Written by Nicole J.

Another day, another black woman being abused with black men looking on in impotence.

From the audio in the clip above, viewed over 6 million times on Facebook at time of writing, an unnamed black woman was apparently spat on by what looks to be a homeless white male (no shoes, disheveled appearance, in the downtown area), and, as spitting is one of the worst things you can do to a person, she rightfully retaliated. As always, (what sounds to be) black men were on the sidelines, hooting and hollering and leaving her to fend for herself. One guy even shouted “I got it all!”, likely referring to his footage, and another saying “it’s Easter my n**ga!”. At the 0:36 second mark on the video, I think I can make out a black male index finger. With that evidence, though admittedly circumstantial, I can say with a good amount of certainty that at least one black man, possibly more, was present. His/their contribution, like usual, was the recording of the video that has now started to go viral. Whatever would we do without their perpetual powerlessness?

The spitter is very much in the wrong for his actions and I am glad he got his ass beat by the woman and the bunny. But it’s very telling that a faceless fictional creature came to this woman’s rescue before the black men did. Why is that? The bystanders knew she got spit on, so clearly they were there fairly early in the fight to have that context. Plus, spitting is universally reprehensible, so it’s not like somebody could say, “Oh, it’s just a joke” or something. Who gets the benefit of the doubt? Spitty McPOS or the black woman defending herself?

It’s crazy that black men shout the loudest that we black women take part in their emasculation (one of their reasons for dating out), and yet, when the opportunity presents itself to do manly things like literally defend a damsel in distress, they sit back and wait for the Easter Bunny. But we’re supposed to march at every injustice dealt to our male counterparts? I’ll pass on that, but I’ll reconsider when evidence of reciprocity is routinely shown.

As with anything else, there’s layers to this. After the Bunny opens the can of whoop-ass, the black woman continues to get some hits in. I appreciate that the tensions are high and the adrenaline is pumping, but it would have better served her to ease up and let the real man, the Bunny, handle it, especially when the cop came along. There is nothing weak about letting your femininity do the talking for you.

And I have words for Fatty Green Shirt too. He seemingly arrived late to the scuffle and went to the aid of the white guy before the black woman, going so far as to put himself between Spitty and the woman and telling her to stop when she tried to get a few more hits in. He is also trash. Swirler or not, I’m not going to defend his nonsense, he is as weak and sniveling as the recorders on the sidelines. Black women can be beat up by anybody of any race, and witnesses will rush to the defense of the perpetrator. On the other hand, Fatty was “on code” and went to his people (meaning the white guy) first, even though he was wrong.

Another layer to this is the inevitable chorus of “that’s why I don’t trust these white men” that will follow. I don’t trust Spitty or Fatty Green Shirt either, as they, much like the recording bystanders, have proven themselves to be trash. But, as has become commonplace in these kinds of discussions, there is no contextualization applied. The number of incidents involving violence directed at black women at the hands of white men is significantly smaller than that of violence directed at black women by black men. So if you don’t trust white guys, cool, I support you, but black men are certainly not angels either when it comes to violence against the image of his mother/grandmother/sister, either.

All that said, I really, really hope a black man was in that Easter Bunny suit because I truly want, just one time this year, for a highly publicized beatdown of a black woman have a black man as her knight in shining armor. Not because I am a swirler means I don’t want the best for my people, especially black women. As the saying goes, I can walk and chew gum at the same time. I looked around on Instagram to see if there was any hint of who was inside but came up empty.

Update 4/23: I have found this news story that revealed the Bunny Samaritan was Antoine McDonald, who is black! Yay! I’m happy to see that he took it upon himself to defend her and hope that the next time a black woman faces assault like this (because unfortunately, there will be a next time), that nearby black men with the courage to step up as men jump in to save the day, rather than record it for likes and internet clout.

We are nearing the end of April, and so far this makes video number four (to my knowledge, I’m sure there’s many more) of black women (McDonald’s woman, parking lot woman, elderly train woman, and this woman now) getting physically assaulted with black men present. There are more questions to be asked when these things happen. What makes black women seemingly less deserving of defense? Why do all races of men seem to think they can get away with harming us? Why is it when a black woman gets in a fight, the assumption is that she can handle herself, rather than she might need help? I have some suspected hypotheses but as I am married to a nonblack man, that has somehow rendered my opinion in such conversations is invalid.

In any case, I’m glad she had her fluffy savior come down from the heavens (or around the corner) on this holiest of holidays. Thanks, Antoine Cottontail.