A subway brawl between a Dominican man and a black woman has gone viral leading to four arrests. Danay Howard was subjected  to a very hard slap from Jorge Pena after she ridiculed and insulted him for several minutes before hitting him in the head with her high heeled shoes. It has been dubbed “the slap heard around the world” and it seems that it has become just that. The ladies of “The View” as well as the London based news outlet, The Daily Mail and every media outlet in between has sounded off on it. Overwhelmingly, people who have commented agreed that she deserved the slap due to her behavior on the footage. However there were some who felt that he was in the wrong despite her odious behavior. My concern is after seeing several video clips of black women and girls posted on line engaging in violent aggressive behavior like this is why are so many eager to engage in confrontations  with men?

Here is one of a young girl who was physically assaulting a young white male on the bus:

https://youtu.be/4W9F8KvmKAU

This one is of a girl screaming at another student for two minutes, he kept asking her to leave him alone and she kept talking mess and called him a bitch as she walked away he called her one back and then she attacked him.

https://youtu.be/s4b9i4ier5w

And I have seen plenty more like this and a colleague of mine expressed disgust that media outlets like World Hip Hop should stop posting ratchet videos like this on their website . Her argument is that it is focusing on the worst rachet black women making black women look bad. Here is the thing, If so many black women did not behave like this, there would be NOTHING for people capture on their cell phone. In regards to this situation all some want to focus on is that he slapped her. Do we not pay attention to HER behavior before that slap? She insulted him, put him down, continued to ridicule him as her little clique chimed in on the mockery. She knocked the cell phone out of the hand of the guy that was filming it TWICE. Then went back to verbally assaulting the guy and when he decided to walk away she hit him with her high heeled shoes before he slapped her.

Another colleague of mine expressed feeling sorry  for the girls, she questioned their upbringing, were they abused at home, etc. That is all fine and good and that can definitely contribute to their behavior, BUT they are still making the choice to engage in this behavior. I knew girls like this from my school days like Danay and her friends. At the bus stop and on the bus, they would try to start fights with complete strangers or other students; name calling, hurling insults, hitting and shoving. They are not helpless, they are choosing to be bullies. The only difference between then and now is the availability of cell phones. While stories based on human memory may differ, filmed footage does not lie.

I find those who defend Danay regardless of her huge contribution to the altercation is they  tie it on to domestic violence against women. While I do not support women getting hit, I am also of the mind women and girls should not put their hands on people. I will not band wagon the backlash that a violent aggressive female receives with a woman who is being abused. We say the other person (always the male) should have exercised self control? What about the person who STARTED IT??? Many of these women bank on the fact that many men will not hit a woman to enforce their unchallenged aggression and find themselves suprized when they are called on it
My support goes to black women who are unfairly targeted, harassed, and bullied by men, other women, etc. BUT I REFUSE to defend females like this who go after trouble and get it. Black women that start altercations with black men (and other people) when the men try to walk away they CONTINUE to accelerate the situation many times assaulting the guy and he in self defense lets her have it. You cannot start mess then claim your vagina when it is convenient.
I am tired of these half cocked admissions by women ,“yes she was wrong but, he should not have done A.B.and C.” we have to be willing to hold women accountable just like the men. While opinions differ on what Danay did or did not deserve. The law is holding her accountable for her behavior. She has not only been charged with felony assault, but this snapshot of her will be all that people remember and it is a permanent record of her. 

Our image as black women is already severely compromised. We want our voices heard when it comes to how black women are treated and mistreated by men maybe it is time we held other women accountable for what they contribute in certain situations to harm being brought to them and others. There are no winners in this situation and for every person involved? Their life is forever changed.

And not in a good way.