A TikTok trend which involves white women fake crying is raising questions about the real-life consequences of Karens who have mastered the ability to play victim. The white women in the videos are prompted to cry on demand, then suddenly stop to smile at the camera.
While the TikTok participants only see the trend as an innocent social media game, others are reminded of the many instances where white women used their emotions to frame Black people.
Oh. A whole TikTok trend where… white women… show us how good they are at performatively crying on cue… pic.twitter.com/a9zHLocjru
— Chimene Suleyman (@chimenesuleyman) June 21, 2021
As the trend prompted a discussion on Twitter, some white women came to defend themselves from being labeled as Karens. But many social media users said it's impossible to ignore the serious context of the videos.
If you’re not incredibly disturbed by this, and the evil grins at the end, you’re missing the historical point.
— Steven ????️????????️????????️???? (@Jizzymondi) June 22, 2021
Several Twitter users reflected on the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till who was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman in 1955 and later murdered by a group of white supremacists.
The trend of white women crying on tiktok and then SNAPPING back to normal is not funny actually. As a black person I am constantly endangered by white women tears. The power those water works have over a black persons LIFE is shown time & time again in cases like Emmet Till.
— ceo of ragnvindr brothers (@AFRODIYKE) June 17, 2021
Others pointed to their own experiences of seeing white women cry.
My old director said she didn’t “know me” because she never saw me cry. Meanwhile I saw her cry at least once a month, for foolishness. Didn’t prepare for a meeting, tears. Parents are mean to her, tears. Day not going her way, tears. Come on!
— Focused Spender (@focusedspender) June 22, 2021
Some were reminded of the movie Get Out.
Not them all auditioning for Get Out 6 years too late. pic.twitter.com/BkPIXpPvyz
— Liz Jenkins (@ej11lizzie) June 22, 2021
A few Twitter users were mesmerized by the acting skills of the women taking part in the trend.
There are a few who you can tell are fake crying but there are two in this video that you can’t tell at all and they just look so normal afterwards. It’s revolting
— thirsty for bacon boy ???? (@bookedandinked) June 22, 2021
Still, many Black people on social media didn't just see actors. Rather, they saw the fears they face on a daily basis.
I hate everything about this "trend" so much, because it has gotten so many people like me killed, harassed and assaulted…
— JonathanMcgee (@jeb120889) June 21, 2021
As the discussion continued, social media users referred back to the case of Amy Cooper, the disgraced white woman who lied when she called police on a Black bird-watcher in New York's Central Park last year.
As Blavity previously reported, Cooper filed the false report against Christian Cooper after he asked her to put her dog on a leash.
"I'm taking a picture and calling the cops," she said. "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."
“I’m in the Ramble and he is ATTACKING me and he is AFRICAN AMERICAN, send the police to handle this AFRICAN AMERICAN attacking me right now! Listen to the distress in my voice!
And P.S. I myself am 100% white. Come quickly!” pic.twitter.com/ZcppioG9Zs
— Sean Bell (@SeanBellring) June 22, 2021
Many more Karen incidents have been seen in viral videos in the past year. One of the most recent examples involves a white woman who attacked a Black mother and her children at a pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York.
As Blavity previously reported, the mother said the unprovoked woman came up to the family as they were exiting the pizzeria and launched a racist tirade. The Karen then allegedly took a red pepper shaker and shook it at the mother’s face.
“She said ‘F**k your baby, n****r,’” the single mother recalled. “To my 4-year-old, she called him a n****r and said ‘Get out of this country.’”
