Black Yale student repeatedly attacked with N-word, called ‘Barack Obama's ape wife’ in horrific racist rant
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A black Yale Ph.D. student filmed herself being targeted with sickening racial slurs as she walked down a Manhattan street and asked social media's help in identifying the middle-aged white woman responsible.
Kathryn Graves said she was minding her business, walking down the street when the woman approached her without provocation and launched into a horrific racist tirade where she repeatedly used the N-word and called her an "ape."
"So this just happened to me... in NYC of all places," she wrote, sharing the video. "For context I was walking down the street with my headphones in and a BLM shirt on, and didn’t even realize she was yelling at me until I stopped my music. I silently recorded up to the very end".
Watch the video here.
In the clip, which has now been viewed close to 200,000 times, the woman can be seen clutching a case of Natural Ice alcohol as she yelled slurs at Graves. "Obama’s f****** d*** right next to his ape f****** wife," she screamed. "Barack Obama's f****** ape wife."
The woman then proceeded to make ape noises and repeatedly tells Graves she's a "f****** n***** ape" before insulting her because she had colored her hair pink.
"What's it matter you f****** n***** apes?" she continued. "What's it matter, you got time to f****** do your hair? What's it matter, you got the time to do your pink a*** f****** hair? You n***** Obama f****** ape."
Graves kept her composure throughout the rant, and eventually, the woman turns away from her and crosses the street. At this point, Graves taunts her and promises her she would be losing her job because of her comments.
Speaking to the New York Post, Graves said she only began to process the hatred in the woman's words much later. "I kind of blocked off how hurtful the words were and was just thinking pragmatically," she shared.
"Before I even started to emotionally process what was going on, I just knew I had to record it and try and figure out what to do if she tries to attack me," she continued, revealing she feared the woman might have had a weapon on her. "I recorded her and she just went off … there was nothing on my end that preempted this, other than me being there. I have never had someone just spew hatred in my face."
The student said it hurt her that none of the people who walked past had tried to intervene and help her even though it was obvious what the woman was yelling. "You must be actively anti-racist — it’s not enough to just not be racist," she said.
While she has not yet been identified, Graves said she had shared the video of the incident with the NYPD and that she had been in touch with officers and another potential victim of the same woman.
She said she believes the woman is homeless and might be suffering from mental health issues but that was not an excuse for her behavior because "racism is not a symptom of either of those things."
"If her hands had been empty she could have hit me. It could escalate at some point," she said, adding that the woman could be a "risk to public safety". "If nothing happens, this woman could be dangerous."