Tag: Karens

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Gay Man Tells The Tale Of His Experience With ‘Skincare Karen’

L-R Lisa Alexander, Jamie Juanillo (screen capture)
Another ‘Karen’ found her time in the spotlight last week when a woman named Lisa Alexander approached Jaime Juanillo in front of his home in San Francisco. Juanillo was stenciling the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ in chalk on the retaining wall of his home in the Pacific Heights neighborhood when Ms. Alexander and her husband stopped to ask him “Is this your property?” When Juanillo inquired as to the nature of their questions, they told him “it’s private property.” “Respectfully,” Alexander says to Juanillo, “absolutely your [Black Lives Matter] signs and everything, that’s good, but this is not the way to do it. It’s private property.” “But if I did live here and it was my property, this would be absolutely fine,” Juanillo responded. “ And you don’t know if I live here or if this is my property.” With the tone of an elementary school teacher, Alexander raises her finger gently to her chin and says, “Yes, we do know. Because we know the person that does live here.” Juanillo told the couple if they believe he was committing a crime, they should call the police because “I’d be more than happy to talk to them.” The couple continued to ask Juanillo’s name and he refused to give them that information saying, “You’re the ones asking me questions.” Alexander – “But we’re not doing anything illegal.” Juanillo – “Neither am I.” Alexander – “Actually, you are.” And so, Lisa Alexander and her husband, who shared his name is Robert, walked off and called the police. https://twitter.com/jaimetoons/status/1271300265170186240 They would later be mortified when the police pulled up to the residence and it became clear the officers knew Jaime Juanillo, and he did indeed live in that home.

In fact, as Juanillo recently shared with local station KQED, he married his husband in the backyard of the home and had lived there for 18 years. Juanillo, who is of Filipino descent, told KQED,  “It’s not unusual at all for me to get a look like, ‘Do you belong here?’”  He says he held his composure during the incident because one, he knew he had a right to be there, and two, he realized the couple’s intentions were more about race and less about chalk. “Lisa and Robert knew it was chalk art, and that it was going to be washed away in the first rain,” Juanillo said. So, the issue wasn’t ‘destroying property’ but the Black Lives Message itself. “And once I knew that,” he said, “I can act how I needed to act. It was simple after that.” “They’re wrong,” he added. “And they rode that racial bias all the way off a cliff.” Juanillo says in hindsight, he’s struck by how far Alexander was taking the issue. “You can presume that she knew by calling the police that I could possibly die,” said Juanillo. “She was OK with that. Even knowing that I was just working with chalk, she’s willing to call men with guns.” Juanillo considered not posting the video of the encounter for a short while. But later in the day, while standing in his living room, he saw the couple pass by again. He knocked on the window hoping to grab their attention.  “If they had come up to my door and they had apologized, I would have accepted it, not posted this. And they could have kept their businesses and lives intact,” Juanillo told KQED. “It was all up to them: Action after action after action.” But instead of admitting they’d been wrong, Juanillo says, “The look on their faces was total mortification” as they kept walking by the home. He says he shared the video because he wanted people to see the more subtle racist conflicts that happen in an effort to help educate white people that they even exist. “If enough people see incidents like this, then maybe people will actually think about it and change their behavior,” Juanillo said. He also addressed those on social media who said he should have argued or engaged in the conflict. “Do you really think they’re going to believe me if I point out a $10 million house and say I live there?” Juanillo said. https://twitter.com/birchbox/status/1271846464268972032 In the aftermath of the viral video, Lisa Alexander was informed the beauty subscription company Birchbox severed ties with her skincare company LAFACE.  She also issued a public apology for “being disrespectful” to Juanillo stating, “I should have minded my own business.” https://twitter.com/LuzPenaABC7/status/1272258758207397888 She goes on to write, “When I watch the video I am shocked and sad that I behaved the way I did. It was disrespectful to Mr. Juanillo and I am deeply sorry for that.” Additionally, her husband, identified as Robert Larkins, was dismissed from his position at the financial firm Raymond James on Monday. https://twitter.com/RaymondJames/status/1272479037642899457
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Wisconsin: ‘Karen’ Berates Americans For Playing American Music

NowThis News shares this clip of another racist ‘Karen’ berating a Latinx family for playing music while barbecuing in a park. I have to wonder if she would have demanded ‘American music’ if the Puerto Rican family had been playing ABBA? p.s. Puerto Ricans ARE Americans. Puerto Rican music IS American music.

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‘Karen’ Calls Police On Black Man Who Asked Her To Leash Her Dog

(screen captures)
A white woman in New York City called the police and accused a black man of threatening her and her dog after he asked her to put the dog’s leash on while in Central Park. From NBC News:

Christian Cooper captured part of the exchange in a now-viral video that was posted to Twitter by his sister. The woman, later identified as Amy Cooper, is shown on video asking Cooper to stop recording her, or she was going to call the cops and tell them “there’s an African American man threatening my life.” She repeated the statement several times, each time sounding more distressed, while appearing to call 911 dispatch.

Meanwhile, Christian didn’t appear to move any closer to Amy. He tells NBC New York that he’s an avid bird watcher who was in The Ramble, a popular spot in the park for birders, around 8 a.m. Monday morning. He says he only asked Amy to put her dog on the leash in the area where it’s required to have your dog on a leash at all times.

“If the habitat is destroyed we won’t be able to go there to see the birds, to enjoy the plantings,” Christian explained on Monday night. When Amy refused, he says he offered her dog a treat and started recording the incident.

As the video begins, Amy Cooper is yanking her dog by the collar and demanding Christian Cooper to stop recording. “Please don’t come close to me,” Christian Cooper says, as she approaches. “Sir, I’m asking you to stop recording me,” Amy Cooper says. He asks her again not to come close. That’s when Amy Cooper says she’s going to call the police. “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” she says. “Please tell them whatever you like,” Christian Cooper says. The video shows Amy Cooper on her phone. “There’s a man, African American, he has a bicycle helmet,” she says. “He is recording me and threatening me and my dog.” While she’s on the phone, her dog appears to be straining and trying to get free while she tries to restrain it. “I’m being threatened by a man in the Ramble,” she continues even though it’s apparent the man isn’t threatening her. “Please send the cops immediately!” At this writing the video has been viewed over 30 million times.

Amy Cooper spoke to CNN and says that since the video was posted, her “entire life is being destroyed right now.” She told NBC New York on Monday that she admits she overreacted but she claimed that Christian was screaming, and that she felt threatened because she didn’t know what was in the dog treats. “I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone, especially to that man, his family,” she said in a phone call. “It was unacceptable and I humbly and fully apologize to everyone who’s seen that video, everyone that’s been offended…everyone who thinks of me in a lower light and I understand why they do.” “When I think about the police, I’m such a blessed person. I’ve come to realize especially today that I think of [the police] as a protection agency, and unfortunately, this has caused me to realize that there are so many people in this country that don’t have that luxury,” she continued. Her employer, investment company Franklin Templeton, placed her on administrative leave Monday night and CNN reports she was fired as of Tuesday afternoon. According to a Facebook post from Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue Inc., the dog in the video has been surrendered to the shelter. “The dog is now in our rescue’s care and he is safe and in good health,” the post said. Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted his disgust over the overt racism displayed in the video saying, “This kind of hatred has no place in our city.”

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Red Lobster Rumble As Customer Slaps Employee On Mother’s Day

It was a rumble at a Red Lobster restaurant when another ‘Karen’ lost her mind waiting for her order and slapped an employee. The term ‘Karen’ has become popular in the modern-day lexicon referring to “a strident middle-class white woman who talks down to people of color, usually in serving-staff positions.” According to the York Daily Record, a video posted to YouTube shows several employees forcibly removing the woman (who was not wearing a face mask) from the restaurant. As she attempts to push her way back inside, she loudly demands her “motherf**king money back.” With the patron outside, she continues to be unruly. The employees inside appear to be trying to find a way to solve the refund issue when suddenly the woman hauls off and slaps a female employee. And all hell breaks loose. Once the moment seems to be defused to some degree, the employees start to head back inside the building as the woman declares, “I was assaulted and have a whole crowd to see it.” The Daily Record reports Springettsbury Township Police were called at 4:26 p.m. to the location. Lt. Tony Beam told the newspaper, from what he could ascertain, “She was upset because her food wasn’t ready. She wanted her money refunded.” Beam went on to say that the customer was gone by the time officers arrived at the restaurant, but they spoke with her at a ‘nearby location.’ No charges have been filed in regard to the incident. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, patrons weren’t allowed inside the restaurant, only employees. Pick-up orders were to be brought out to customers on the sidewalk. One commenter on the YouTube page said a friend was there and all the orders were placed and pre-paid either through GrubHub or the Red Lobster app. While there was an hours-long backlog, customers who wanted a refund apparently had to make those requests using the apps as local staff wasn’t hooked up to do refunds. I’ve worked in the service industry, and it seems apparent from the unified front of the restaurant employees throughout the video, the woman must have been putting up quite stink inside. Plus, if she’s ordering Mother’s Day dinner from Red Lobster, she’s got bigger problems.

Nicole Bott, director of communications for Red Lobster, provided this statement regarding Sunday’s incident:

“We understand that we may have disappointed some of our guests on Mother’s Day when due to COVID-19 and changes to our operations and staffing, we were not able to keep up with the demand at some of our locations. We apologize that some of our guests experienced long wait times, crowds, and in some cases, did not receive their orders.

“It is always our goal to provide our guests with a great seafood experience, and unfortunately, for some guests, we did not meet that goal on Sunday. We are working to better understand what occurred and how we can prevent it occurring in the future.

“That said, we do not tolerate violence for any reason in our restaurants. We expect our team members treat our guests with respect, and we expect our guests to treat our team members with respect in return. We are grateful our Manager and the guest involved were not seriously injured in the incident on Sunday.”

(h/t JoeMyGod)