#FancysThoughts: What is a Karen?

This week Buzzfeed published an article entitled “What is a Karen?”. My first thought was we all know what a Karen is, but I was eager to see how this author defined Karen. 

As I read the article, I anxiously looked for the words  “white” or “Caucasian”, because how else can you really describe a Karen, but not once did the author use that description. Instead he used phrases like “a bob-haircut, typically sported by suburban moms and a tendency towards entitlement” or described their actions (all of which usually displayed entitlement and prejudice as well).

That did not sit well with me. Initially I didn’t know why. I wondered if it was really necessary for the writer to state that Karen is typically a white woman. I mean was ethnicity really important?

However I went back and read the article again and then it hit me. While the author clearly stated that he did research and attempt to learn more about Karen’s, he failed. Horribly. 

The article was a light read about a serious matter in the Black community. The author almost describes Karen as someone others might aspire to be. Karen could possibly be “that b*tch”. 

And that’s the last thing the black community needs, another white woman invading our space with her white privilege calling the police for unnecessary reasons and/or claiming she fears for her life.

Karen is dangerous. If anything Karen is a variation of Carolyn as in Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman who falsely accused Emmett Till of whistling at her which ultimately led to his kidnapping and murder. 

Karen’s are white women who insert themselves into situations to cry wolf and/or throw rocks and hide their hands, and frankly I’m sick of them. I’m sick of seeing the videos of them berating and humiliating Black people (the majority of the time Black men) for stupid reasons disguised as safety concerns. It doesn’t matter that these vids go viral and usually the public sees how Karen is a bitter woman with too much time on her hands, who uses phrases like “you people”, abuses taxpayers money making fake 911 calls, are often married to men like Gregory McMichael, and probably voted for Trump in the 2016 elections.

Forget the Urban Dictionary‘s definition of Karen being someone who “gives raisins to kids on Halloween” and instead think the person who often triggers someone’s first encounter with the police.

And I stand on everything I say above because Karen apparently is too caught up in her own world to notice how trigger happy the police are nowadays. But honestly, I think that’s the desired outcome of many Karen’s, another Black man killed in a police-involved shooting, another police officer with weeks or months of paid time off, and of course, if Karen was present to witness these events, so obviously she’ll receive some press as well.

Karen is not a joke. She’s not someone anyone should aspire to be. She’s a threat to the Black community. 

Original article https://www.newsweek.com/what-karen-1505084.