You’ve probably heard of the meme: the entitled white woman who pops off at the most minor of inconveniences. Now, a bunch of Karens have launched a support group on Facebook.
Last year, the meme quickly became associated with the “Central Park Karen” who was slandered for falsely reporting a Black man to the police, accusing him of threatening her in the famous New York’s Central Park.
The meme reached global heights in December 2020 when The Guardian published an article that identified the trend as providing a social function – to pinpoint the concept of white, female privilege and “racial innocence.”
Now, a local Karen from Grand Rapids, Michigan is working to “shed positive light on the Karens for the Community through women empowerment.” She says “it’s important to unite and encourage a culture of compassion that supports all human beings regardless of what their name is.”
C’mon mate, you’re missing the point. “We as a culture have adopted this stance that white women are more virtuous and not complicit in upholding racism in particular,” said Apryl Williams, a Professor of Communication and Media at the University of Michigan.
My wife……Karen…..wants to talk to your manager about your anti-Karen bigotry. Seriously I think she needs a ‘My name is Karen but I’m not actually a Karen’ support group. 😂
— 1st Responder PTSD Advocate 🇺🇸🏴🇺🇸 (@OldSmokeEater) May 18, 2020
“They just sort of go along with it, but they’re not conscious actors. The [meme] says, no, they are conscious actors. These are deliberate actions. They are complicit. And I think that’s why it strikes a nerve with people,” says Williams. She defines a Karen as a “white woman surveilling and patrolling Black people in public spaces and then calling the police on them for random, non-illegal infractions.”
If you’re not being racist, discriminatory, or bigoted, Karen, then you’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about.
Youtuber Lilly Singh made a pretty hilarious spoof of the concept:
Karen: the support group edition pic.twitter.com/DtOVqsQieb
— ⓈⒶⓅⓅⒽⒾⓇⒺ (@sapphiresdust) December 19, 2020
