Thought For The Day:
“Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege.”
Question for the Day:
Do you weaponize your privilege?
Cited from CC’s Expanded Dictionary:
Karen, n. a white woman who is aware of her high societal ranking and fully embracing of the special protection it affords. Karen therefore has power to use said privilege to assert her authority over those without equal protection. She believes she has total discretion to wield this power to avenge any perceived offense or minor irritation that would make maintaining her natural advantages even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Ex: “Please don’t call the police, Karen. I’m not looting the store. It’s my job to stock the shelves.”
Now before some of y’all go there, no, I don’t have a problem with white women. I know you’re not used to Black people saying this but, “I have plenty of white friends.” Lol! But truly, I know some woke white women that will throw their fists up in protest and proclaim Black Lives Matter quicker than some Black folks. Yet, none of that negates the fact that there are far too many Karens running rampant and I feel it necessary to remind you all of a few things.
- The world doesn’t revolve around you. I know you’re not used to things being uncomfortable. After all, you’ve always been America’s “damsels in distress,” and our society rushes to make sure you’re safe and protected. People fight for your business and scramble to assist you in department stores because they assume you have money and are worth their time. You don’t usually have to wait long for a taxi or Uber pick up because people automatically believe you’re safe. Many of you are used to being considered employable on the strength of visuals alone and you generally make a good first impression because people trust you’ll do a good job. You typically make more money than the underprivileged even with less education and experience. Men of all races vie for your attention and hold you up as the standard of beauty. Most of you have had advantages such as middle-class upbringings, private school educations, Ivy League pedigrees, and family seed money to jump start your lives after college. For the most part, you are unfamiliar with struggle, waiting, fighting, worrying and having to take “no” for an answer. But alas, the world is still full of millions of other people who look, love, pray, protest, party, and live differently than you and THEY STILL MATTER.
- We know you’re not just looking out for the common good. The Karens of the world would like you to believe they’re just making the world a better place when they whip out their cell phones and call the police to complain when people of color scare or annoy them. “BBQ Becky” says she called the police on black men at a cookout because use of their charcoal grill was a matter of public safety. Perhaps it was, but pursuing legal charges was quite a leap when a simple “hey guys, you might want to check the regulations on grills” would have sufficed.
A manager at a Starbucks in Philadelphia thought she was protecting her customers when she opted to call the police on two black man who were preparing for a business meeting in her store. Apparently, Black men don’t drink tea or congregate in a coffee shop unless they’re casing the joint. As far as that Karen was concerned, where two or three Black men are gathered, the presence of foul play is there also.
And let’s not forget Yale Karen who was just looking out for the safety and well-being of her dorm mates when she called the police on a Black student sleeping in the common area. I’m not sure if she thought the snack machine was under siege or what, but an arrest was clearly the next right thing when one’s unsightly napping becomes a public nuisance.
And of course, there’s our latest Karen, Amy Cooper who was so annoyed with being told by a black guy that she had to follow dog-leashing guidelines in a public park, that she whipped out her cell phone to show an uppity Christian Cooper, exactly who he was dealing with. In that moment, she quite literally thought that it was an actual crime for someone to deny her the right to do whatever the heck she wanted. I imagine her singing Beyonce’ in her head as she called because Christian ‘must not know about her, because she can have another cop in a minute!’ Ironically, the black man she called the police on was actually bird-watching, which is probably the most benign thing I’ve ever heard of a black man doing, yet you were scared for your life? No ma’am. You tried it.
- Calling the police on a Black person is a potential death sentence. I understand that Karens were raised to trust the police. In their world, the police are allies and unfailing heroes always ready to save the day and rid the world of all the “bad hombres” and “thugs” Trump warns about. Law enforcement exists to defend Karen’s ivory tower so she need not be bothered with all the struggle, hardship, injustice and ugliness of the world. The police fix things for Karen and will always choose to defend her against the lower class because her fear will always trump black and brown lives. When BBQ Becky stated during her 991 call, “I’m scared! Come quick!” or when Amy Cooper contacted authorities about her bird-watching nemesis and stated, “there’s an African American man threatening my life,” they both were aware of the potential consequences. “Help, there’s a big scary black man!” has become Karen’s official war cry. Who needs pepper spray or a gun, when one phone call could swiftly shut a person of color all the way down….to the ground. Time and time again, history has shown that black men, police, and a scared white woman can be a recipe for murder. Fourteen year-old Emmett Till was one of the first to prove just how far America will go to avenge the Karens of the world. And here we are in 2020, with the same playbook in active use. Though I’ll never lump all white women into one category and know that many of my white sisters support the fight for justice, Karen will never be invited to the cookout. She’d probably call the police on us anyway.
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Philippians 2:4
