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ESPN baseball writer Howard Bryant's arrest has now taken a very interesting turn: Buz Eisenberg, Bryant's attorney, claims that race was a factor in his arrest:
''Mr. Bryant was the victim of excessive force,'' Eisenberg said, according to Recorder.com. ''Police responded to the scene and rather than do an investigation, they made an arrest of a black man with a white wife."
Bryant, who is 42 years old, was charged with domestic assault and battery as well as battery on a police officer. Five witnesses claim that they saw the writer choke his wife and force her in to a car. He was freed on $5,000 bail on the same day.
Since the arrest, some things have changed.
Bryant's wife, Veronique Bryant, is now claiming that Bryant never assaulted her. Thus far, ESPN has declined to comment.
The arrest of Howard Bryant is certainly interesting. On one hand, there is the strong possibility that police overreacted. We know that there is an abundance of evidence that officers are more aggressive toward African Americans.
We also live in a nation where lynch mobs taunted O.J. Simpson for nearly 20 years, after he was accused of hurting a white female. With Bryant also having a white wife, these allegations are certainly worthy of an investigation.
We also know, however, that there is a huge incentive on the part of Bryant's attorneys to play the race card.
After all, getting arrested for domestic assault is not exactly going to bolster Bryant's career at ESPN. There are five witnesses who claim to have seen him assaulting his wife, and unless it can be proven that they have an incentive to lie, I am not readily inclined to believe that this arrest was racially motivated.
Also, I would speculate that advocates against domestic violence, like Sil Lai Abrams, might say that Mrs. Bryant's pleas for her husband's innocence could be symptomatic of Battered Woman's Syndrome.
Quite a few women are beaten senseless by their husbands and then refuse to cooperate with authorities, utilizing large amounts of taxpayer money in the process. Unfortunately, many of these women end up dead, which is why the police have an obligation to thoroughly investigate.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To follow Dr. Boyce on Facebook, please click here. 
Comments: (48)
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By: Justine on 3/02/2011 12:10PM
Black Men are not marriage material! They're not Prime Ribs any more! They're Ground Turkey! So it's a two way street!
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By: ana on 3/04/2011 12:03PM
Black Men and Black Women are often imitated but never duplicated! Because, We are The Real Kings and Queens of The Universe We are Teachers,Scholars,Architects,Entertainers,Builders and Athletics! We Marry in Holy Matrimony,with Deep Family Ties and Family Structure, With One-Another! We are Keeping it Real and Strong! Recognize!!
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By: jackie smurf on 3/02/2011 8:53PM
If she was choked, all the police had to do was look at her neck for scars and marks. They bruise easy.
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By: jackie smurf on 3/02/2011 8:54PM
Five people saying the same thing? doesn't sound like a lie to me. Not unless they all met-up and conspired to tell a lie.. do you see how crazy that sounds?
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By: Greg on 3/03/2011 1:23AM
I agree!
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By: Rodney L. Best on 3/03/2011 2:24AM
Why is it always the race card. These two words. I think Stevie Wonder told us a song about two words. We all know racism never went away.
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By: Carl M on 3/04/2011 9:14AM
Greg.
Its black men killing black men every day. It’s a senseless shameful epidemics just look at the news. It’s pure self hate savagery going on. Modern day lynching’s at astronomical proportions. KKK is sitting back laughing their butts off. No outcry from black men about this only if white men use a noose on them. Some black women kill black men in self defense, but black men kill each other out of pure self hate and anger that they can't even explain and its getting worst. Many black women are in prison because they took the rap for black men, got caught up in their trick bags, did bad things to feed their kids and some are just victims of their surrounding crime community life style. Any black person could be shot at any time by gun by a vile vicious no caring that get caught in their cross fire black man. This ESPN jerk committed a crime and shamefully like so many black men played the race card. He's a violent brute no matter what the race of the woman is. His white bosses should fire him.
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By: ken on 6/24/2011 6:32AM
Please please.. The family is in their car. Yhe police arrive, not questioning the man, not listening to the so called victim who has not press charges. But these bastards decided to use their authority and assert themselves physically upon this man who got into a public arguement with his wife. They came with one purpose in mind;The police have become more agressive against blacks due to the presence of a blackman in the white house. These KKK in uniform are usung this venue to continue their domestic terrorist activities. They have no respect for Blacks and the only thing white people will ever respect is violence. the more their condition gets worse in this society and throughout the world, they will respond with what is locked in their nature; Mischief and bloodshed, Until God brings this nation to its knees you will see more of the same. Your world and your rule are over!
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