Whoopi Goldberg made recent headlines for her comments made on “The View” about the “Showdown in the Elevator” between Jay Z and Solange. The Academy Award winning actress had this to say to about the incident:
“I think Solange was quite ready for him to do whatever he was going to do. This is the thing: If anybody hits you, you have the right. I know that many people are raised in a different way—but if a woman hits you, to me, you have the right to hit her back … If I slap a man, he has every right to slap me back.”
I have to agree with Whoopi on this. If a person puts their hands on you, then you have the right to hit them back or at the least to defend yourself. Before you all think that I support violence, I am simply saying that as a person you have the right to stick up for yourself regardless of one’s gender. It’s actually funny how gender plays its role in assault. Violence is not acceptable, yet all week I haven’t heard that it was wrong for Solange to attack her brother-in-law. In fact it seemed like she even received credit for her “Mortal Kombat” style attack on Hov.
Think about this for a second, “How come Solange didn’t have to give a proper apology for her actions?” Taking this even further, ask yourself this, “If the roles were reversed, would it be okay for Jay Z to walk off like a smooth criminal?” You already know the answer to that question. If Jay Z had attacked Solange the same way that she attacked him, we would be putting him in the same category as Chris Brown and he would probably be facing charges as well.
Excuse my rant, but like Whoopi Goldberg I feel strongly about this. Whoopi still stands by her words today:
“Hey, I know everyone is freaking out like I said that they would when I said if someone hits you, you have the right to hit them back. I didn’t say Jay Z should have hit Solange. I said if you hit a man that man has the right to hit you back. That’s what I said. I stand by that. If you hit anybody, they have the right to hit you back. This idea that men aren’t supposed to hit women—if you slap a man he has the right to slap you back. Now, not everyone is going to agree and I’m okay with that. But that’s how I feel. That’s why I don’t slap anybody.”
At the end of the day, the underlying issue here is physical violence. Regardless of your gender, race, age, sexuality, or religion; violence is not the answer. Let’s start making each other accountable for our actions and set a better example for those who are watching when we don’t even see them. Shoutout to Whoopi.
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