MONTREAL – The definition of being a Karen:
A Karen is the kind of person who is unhappy when little things don’t go her way. They are the, “Can I speak to your manager?” kind of gals. The bitchy soccer moms of the friend group that nobody really likes.
Here is another definition:
Karen is a mocking slang term for an entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman. Especially as featured in memes, Karen is generally stereotyped as having a blonde bob (she could be a brunette too), asking to speak to the retail or restaurant manager in order to voice complaints or make demands. She is depicted as a nagging, often divorced, mother from Generation X.
We have all encountered at least one Karen in our lives, but there is a new type of Karen, equally as entitled and annoying. These are the Beckys of the world.
Here the definition of a Becky:
Becky is a stereotype for a white woman, one who is unaware of or takes advantage of her social privilege.
Last week, multiple events took place that was eye-openers for so many people, but for us, black people, we have dealt with so many Karens and Beckys in our lives, some even lost their lives because of them.
Do you remember reading about a particular Karen, Amy Cooper, in the newspaper, online, or on Twitter or Facebook? You know, the one who called the cops and wrongly accused a bird watcher (who happened to be black) of threatening her and at the same time, she almost choked her dog?
Do you remember what happened a few weeks ago? A jogger was killed by a bunch of hmm – let’s say a Karen with some die-hard KKK DNA? Here’s the prime detail – the young man was black.
Did you read an article on the Tatler about a current duchess in the U.K.? It was about her Karen/Becky attitude toward her sister-in-law who happens to be a very smart, articulate, kind, and authentic woman. The duchess even threw a typical Karen-type tantrum before the wedding of her sister-in-law.
She probably also participated in the racist and classist smear attacks by the media on her sister-in-law. Oh, I forgot to add that this Karen-type duchess and her family want to sue Tatler magazine, but they haven’t supported the sister-in-law, nephew, and brother-in-law while they were basically getting crucified by the Royal Rota, the Royal press, and maybe some family members for being a bi-racial family?
And what happened to all the money for the launching of the cookbook from the biracial duchess? How come we don’t get to see annual report from the Royal Foundation like we do with every other foundation?
*Crickets*
You were probably in shock when you saw the brutally of George Floyd’s murder by 4 cops reported by every news outlet. Yes, there was only one cop that was choking poor George with his knee (without any reason to do so), but there were three other morons standing there, doing nothing about it. George screamed that he couldn’t breathe. The first thing a human being does right after being born is breathe. The last thing we do before we die is taken our last breath. George Floyd’s last breath was filmed and witnessed by the world in the most horrific way.
This week was horrible.
Actually, the whole of 2020 has been awful, except for my mom’s recovery from cancer. Since January 26th 2020, I’ve been struggling with self-doubt; a lack of faith in humanity. I will write about that in another post. I thought I was free of a very painful trauma I had twenty-four years ago as a nerdy, sporty 13 year old girl. I was wrongfully arrested in front of my home after lunch hour, before going back to school.
The pain is still there and maybe never left.
This 13 year old nerdy, black kid was wrongly arrested as the cops saw her leaving her home to go back to school. I was crying. They never asked my name. About 5 minutes later, in the car, they only said: oh we mistook you for someone else (yeah right). They dropped me off on the corner of Charleroi street and l’Archeveque in Montreal-North.
I went back to school crying because I was so traumatized.
This experience was my first encounter with systemic racism and the police.
Did it turn me into a rebel?
No.
Did it make me aware, for the first time in my life, that I was different from my best friends who were Francophone Canadians, Italians and Irish?
Yes.
Did it make me want to break into shops and start a riot?
No.
Did I make friends with police officers later on in life?
Yes, and they became my best friends. They were both white, a couple actually. I told them about my bad experience. A true friendship was born pretty fast 8 years ago. Sadly, they passed away last year in a awful car accident on highway 440 in Laval, Québec. There is not a day I don’t think about them, but I am glad they don’t know about the news today. They would have been pretty heartbroken about what is going on right now.
We can all reflect on what is going on right now. There will always be a lot of Karens in this world, unfortunately, but it’s not the time to protest in a very violent way. We are actually giving more ammunition to those Karens if we do so.
Let’s be smarter than that.
Instead of burning cars and breaking into stores, let’s do it in a most pacific way, even if it’s hard. I know, it is. We are better than that. And when I say we, I’m talking about everybody.
Some Karens think we are stupid, we are uneducated, and that we are criminals. Hm, that’s weird given:
A) the greatest athlete of all time and the first powerful spokesperson for Nike…
B) the 44th President of The United States of America, someone who made us believe that we can achieve everything…
C) the first provincial Liberal Party chief whose parents are proud Haitians who came to Quebec in the 70s and contributed to the creation of UQAM (the University of Quebec in Montreal)…
D) the king of cool who turned jazz upside down with his trumpet until his death in 1991…
The list can go on and on.
They faced a lot of Karens on many occasions but didn’t let it stop them in achieving their goals and without being criminal.
Can the Karens of this world evolve from the plainly entitled brats that they are?
A young nerdy black girl at heart can dream and hope.
Hi ! I enjoy your blog. However, I’m sad about your calling certain white women Karens. I’m a woman of color by the way. I believe that for racism to end, we all need to improve. Including you.
Thanks for the Kate Middleton link. I wouldn’t like it if I felt someone was rude to my staff either. I want to call you out. Examine how you feel about other people too. No, I don’t think I’m white.