Whoopi Goldberg returned to “The View” on Sept. 11 after a period of isolation following a COVID-19 diagnosis, and the talk-show host wore a folding chair pendant relating to the Aug. 5 Riverfront Park brawl in Montgomery, Alabama.
Goldberg began by saying that the panel did not condone violence, before recapping the mayhem that occurred at the Riverfront Park docks in downtown Montgomery after white individuals operating a pontoon boat jumped a Black riverboat co-captain.
The brawl took place on the same site where enslaved Americans were unloaded on Commerce Street after being transported via the Alabama River for the slave trade.
“I have to lead this off by saying we do not condone violence on this show. We don’t, okay? We all hear that,” Goldberg said. “But there was a story that happened last month in Montgomery, Alabama, where a riverboat captain who had 227 passengers was trying to dock his boat, you know, in the spot he’s supposed to be in.”
She continued, “The co-captain, who happened to be Black, went to confront this pontoon boat that was in the way. They couldn’t put the big riverboat where they were supposed to because the pontoon boat was in the way. So a fight ensued and something happened that we have not seen.”
The show then cut to a video of the brawl where the co-captain threw his hat into the air after he was attacked as co-host Sunni Hostin yelled, “That’s the bat signal.”
“That is the signal,” replied Goldberg as she noted that Black people witnessing the attack jumped in to help the co-captain. “Black people came out of nowhere. We dropped out of the sky. People were just, it was crazy.”
Goldberg also noted that one man jumped off the riverboat to swim to the dock to help. “I’m sitting in Italy watching this, and out of the corner of my eye, I see this guy swimming in. And fast,” she recalled.
“The memes are off the hook! I am wearing a folding chair,” added Goldberg, as Hostin chimed in saying that someone used a folding chair during the brawl.
Those white folks in #Montgomery learned that day!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I still have my folding chair on standby!! 🤭 #TheView pic.twitter.com/OaBChu1rdr
— Wayne Pittman, Jr. ♑💪🏿😈👅🌊 (@Sony12Play) September 11, 2023Hostin added that many people had an issue with the folding chair because it could be considered a lethal weapon, but the co-host said that she’d rather a folding chair be used than a gun while noting that nobody died during the brawl.
“What we all take away from this is, if we don’t want to be hit, we do not hit other people,” said Goldberg. “When somebody is doing their job, let them do their job. We’re making light of this, but the truth of the matter is it didn’t go south because there were no guns. And so, let’s not do that again.”
Marlon Wayans also spoke on the brawl and was immediately dragged for his comments after he seemingly condemned those who jumped in the melee.
The comedic actor posted a clip that only showed the beginning of the brawl and focused on the fight after others had jumped in. He captioned the post, “How ‘bout we NOT “try that in a small town”…. Sh*t silly bro… let’s all just be love NOT war.”
Goldberg and the panel also commemorated the anniversary of Sept. 11.
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