Shelly's Modeling Agencies | Chirs Brown | Hot Topic

Shelly's Modeling Agencies hot topic of why we can't forget about Chris Brown. If we've learned nothing else since Chris Brown brutalized ex-girlfriend Rihanna, it's that domestic violence, like racism, makes otherwise sensible folks lose their minds. How else do you explain why so many of us always defend Black men, especially in cases of abuse when it's clearly Black women who suffer? Radio listeners have debated Rihanna's responsibility in all of this. And revisiting the silly blog posts, all the blaming of Rihana ("Caribbean women are crazy" or "She must have done something to provoke him"), it's plain that we must force ourselves to delve into the anatomy of abuse if we are to see it for what it is.

We at Shelly's Modeling Agencies truly believe that forgiveness is the basic tenet of Christianity, and eventually I hope Chris will one day earn it, but why are we a Black women always so quick to forgive an abuse? Everyone who defends Brown should be required to watch Rihanna recount the details of her nightmare and her ruthless analysis of her own before-and-after behavior. Simply saying, "He hit her but..." allows us the same despicable, maddening cover as America simply saying, "Yeah, sure, some racism still exists but...," then refusing to examine it's mechanisms. That night wasn't about one evening of poor choices. We believe that because of Rihanna's eventual strength, courage and luck that it will likely be the last. For her.

But what about young women and girls, Brown's core listeners, who're also his biggest defenders, despite the fact that he was charged with hurting one of them? In a survey commissioned by Girls Scouts of the USA, 45 percent of girls say Rihanna could have provoked Chris. And a survey by the Boston Public Health Commission found that nearly half of the 200 Boston teenagers questioned thought Rihanna was responsible for the attack.

If we don't look the beast of domestic violence in the eye, we're no different from people who refused to look slavery and Jim Crow in the eye. Domestic violence is about male privilege, just as racism is about White privilege. All of this is not to say that we or Rihanna should hate Chris Brown. But it is to make very clear that none of us should ever rationalize violent behavior, nor should any woman remain with or support of batterer, no matter how many "I am truly, tryly sorry" apology videos he makes.