Domestic Violence Month - None Too Soon by Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Sept. 21, 2014

Domestic Violence Month - None Too Soon
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

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(TriceEdneyWire.com)  – October is Domestic Violence Month.  When we set aside a month, a week or a day for certain occasions or issues, we tend to give a lot of attention to it, but I’m afraid October is not big enough to cover all the problems being thrown at us!  We’ve been consumed by it—more than by the wars that are raging around the world.

As I’ve seen the parade of Black men in the news, I’ve felt pain, humiliation, disappointment, shame, sorrow and lots of other unpleasant feelings. As bad as all those things are, I must add racism.  As smart as many of these media people are, I know they have the ability to research and find that more than Black men are guilty of not only domestic violence, but many other forms of violence. Where are they? I’m by no means making excuses for the behavior of these Black men, but crime is not unique to our community and certainly not unique to men in the National Football League.

While we’re on this subject of domestic violence, with Domestic Violence Month coming up, why don’t we examine all the cases and deal with the subject overall—not just to talk about it, but to really do something about it?

If these abusers need therapy, let’s force them to get it. If they need incarceration, arrest them and isolate them from women until they’re no longer a threat.  Setting up a committee of white women won’t get us where we need to go.  What about Latino, Black, Native and Asian women?  Shouldn’t we have something to say about what we’re seeing on the news? It’s clear that we need to be in the mix when policies are decided for the NFL and any other group of abusers where it is projected that the majority of the abusers shown are non-white?

Just as the NFL seems to have turned a blind eye to the abuse of women for so long, it has now turned a blind eye to diversity for resolving it. If the NFL is serious about resolving this problem, wouldn’t it make sense to include women of color to help develop policies since we are such a large part of victims and survivors?

With that in mind, I wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to make the suggestion of bringing in women of color.  Thus far, I have not even had an acknowledgment of my letter, but I am holding out hope that the Commissioner hears the voice of women who can add value to any discussion on domestic violence and what can be done about it.  Our voices need to be heard.

People need to hear that all Southern mothers do not beat their children.  All Black mothers do not beat their children, causing their sons to behave the way we see some behaving toward women and children. Many Black mothers have worked very hard to keep their sons out of trouble.  They have sacrificed a lot to get their sons to where they are today.  These mothers do not deserve to be denigrated for the behavior of a few renegade men who seem to be offering childhood beatings or domestic violence in their childhood home as an excuse for their bad behavior.  As a survivor of domestic violence, I have a personal interest in resolving the problem of domestic violence and ending this horrific practice.  Many of us love football and want to believe we are safe around players and coaches in all sports, and in all of society.  Our voices must be heard, and women of color must rise up and insist upon being heard—even if major media just ignores us.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. www.nationalcongressbw.org. 202/678-6788.)