Chris Brown and Rihanna: The Case of Domestic Violence

Chris Brown is a very talented young man with what seemed to be a brilliant future ahead of him. His recent attack on girlfriend/singer, Rihanna, was, according to a leaked police report, extremely brutal and incongruous with the personality that so many people love to watch on television. What prompts a person to get angry enough to want to kill someone else?

The report stated that Rihanna had found a text message from another girl on his cell phone and got angry. The report states that he tried to force her out of the car but she had her seatbelt on ( can we say attempted murder, Chris???). What was he thinking? Or was he? According to the same report, he started to punch her as she faced him, and continued to punch her as he was driving. He apparently hit her so hard, there was blood on her dress and in the interior of the rented car. Brown reportedly told Rihanna: "I'm going to beat the (expletive) out of you when we get home. You wait and see." Rihanna then left a message for her assistant that said, "I am on my way home. Make sure the cops are there when I get there." According to the report, this made Brown furious. "You just did the stupidest thing ever. I'm going to kill you," he told her.

It is really sad that anger can make a person destroy their whole life, and someone elses. It wasn't necessary, and it is going to cost him a lot. I suspect that the court is going to make an example out of him, especially due to the severity of the beating. The sad part is that, had he been a relative nobody, he probably would have gotten off with an anger management class and a rap on his hand and a stern warning not to do it again.

Maybe this will allow us as a society to take this seriously. Domestic violence isn't about punishing someone who deserves it. It is about insecurity, an inability to deal with strong emotions, and a strong desire to control situations at any cost. It is also about not knowing how to handle anger in ways that don't involve violence. Perhaps we can all start to recognize the signs and try to get help.

Let us work on curbing domestic violence. It's effects ripple through communities and affect more than just the people involved.