Some people are lucky they don’t get molly-whopped when they commit racially offensive acts.
It’s praiseworthy that Tiffany Johnson was able to keep her composure and hands to herself after a woman hurled a glass bottle and shouted a racial slur at her as she jogged in Queens, New York last month.
On Tuesday, Johnson addressed the incident on Facebook after footage of the encounter went viral and said she was unaware that someone captured it, Complex reports.
“As a Black woman, I’m always cautious because I know that the color of my skin is triggering for certain people,” she wrote. “At the time, I felt it was race-related, but looking back at this video is 100 percent confirmation of a hate crime.”
After the video made its rounds on the web, the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force launched an investigation into the incident and is hopeful that the video will help to arrest the suspect, who is described as a 5’5, 160lb, white woman with blue eyes and blonde hair, who appeared to be in her 40s.
Johnson also spoke with ABC7 about the confrontation, adding in pieces that the video didn’t capture. “She followed me up the block, was screaming ‘get out of here, go back to Africa…N-word.” And although she was shocked by the woman’s actions and behavior, Johnson said she just wanted to get away from her with hopes of the situation not escalating any further.
Even after being racially targeted, Johnson showed maturity towards the unknown woman, saying she has some growing to do.
“That’s not on me. That’s a reflection on her,” Johnson said. “She needs to look at herself and figure out why she looks down on somebody.”
Johnson has not returned to the area since the encounter.
