Controversial Ray Rice Costume Making Waves On Social Media
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Offensive, racist, sexist. Those are just some of the words used to describe a costume some are dressing up in for Halloween. It's making waves on social media. The costume makes light of the Rice Rice domestic violence incident.
Rochelle Ritchie has reaction from Ravens fans and domestic violence advocates.
It's a costume you won't find on store shelves, but is still becoming quite popular on the web--people dressed in black face pretending to be Ray Rice and dragging a black female doll behind them.
"It's a horrible stigma. As horrible of a situation as it is, it should have never happened. And people still find that to be humorous. I don't understand why," said Matt Kozow.
Photos on Facebook and Instagram show men in Rice's jersey, one with a gold chain and an Afro clutches a doll's leg. Others pretend to hit the women standing next to them, who have fake black eyes.
"And she's stupid for being in that picture," one woman said.
Like many, Sandi Timmins with House of Ruth is appalled.
"The images are horrifying. This issue of violence against women is not a joke. It's nothing to poke fun at and it sends all the wrong messages. It says that it's cute," said Timmins.
The costumes seem to depict the night Ray Rice was caught on camera punching his then-fiancee in the face at the Revel Casino and then dragging her body out of the elevator.
It's not just adults who are dressing up in this offensive costume. Parents are actually dressing up their children in Ray Rice jerseys and dragging dolls behind them. Some parents say what happened to the simple days of dressing up as something like Spiderman?
A photo also posted on social media shows a child carrying a doll with a black eye.
"It's really distasteful. I don't know. It's not right," one parent said.
Advocates say the photos show just how insensitive people are to the issue of race and domestic violence.
"That kind of attitude from our community is the very reason that so many women don't come forward," Timmins said.
Timmins tells WJZ 1 in 4 women will be victims of domestic violence.
No one from the NFL nor the Ray Rice family has responded to the photos.
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