Teed, I've watched many versions of the video over and over, including background interviews with the boat's captain. I did not know, the first time I viewed the video, that the ship's captain had been asking these people to move their boat for 45 minutes over the ship's loudspeaker. The co-captain (the black man) was ferried to shore specifically to ask the white boaters to move and to untie their boat if they didn't.

Agreed, white people believe that no black person (especially if he is a black president) has authority over them, and if they can't react with physical force, then they'll retaliate in some other way.

I can't agree with continuing the brawl after it had apparently been "settled," and I really can't agree with hitting the woman over the head with the chair, because she did not pose a threat at the time. There were definitely white people who jumped in to defend the white aggressors. I have seen too many situations that should not have become racial become racialized just due to "skin differences." It always surprises, and disgusts me, just how frequently it happens and how close to the surface it is. I could cry.