Black people have to worry about multiple pandemics. COVIDism, white supremacy-ism, racism, Trumpism, Hotepism, Bronism vs. MJism, the list goes on.
Karenism is also a pandemic that has grown, over the years, from the root of racism. We see it all the time. In parks, restaurants, neighborhoods. Black people, especially “thuggish” looking black men, are not safe from the horror of Karenism. And when Karenism unleashes its bacteria on Black America, it’s not a pretty sight. Quite horrifying, in fact, as fake tears and poor acting takes over as she reaches for her ultimate weapon, a cell phone, in order to call the cops.
The new KKK made an appearance in the form of Amy Cooper, who unlawfully did not have a leash on her ugly ass dog. Well, I honestly don’t know if the dog was ugly or not. Not really a good judge of dog attractiveness, but for the sake of this write up, the dog is ugly. Anyway, when she was instructed to put a leash on the ugly ass dog by a law abiding black citizen, she summoned her inner Karenism and the law abiding black citizen got to recording. The video shows Karenism practicing KKK and telling emergency operators that the black man was threatening her and her ugly ass dog.
And all this shit is nothing new.
Growing up as a young black male in Mississippi, a state that can, at times, be located between “Backward as Hell Boulevard” and “Hot as Hell Lane,” my extraordinary mother taught me many things. Always be kind to people, walk this earth carrying both sympathy and empathy for others, gain as much knowledge as you possibly can, ALWAYS watch your manners and watch out for white women. The “watch out for white women” lesson is a lesson I didn’t fully grasp at the time. Why watch out for white women? Do I avoid them, completely?
Maybe my momma never meant that I avoid them completely. But shit, maybe she did. I should’ve asked her before typing her life lessons up on what she refers to as, “the Facebook.” Anyway, admittedly, my mother’s “watch out for white women” warning was a lesson I nodded my head toward at the time, signaling that I understood what she meant, but I really didn’t. My momma tried to cure my naivety to no avail. I knew about black history during these taught lessons, but I didn’t KNOW the HISTORY. I was familiar with what they did to Emmett Till, but at that naively young age, I didn’t bother familiarizing myself with the why.
The history of black men being persecuted, jailed, or killed for dating or sleeping with a white woman is well documented. These horrors were committed in order to “protect the white woman and their purity.” Emmett Till, a 14 year old innocent young black male, lost his life because of the Karenism. Not realizing “Mississippi tradition,” a child from Chicago visits his Mississippi family, for the summer, and makes a harmless gesture toward a white woman. After Till’s unrecognizable body was discovered in the Tallahatchie river, Carlyon Bryant, the woman who Emmett Till made the slight gesture toward, falsely testified in court that Till had grabbed and verbally harassed her in a grocery store, stating, “I was just scared to death.” It was not until recently that Bryant would admit that Till grabbing and verbally harassing her simply was not true. This horror scene, unfortunately, did not play out at the movies but played out in real life. The Emmett Till story and many stories like it are the reason why my momma and many black mommas who raised young black boys, had their sons heed the warning of, “Watch out for white women,” or simply, watch out for Karenism.
Karenism can come in many forms; ask Rachel Dolezal, or whatever the hell her name is now-a-days. Her pretending to be black did not change the fact that she is white. So, in the drop of a dime, when it suited her, she practiced Karenism faster than I can drunkenly order my hash browns, “smothered, covered, chunked and capped” at a Waffle House at 3 in the morning.
Karenism knows exactly how to weaponize it’s”innocence” to get exactly what they want. And what they want is the continuation of white supremacy while they comfortably sit back, basking with their white male counterpart in the benefits said supremacy provides. Karenism has revealed time and time again that white women like Amy Cooper and that ugly ass dog don’t seek equality. They seek a seat at the table. A seat at the white patriarchal table.
The Karenism pandemic continues. Battles have been won and lost fighting Karenism. The Exonerated Five (Another Central Park incident) eventually won their battle against Karenism in the form of Linda Fairstein. However, ireversable damage was inflicted while on their path to victory. Botham Jean lost his battle with Karenism, who came in the form of Amber Guyger, who not only killed Botham in cold blood, but managed to get away with it with a slap on the wrist, as she weaponized her white tears to draw sympathy.
Leslie McLemore writes about a lot of different shit for Black With No Chaser. He is also the Takeaway Kang and is the father of two beautiful girls, one of which gets on every nerve he has. The other one is sweet. So, you know, balance.
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