. Remember when he shot Kelly Preston in the stomach? Probably not. He had a great team that covered it up.
Kristen at July 6, 2012 11:41 AM
The headline for the article is over the top:
"Is Chris Brown the victim of a double standard?"
Yeah Chris Brown is a "victim". Whatever you say guy. Didn't he start a bar room brawl that temporarly blinded a football player, and caused a french olympic athlete to go to the emergancy room just last month?
Mike Hunter at July 6, 2012 11:41 AM
Its a fair point, in Cambells case only a few people if that knew what was going on and Tucker didnt come out about it in public for nearly two decades
lujlp at July 6, 2012 11:44 AM
I don't find it unreasonable that accused beaters are treated differently than actual beaters.
lsomber at July 6, 2012 11:58 AM
Rihanna is a miserable, violent bitch who got less than what she deserved.
Pooor widdle ting!
Jay R at July 6, 2012 4:19 PM
One reason Chris Brown continues to be mocked is that his youthful popularity is still climbing, as is that of the woman he beat.
People have known Sheen was troubled for several decades. And Glen Campbell hasn't attracted anyone as a romantic figure for even longer than that.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at July 6, 2012 6:02 PM
Wow, Jay R, based on your comment I could say the exact same about you. Can you please explain why she got less than she deserved?
Kristen, no I don't remember hearing that. I remember reading somewhere that he did beat/threaten his latest ex-wife/mother of his children, but I'm fuzzy on the details. I don't follow celeb news so I was including his exes in the "nobody really famous". Guess I am showing my age--I've never heard of Kelly Preston. The only ex of his I know of is Denise Richards, but I don't remember anything about him beating her. The one that sticks out to me is when he trashed a hotel room and his escort was hiding/locked in the closet to escape his violence. I'm fuzzy on those details as well, but he probably has a much better PR team which is why I don't know about those. But I remember seeing Rhianna's picture everywhere when it happened.
LL at July 6, 2012 6:14 PM
People also forget that Rihanna has posted pretty racist comments on her twitter against Chris Brown's current flame, who happens to be half asian.
I think it's not a black vs white, but just how good you can control yourself in front of an audience. Chris Brown in any interview looses his shit in fits of rage. In one interview didn't he break windows, etc.?
Others can put on a facade. Rihanna, on a personal level is also a very disappointing figure. I like her music but once you get to figure her out a little bit-wow.
Purplepen at July 7, 2012 1:03 AM
I believe the Kelly Preston incident was an accident. She has said as much many times.
I don't think any of the other Sheen stories have been /proven/ exactly, and they're all plausibly deniable. If the media released a photo of Denise Richards beaten to a pulp, I believe the public would condemn him.
It kind of has already. Despite the Comedy Central roast, his "tour" was a failure, and his career definitely is on the decline.
Chris Brown, on the other hand, continues to rake it in while exhibiting violent, out of control behavior.
Insufficient Poison at July 7, 2012 7:56 AM
The Campbell-Tucker thing isn't a good example. Tucker was known around Nashville as a wild child who was constantly getting herself into situations that she had to be rescued from. Her management tacitly encouraged the affair with Campbell because they thought it would curtail her partying (it didn't). To put it delicately, she's not exactly an unimpeachable source.
As for Brown, part of it is that rap culture champions the concept that periodic beat-downs need to be administered to women. That's the elephant in the room that everyone involved is trying like hell to ignore.
Cousin Dave at July 7, 2012 8:53 AM
""Historically and today," says professor Tamara K. Nopper, sociology lecturer in race and ethnic relations at the University of Pennsylvania, "it is presumed that black people "
Okay, I'm done reading now.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 7, 2012 10:15 AM
Screw the celebrities. I don't follow them other than the occasional "How did they kill off Sheen's character in 2 1/2 men?"
I bet if you look at the domestic violence arrest numbers they are roughly equal per capita in any local region. Now DV convictions are probably lower with whites because they pay for better lawyers and do better plea bargains. But that is a total guess.
Jim P. at July 7, 2012 11:29 AM
> Screw the celebrities.
Every celebrity I've ever met has said kind things about you, Jim.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at July 7, 2012 6:51 PM
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