Feminists hate Chris Brown because he's black, says Brendan O'Neill
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Blogger and controversialist Brendan O'Neill has stoked the fires again, writing in The Huffington Post that the main reason "feminists" hate Chris Brown so much is because "he's big, bad and black" - not the singer's horrendous assault on Rihanna.
The editor of Spiked Online argues in distinctly trollish fashion that white men who have also faced accusations of domestic abuse, like Sean Penn (who hit Madonna with a baseball bat in 1987) or Charlie Sheen, are let off the hook by feminists simply because - unlike Brown - they're not black.
"Even worse", says O'Neill, Brown's "a tattooed, swaggering, foul lyric-singing black, all blinged-up and possessed of bad attitude. Which, in some people's eyes, is the worst kind of black there is. It is fundamentally this - the cultural constituency that Brown hails from and represents - which explains why his act of domestic violence is treated so much more seriously than anyone else's."
You could spend part of your Friday picking out the holes here, or follow the zen mantra of our columnist Owen Jones: "Will not get trolled by Brendan O'Neill Will not get trolled by Brendan O'Neill Will not get trolled by Brendan O'Neill"
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments