Recently, there has been an uptick in videos featuring angry white women being labeled as Karens online. These individuals can be heard screaming, spitting, cursing and even brandishing guns at both Black men and women.
The term “Karen” has become widely used as an insulting label to denote middle-aged, white women who are entitled and typically racist. While some argue this practice of misogyny, others assert it’s simply a useful way of calling out those who feel entitled to behave in socially unacceptable ways.
1. Amy Cooper
The internet has been filled with stories of Karens who have been made accountable for their behavior. From a white woman calling the police on a Black man in Central Park to a former model caught on tape or business owner whose reputation was damaged after making racist comments, there are plenty of examples where people have had to pay the price for their words and deeds.
As an example, let me point to Amy Cooper – a dog walker who became famous after calling the police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park last year. Her video went viral and cemented her place as the embodiment of Karen archetype: an entitled white woman who takes advantage of her privilege.
On her 911 call, she exaggerated her voice and played the damsel in distress role, convincing the person on the other end that she was being assaulted. She even put Christian Cooper’s life at risk by emphasizing her cries and animations, altering her demeanor to increase urgency, and raising her vocal inflections.
She then urgently demanded the person on the other end of the phone to contact police, fearing for her own life in case they didn’t.
But her call was barely audible to the dispatcher on the other end, so she had to repeat herself several times before it became clear what had actually transpired. At that point, Christian Cooper began abusing, harassing, and physically attacking her in front of witnesses.
What she didn’t realize is that those on the other end of the phone wouldn’t believe her because they hadn’t witnessed her act so dramatic. They would likely assume she was a victim of racism and being threatened by Christian Cooper without ever having met her in person.
Amy Cooper attempted to ruin Christian Cooper’s life and career through illegal, dangerous actions. This caused damage to both her reputation and career; if she takes responsibility for these mistakes, then she can repair both.
2. Leah Dillard
Recently, I interviewed William and Mary alum Leah Dillard (’18) about her career. As a Research Associate for the American Institutes for Research, which works to protect consumer rights and improve healthcare policy, Leah is passionate about protecting people’s healthcare choices.
She noted that much of her recent work is focused on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. She is involved in various projects related to the CMS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight which oversees consumer protection and insurance compliance matters.
She also contributes to a team that creates quality measures for Medicare Advantage program and other federal programs. Her duties include verifying the accuracy of Medicare and Medicaid data, analyzing trends and monitoring performance for CMS and its stakeholders.
One of her recent assignments involves participating in a research project on Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care. As part of the initiative, she will interview patients and their caregivers to gain insight into how they manage their health care, as well as what changes they would make if given another chance.
On top of this, she is involved in several projects related to women’s reproductive rights and healthcare policy. Furthermore, she organizes community-based initiatives that educate people about maternity and newborn care.
Dillard often utilizes social media to share her advocacy work. She has a particular focus on the racial disparities that exist in healthcare delivery and how these are being addressed by the federal government.
Few years back, she was one of the first to bring up the coronavirus pandemic. She noticed how many in her profession were exaggerating their privileges when it came to asserting moral authority during a public health emergency.
She notes that these instances demonstrate the backward-looking nature of an identitarian worldview. Instead of considering ways to tackle inequality and create a more equitable society, this mindset is grounded in politics of denunciation and censure.
Karen hatred is a reflection of this kind of mentality and has led to the development of anti-vax movements and calls to police on Black people, wielding her relative privilege against those less fortunate. It’s this kind of mindset which has given rise to the so-called Karen phenomenon: an ignorant white woman in middle class circles who always needs to vent. Karens are typically middle aged white women who seem ignorant and always needing something said; she often calls the police on Black people while advocating against vaccination laws – thus using her relative privilege against those less fortunate than herself.
3. Karlos Dillard
Karlos Dillard was called out for his behavior after a video of him filming a white woman who he claims called him the N-word went viral. Dillard shared the video to his Instagram and Twitter accounts on June 22, and it has since been viewed almost 12 million times.
Dillard recounts an incident while driving in Seattle when a woman cut him off and called him the N-word. Following her for several blocks, Dillard confronted her outside her home where she started screaming and crying. According to Insider, what began as a traffic altercation quickly escalated into a racist one.
When Dillard asked why she used the N-word to him, she responded that it was an attempt to intimidate him. Additionally, she accused him of being a “white male, white f–king jerk.” After hearing these remarks, Dillard scolded her and told her to stop making him feel that way.
Dillard has previously claimed someone was racist during a Postmates delivery, posting video to his Twitter page in which an Asian restaurant worker called him the N-word after asking to see his ID before picking up an order from Postmates.
On Tuesday night, 8.9million people viewed the video. However, as of Wednesday morning his account had been suspended.
Internet investigators have been probing into Dillard’s past, raising serious doubts about his credibility. The TrueAnn Pod Twitter account recently unearthed a restraining order filed against Dillard for harassment, while Pastebin files reveal numerous criminal charges including driving without an license.
Dillard’s Twitter account has been suspended, and he has yet to respond to inquiries. On other videos he’s posted online accusing people of racism and selling t-shirts proclaiming his relationship with a black husband are examples.
Dillard is a sexist and misogynistic bully who uses his platform to demonize people, particularly women, for alleged acts of racism. He portrays himself as the victim of such injustice and claims it will cause him “hypertension, blood pressure, insomnia, back problems.” However, as someone who is not legitimate Karen by heritage, his actions cannot be condoned or sanctioned by the Karen community.
4. Leah Dillard
Social-media’s insatiable appetite for spectacles of shame has given birth to a new kind of witch hunt: where groups of ‘virtuous’ women, armed with cameras and offensive content, hunt down and film middle-class white women whom they perceive as complaining, ignorant, racist or simply plain ‘bad’.
It’s an ongoing cycle that often has devastating results, and its popularity seems to be on the rise. Many women have lost their jobs, gone into hiding, issued desperate condemnations of themselves and even sold anti-Karen t-shirts through their Instagram pages.
One of the most infamous instances of Karens wrecking lives is Amy Cooper, who was caught on video calling police on a Black man for letting his dog out of its leash in Central Park. After being exposed for her behavior and losing both her job and pet, this incident serves as an eye-opening example of how ‘Karens’ can destroy lives.
Karen was another victim of tragic circumstances who attempted to turn her life around by falsely accusing a 14-year-old boy of stealing her iPhone. This led her to physically attack the boy, something which his father quickly confirmed in an interview with The Daily Mail.
She got her ‘Karen’ on when she called the police on an innocent Black man while grocery shopping at Krogrers store in Detroit. He had stepped on a bottom shelf to reach a bottle of Gatorade, and when she noticed this she decided to call police even though there were no criminal issues involved.
These videos show that ‘Karens’ are nothing more than white women amplifying and weaponizing their privileges to exert moral authority, often at the expense of people of color. This trend has only grown and it seems to have returned with a vengeance after the initial pandemic of ‘Karens’ had subsided.
We’ve recently witnessed a white woman call the police on protestors for “honking horns” near her home and an unidentified woman break into her neighbor’s mailbox to steal a package she believed to be suspicious without proof. These incidents illustrate how privileged white women act as if they have moral authority over others while falsely portraying themselves as victims.
