In his analysis of the situation, the kid didn't actually want to fight, but was just trying to look cool in front of his friends - "no one would think any less

In his analysis of the situation, the kid didn't actually want to fight, but was just trying to look cool in front of his friends - "no one would think any less of you for backing down from a 17 yo black teen than if you backed down from a grizzly bear." That said, the sentence could probably be phrased a little more politely.