Karen. I feel sorry for good white women named Karen because the other “Karens” of the world are messing it up for yall. No, truly.
Karen is the name we have assigned to privileged white women who often antagonize then quickly play victim. They are bold in their stance and then if approached or corrected, they quickly cower into the victim; often calling the police and waiting for immediate action to be taken against person of color.
Who is Karen?
Karen is a pretentious white woman who thinks her crap doesn’t stink. She is self-absorbed, entitled and most times racist. I say racist as opposed to prejudice because most of the time, Karen is calling the police if challenged and we all know that once the police are called there’s a good chance that things will go left for the person of color. Karen typically wants to see harm done to us at the hands of the police. Racism has a level of hate associated with it that immediately implies harm and is the opinion that one race is superior to the other. Racists Karens are the worst.
Who is this Iesha you speak of?
Iesha is me. I know many Iesha’s. Iesha is the black woman whom if you catch her on a regular day will just laugh at a Karen or walk off but if pursued, if a Karen gets too close or says the wrong thing; Iesha is Karen's match. See, Iesha is the antithesis of Karen. She doesn’t hold some entitled stance; she is aware of other people because not being aware is dangerous. She doesn’t provoke a situation because she realizes what she has to lose but she will damn sure finish it if need be. Karen doesn’t want to "meet" Iesha because on the wrong day but at the right time, Iesha will defend herself, her culture and let Karen know what the real deal is.
How can we help the Karens of the world?
We probably can’t. See Karen doesn’t start off as a Karen. Somebody, or many somebodies along the way of her life, taught her that her whiteness made her better than everyone else. This was probably taught to her at a very young age so it’s ingrained. Karen will never understand why she is being “attacked” when social media creates memes about her with some crazy nickname while she was showing her ass for the entire world to see. And honestly, she will get so much support from the other Karens in the world, she really won’t care. I recently saw a video of a Karen chasing some young people in a skateboard park. Karen wouldn’t dare chase an Iesha. That probably wouldn’t end too well for Karen.
But Trese, isn’t that what Karen wants?
Yes, the Karens of the world very much want to see us hurt, belittled, harassed, arrested, convicted and even killed. They want the police involved because they are aware of how the police will act towards a person of color, not all but most. What Karen sees, because Karens are typically ignorant to the real world and get their perception of people of color from the associated press and Facebook snippets, is that the police are here to protect HER and HER alone. And based off recent events, Karen isn’t too far off the mark. I digress.
Why Should I Care?
Well, you need to prepare yourself as it is likely you will someday encounter a Karen. Often times words can disarm a situation pretty quickly. My Karen experience happened recently while shopping at the grocery store. A Karen felt it necessary to ask me why I had my hood on in the store. I first responded with “Please step back and adhere to social distancing standards” and I continued to walk down the toilet paper aisle. Karen was appalled that I had suggested she respect my boundaries. So, Karen followed me and it was at that moment, when I heard her still speaking to me, I had to decide how much Iesha I was going to give her. I quickly had to assess the situation and determine what level of Iesha I was going to be. I stopped and she almost bumped into me… that’s how close she was.
“I would advise you to stop following me”
“This is America and I can go where I want. Why do you have a hood on?”
“Because this is America and I can wear what I want to wear” I turn and continue to walk.
“Well you know what you look like.”
“I look like someone who will knock you out if you don’t stop harassing me”
End of Karen encounter.
I could have gotten in her face and made a huge scene but sometimes Karen can be stopped with just your words. Now, in the back of my mind, I won’t lie, I felt as though she was going to call the police but she didn’t. I passed her again in the store and she just gave me her disapproving look because somehow my hood offended her. Eh.
Recently, a Central Park Karen was videoed threatening a black man who reminded her of the leash law for her dog. See Karen, in all her entitled-ness, felt as though that law didn’t apply to her and was definitely offended when a black man requested her to abide by a law. Karens feel above the law. What happened next could have been catastrophic. Karen proceeds to call the police and repeatedly states an “African American man is threatening my life”. Notice she made it CLEAR that it was an African American man, for all those people that say people don’t see race… i digress. She made that statement clear because, again, Karens use the police as their weapon against people of color. Fortunately, no one was harmed during this incident but had the wrong type of police arrived and seen Karen in full Academy Award winning theatrics, this could have gone tragically wrong.
Update: Central Park Man felt sorry for said Karen. I, however, do not. Carry On.
A friend of a friend sent me this on Central Park Karen:
Bottom line, you need to care because you may encounter a Karen or you may see a Karen harassing someone. The question is, what will you do?
Many suggest we stop giving Karens the limelight but I feel it necessary to. White women who are Karens, hate to be made fun of so I get a kick out of it. It was all fun and games being filmed when you were attacking. How you like these apples, Karen?
Decide today, how Iesha do you want to be; understanding it may very well depend on the type of Karen you get.
Love & Light,
Trese, Unapologetically.
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