White woman questions if Black woman selling hair products is dealing drugs

The TikTok clip shows Ronnie Marie Paiva, owner of Marie's Luxury Hair Extensions, making a delivery to a client in Sacramento.

A recent encounter between two women is going viral on TikTok after one of the women, who is white, asked the other, who is Black, if she is dealing drugs in a public park. 

The video, which was shared Thursday by a TikTok user named @prettii_tb, shows the Black woman — who was later identified as Ronnie Marie Paiva, owner of Marie’s Luxury Hair Extensions — making a delivery to a client on her bicycle. 

Ronnie Marie Paiva (left), delivering items to a customer on her bicycle, was confronted recently by an unnamed woman (right) who said it looked like she was dealing drugs. (TikTok)

As she approaches her customer’s waiting car, an unnamed white woman insists that she is just giving Marie “a heads up” that her drop-offs to her client “looks like a drug deal.” 

Paiva counters that if the lady has concerns, she should call a police officer, maintaining that she lives in the neighborhood. When the woman asks why she is selling her products in the park, Paiva replies, “Because I can. It’s a public park.” 

She shows the woman the items in her bike basket, a bundle of hair and other accessories. 

The unnamed woman then insists that “everyone” is talking about “the girl on the bike selling drugs.” She says she doesn’t want to call the police, but that Paiva should be aware that someone else might. The stranger again insists she is “just giving her a heads up.” 

Paiva then bikes away. 

In later videos on TikTok, Paiva — who has been in business for almost seven years — said she woke up to messages of support for keeping her calm in the midst of dealing with a “Karen,” the now-popular term Urban Dictionary defines as a “middle aged woman, typically blonde” who “makes solutions to others’ problems an inconvenience to her although she isn’t even remotely affected.”

This particular Karen encounter occurred in the Natomas neighborhood of Sacramento, California, an area that’s been ranked one of the best places to live in the state and a suburban neighborhood with multiple public-use parks. 

Former notable residents of the community include Congresswoman Karen Bass, ex-Sacramento Kings player DeMarcus Cousins and late conservative talker Rush Limbaugh.

Paiva is still selling her products to her more than 18,000 Instagram followers, and on her TikTok page — which notes that she offers pickups to customers in Oakland and Sacramento — she’s since posted an update. 

In a statement exclusive Monday to theGrio, Paiva said she that she is “grateful for the experience,” adding, “Jesus turned into a moment for His Glory.” 

She told theGrio that on the day of the incident, she didn’t think much of the encounter “because when you know who you are, where you came from, and where you’re headed … you don’t let anymore take you out of your character.” 

Of the unidenified woman, Paiva said, “I don’t know if she was a racist or not, but I know she was ignorant and nosey.” 

“But I say you ‘kill a Karen’ with success,” she continued. “I don’t want to give her any shine. I’m here to serve my clients, provide an amazing product with excellent customer service. And that’s all I have the time to focus on.” 

The entrepreneur says that she hasn’t stopped using that park for her pickups, maintaining that she hasn’t had any complaints from her other neighbors — and adding that some of them have even patronized her business. 

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