A video is going viral of a white woman being reprimanded by her male partner after she reportedly verbally assaulted a Black couple at a gas station.
In the video, the man yells at the woman to get in his car. The woman, who is referred to as Erin, points at the Black man, saying that he is a drug dealer. “Why?” her companion asks. “Because he’s driving a f–king Buick?”
In the original TMZ report, Nikki Harbor says “Erin” had harassed her and her boyfriend at the gas station. She asserts she recorded two videos.
In the first, the unknown Erin “Karen” is seen throwing things out of the car, and the couple’s interaction turns physical. In the second, Harbor says she was recording when the woman’s male partner left her, but then came back and ordered her into the car.
“We felt very racially profiled,” Harbor said. “I mean, we can’t even get gas?”
White women behaving badly — often videotaped policing the actions of Black people — have been widely nicknamed “Karens.” These interactions continue to raise eyebrows.
Recently, a woman came to the front door of a TikToker named Ambrosia and criticized a flag hanging from her house.
“I want to talk about this ‘Tigger’ flag,” the woman stated, according to a previous report. “I don’t like it.” She tells her that the American flag hanging next to it looks “real nice,” but the ‘Tigger’ flag makes the neighborhood look “tacky.”
She tells Ambrosia that there are “rules for the community,” which does not have a homeowners’ association.
Ambrosia said that her video was initially pulled down from TikTok and was only restored because she filed an appeal.
Per a previous report, the pejorative has had an impact on the popularity of the name “Karen.” According to The Huffington Post, new data from the Social Security Administration suggests it has fallen from grace with new parents in 2020, ranking No. 831 in popularity in the United States for female baby names last year. This is the lowest ranking the moniker has had on the list since 1932.
“It’s usually used as a pejorative for middle-aged white women,” explained Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor at Know Your Meme, an online meme encyclopedia.
“It’s almost like they have an entitlement,” he said, “where they’re kind of lording their privilege over another.”
This article features reporting from theGrio’s Ny Magee.
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