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karen attiah
Black Woman Named Karen Expertly Explains Why Saying 'Karen' Isn't A Sexist Or Racist Slur
The name "Karen" has taken on a new definition in recent years.
Rather than being a dutch derivative of the name "Katherine," this version of the name "Karen" is used to refer to insufferable White women, mostly with a short haircut and ombré dye job, who demand to speak to your manager. Or go off on racist rants or call the police on POC just living their lives.
Understandably, middle-aged white women have taken umbrage to the use of "Karen" to describe them, and have even gone as far to deem it a slur. But one woman whose name is ACTUALLY Karen is having none of it.
A Twitter user named Sarah Haider published a thread about why she believes "Karen" to be a term of abuse:
Karen is a term of abuse. Stop using it.
— Sarah Haider 🚀 (@SarahTheHaider) June 23, 2020
What is the benefit this word provides? Is it easier to spot the bad behavior of entitled white women because of it? Perhaps.
But it is also easier to flatten someone's entire being and life into a single horrible encounter.
Not worth it.
— Sarah Haider 🚀 (@SarahTheHaider) June 23, 2020
She continued on to say that she believed "Karen" was a nicer way of saying the word "c*nt" although offered nothing to back that claim up.
Haider then claimed people who are the subject of vitriol and hatred on the part of people labeled "Karen" were seeking out "witches" because people enjoy being attacked with racist rants while they're birdwatching, exercising or getting snacks in a convenience store so much that they seek out that experience.
It makes me sad how eagerly we seek out witches - acceptable targets of abuse and ridicule, avatars for "bad people" everywhere.
The second you see "glee" and "vitriol" together, you should be wary. Nothing good comes out of turning admonition into a form of amusement.
— Sarah Haider 🚀 (@SarahTheHaider) June 23, 2020
But a Black woman named Karen Attiah had a simple answer for Haider.
No it's not.
Sincerely,
A Black Karen. https://t.co/8fCIwPuKgL
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 24, 2020
Attiah, a writer with The Washington Post, proceeded to show the internet the real impact of a slur and a term of abuse.
If y'all think “Karen" is abusive ..
I've been called the N-word more times than I have cared to count.
Rape threats.
Death threats.
All for writing about racism.
So many of y'all would not last a day in the shoes as a Black woman online —-and it shows.
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 24, 2020
Anyway, I wrote about my name becoming a meme here.
“Karen" names a particular type of behavior by white women that reinforces white supremacy.
When we use it, we aren't being sexist.
We are being specific in our analysis about gender and race. https://t.co/8belloQUqn
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 24, 2020
Attiah wrote about why the name "Karen" became a meme and broke down exactly what the use of the name means.
"As a millennial Black Karen, and a child of immigrants, I find the brouhaha hilarious and twisted. 'Karen' is not and will never be an oppressive slur. Anyone who disagrees can take it up with my manag … — I mean, with history."
"In America, White women are often believed and protected at all costs, even at the expense of Black lives. In 1955, it was a White woman who falsely accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of whistling at her in Mississippi, which led to him being brutally beaten and killed."
"Fast-forward to recent years and we still learn about Black people being arrested or assaulted because a White woman called the police unnecessarily. Becky and Karen memes and jokes should be understood in this context, part of a long tradition to use humor to try to cope with the realities of White privilege and anti-Blackness."
Some people in the comments still didn't understand or just completely ignored Attiah's message...
Whether or not it's abusive is not the point. It's an insult to women. Let's stop using it, let's stop fighting about it, and let's all focus on the real enemy.
— Jen A. (@henbaby14) June 24, 2020
...but were quickly corrected by others.
Sooooooo you're going to center yourself and your feelings and your idea of “the real enemy" all while ignoring that as peak Karen behavior?
— Toast Enthusiast (@xidama) June 24, 2020
Karen as a descriptor for a white woman who acts to perpetuate white supremacy has been around less than 2 years. 'The real enemy' has been around much longer ... and is much, much deadlier. And yet most of y'all haven't bothered to focus on or fight it yet. These are connected.
— Kim McLarin (@KimMcLarin) June 24, 2020
Its not an insult to women, only racist, abusive and from what i've seen ignorant white women!
As I am none of those i am not offended at all, those who are offended by the term and are not called Karen by birth should really examine exactly why they are offended
— Pam Meehan 🌈 (@mufcfan) June 24, 2020
Attiah also pointed out "Dehumanizing slurs don't gain their cruel power overnight." The slurs we know to be slurs in everyday life become such because they are used in conjunction with brutal and de-humanizing acts of violence or oppression and are part of the fabric of a history that normalizes that oppression and cruelty.
"Calling the Karen meme the new n-word or asserting that it is a sexist slur only trivializes actual violence and discrimination that destroy lives and communities."
"And to invent oppression when none is happening to you? Well, as a Karen, I just have to say — that is peak Karen behavior."
There were plenty of people who concurred with Attiah.
Agreed - A Brown Karen.
— Karen Datangel 🌉 (@DatKaren) June 24, 2020
Co-signed.
Best regards,
An Asian Karen.
— Asian Karen (@AsianKaren206) June 24, 2020
This WW agrees. I don't know how Black Americans have managed to take the abuse, disrespect, murder, torture & constant physical & verbal battery w/o burning the whole country down. Seriously. White people explode if they have to wear a mask in the grocery store.
— kkoth (@kkoth) June 24, 2020
I agree.
Sincerely,
A White Karen who lives in the suburbs.
— karen lynne peterson (@drkarenpeterson) June 24, 2020
I love the Karen meme and think it's quite apt.
— FreeSpeechFuneral (@freespchfuneral) June 24, 2020
"Karen" has been showing up more frequently in videos of White women who commit racist macro- and micro-aggressions and are caught on video.
Calling “Karen" abusive is peak Karen
— JustSomeChick (@Just_SomeChick) June 24, 2020
:) (When I got to the part about it being synonymous with the c-word, that was that. No it is not. My goodness.)
— (((bj))) (@chipotlepepper) June 24, 2020
For those people also saying "Karen" is equivalent to the "n-word for White women" it's pretty telling when you can say the name "Karen" but not the other word. Almost like they're not the same thing at all.
As Attiah said, these claims are peak "Karen."