Domestic Violence Against Black Men

Based on my own experience, logic, research, and history I have always believed that the differences that exist between men and women are not moral or ethical ones. 

I have known women who have any or every moral failing imaginable. I've also known selfless angelic women. Women as a group are no more moral than men. I'd like to believe otherwise but the evidence doesn't support that conclusion. 

Women may express themselves on average differently than men but anyone who holds on to Victorian ideals of female moral superiority is either deluding themselves or trying to trick other people. This even extends to the evil of domestic violence.

Professors like Dr. Tommy Curry and Dr. T. Hassan Johnson, who have actually done the research, have found that domestic violence, particularly in the Black community, is more bidirectional than many of us would like to admit. In other words men and women initiate domestic violence at close to the same rates and for many of the same reasons. 

To quote Dr. Curry: 

The assumptions that philosophers hold about IPV and child physical and sexual abuse are really universalized descriptions derived from what social scientists and feminists asserted as causal amongst white families and in white communities. When we look at racial groups, IPV victimization rates between Black, Latino, and Indigenous men and women in the U.S. are roughly equal and have a much different etiology than IPV victimization between whites. Much of the intimate partner violence in racial groups is bidirectional, not unidirectional, as Duluth assumes, meaning that both partners are abusers and victims.

I was reminded of the truth of this statement by two recent hideous instances of domestic violence in which Black men were the victims.

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A woman faces several charges for allegedly setting fire to her husband while he was sleeping. 

Charges against Tuhonsty Marie Smith include arson of a building, first degree recklessly endangering safety and mayhem, domestic abuse assessments.

During her initial appearance, the court determined Smith will undergo a competency evaluation. The victim, Henry Williams, told police his wife's behavior had changed recently and it had increased in recent days after he told Smith he was leaving her.
In the early morning hours of June 3, Williams said he woke up to realize his hair was on fire and tried to put it out with his bare hands. Williams also rushed to his three-month-old daughter's room, grabbed her and ran out of those house. Williams told police Smith was the only other person in the house. 

Williams suffered second and third-degree burns. A GoFundMe page is trying to raise funds for his medical costs and recovery. The property owner where Williams and Smith lived is also a long-time family friend of Williams.

A woman is upset that the provider of her good thing is closing up shop and leaving. The woman evidently thinks that if she can't have him, then nobody can. And she doesn't mind who dies as long as her spouse does. She sets him on fire while he's asleep. Isn't such violent sexual jealousy only supposed to be in the male bailiwick? Guess not. 

After attacking her boyfriend after he ended their relationship, a Coral Springs woman was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery. 

On May 15, Coral Springs Police responded to a domestic disturbance call near the 1100 block of Northwest 90th Lane and were greeted by the victim with a clear injury to his head and other obvious signs of trauma.

According to the report, the victim told officers he had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s home to return her cellphone and end their relationship but was met with a fury of violent behavior as he attempted to leave. The victim told officers his ex-girlfriend, later identified as Cristal Mertilien, 18, became furious that he broke up with her and followed him to his vehicle as he attempted to leave. As he attempted to enter his vehicle, Mertilien picked up a rock and threatened to shatter the back window of his car if he drove away.

After he exited his vehicle to diffuse the situation, Mertilien threw the rock, striking him on his forehead, causing a large hematoma. The victim said he pushed Mertilien away from him, but she continued assaulting him with punches and kicks.

Now some would argue that women are becoming more masculine in their behavior. I don't think so. I think that makes the mistake of continuing to code domestic abuse as masculine. I think some might be becoming more entitled. In both of these cases the women used violence to attempt to intimidate someone from leaving them or to punish someone for leaving them. 

This is no different from the stereotypical male brute who beats his wife or girlfriend because she smiled at someone on the street or earnestly promises her that the only way she's leaving him is in a box. 

This is not normal healthy behavior for anyone, male or female. It needs to be eradicated. Society must let women know, just as we've let men know, that domestic violence can't be tolerated. This is true no matter the person's sex.