Of the many things made infamous in 2020, Black people everywhere wish Karens would have stayed behind in the maligned year, or at least learn to mind their business.
In a video posted to Facebook on Monday, a woman named Tameka Bordeaux recorded an elderly woman calling her a “n****r b***h” on several occasions during an encounter in Bayonne, New Jersey, in which the woman pursued Bordeaux for blocks.
The video has drawn the attention of local politician and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, who is calling for an investigation to be launched regarding the incident, according to TMZ.
“I’m just walking out of my apartment, talking to the mailman,” the woman said in a clip posted by TMZ. “You nasty, f**king n****r b***h. What did I ever do to you?”
McKnight told TMZ that behavior like the elderly woman’s is becoming so common in society that it's harmful to the Black community to just refer to racist people as Karens and let them slide. ”I can’t just do that,” she said.
The New Jersey politician acknowledged that regardless of the outcome of the investigation, “one thing for certain is that Tameka was incredibly wronged today."
McKnight said it was alarming to see how white people have responded to the video online and she hopes that she can shed light on a very real form of racism commonly glossed over.
"To read the comments of some white people now making an excuse or defense for this behavior is alarming and gets us to the real problem of this systemic situation,” she said.
The term “Karen” has become popularized over the last couple of years and describes a person (usually a white woman) who tries to find solutions for other people’s problems that aren’t related to her own, according to Urban Dictionary. Many times, Karens improperly involve themselves in the affairs of communities of color.
Last May, Kathy Hill was labeled the “berserker” Karen for attacking Red Lobster employees in Pennsylvania on Mother’s Day. Furious about long waiting times, Hill was filmed punching a staff member after being promised a refund, as Blavity previously reported.
Employees of the restaurant told police they eventually had to remove Hill from the restaurant due to guidelines preventing customers from entering the establishment. No charges were filed, but police officials said they were investigating the incident.
This summer, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman elected to the position, called White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany "Karen" in response to McEnany calling her the “derelict mayor” of the Windy City.
"Hey, Karen. Watch your mouth,” Lightfoot wrote in the message’s caption.
McEnany made the insult at a press briefing where she was critical of Lightfoot for not seeking federal assistance to address the issue of gun violence in Chicago, as Blavity previously reported. McEnany said Lightfoot was “doing a very poor job at protecting her streets,” according to NBC Chicago.
The mayor’s supporters were delighted to discover the source later confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times that Lightfoot was aware and intentional in her use of the term.
