|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Author’s note: A camera is the best weapon against racism
New York Times Bestselling author Frederick Joseph documented the Saturday night encounter with a young woman inside a Brooklyn dog park. According to Joseph, “Karen” confused Joseph’s dog with another dog that had been barking loudly. She then proceeded to tell Joseph and his fiance to “stay in [their] hood” while threatening to call the police. Joseph then pulls his phone out to record the incident and “Karen” can be seen giving the middle finger and then trying to grab the phone before walking off.
It’s a story that has played out for social media to see time and time again.
A White person chooses not to mind their own business, makes racist comments, and gets made famous all over the internet.
Camera: Best weapon against racism
Social media has really helped to not only identify these racists, but to also hold them accountable for their actions. A camera is the best weapon against racism and racists. If people are going to choose to say racist things, then we are going to do our part to make sure they are held responsible for their actions.
Commenters on Joseph’s Twitter and Instagram later identified the dog park “Karen” as Emma Sarley.
Joseph posted screenshots of her LinkedIn and Instagram to confirm her identity. After confirming her identity, Joseph tagged the CEO of Sarley’s employer, Bevy, to make them aware of the incident.
“Hey @DerekjAndersen I see that @BevyHQ is attempting to be better about race, equity, etc. Thought you should see this. I’m hoping Black colleagues and peers don’t have to face this sort of racism from Emma.”
In a subsequent tweet, Joseph said that he spoke to the CEO of Bevy and that Sarley’s employment had been terminated.
Bevy’s CEO, Derek Anderson, tweeted saying: “Spoke with @FredTJoseph about his and his fiancé’s horrific experience from last night. So sorry to them for what has happened. No one should treat people the way we witnessed. This is extremely troubling. I will update you shortly.”
As if they haven’t learned already, but any time a “Karen” chooses to be a racist, the internet will do their part to ensure they are held responsible for their actions.
If anyone is a Karen it’s clearly Frederick. He took a small disagreement, blew it out of proportion, stalked her online, then spoke with her manager.. ahem CEO.. to get her fired. Grow up. Not everyone gets along and not everyone is racist.
She faced consequences. If she hadn’t behaved in a racist way, she could not have been held accountable for her racism. Some people will make excuses for racists. Usually those people are racist also.
William B, it is too bad it has had to come to this. However, check your history and you will see that the USA has had numerous opportunities to creat a country that actually lives up to the ideals they tout. However, each time they have failed. Therefore, this is currently one of the ways forward that will affect the change that Black Citizens of this country have been asking for since they were dragged to these shores to build this country into the richest nation the world has ever seen.
I 100% support the publicity on this ignorance, and let shame do its work. But people getting fired for something like this is way over the top and quite frankly, none of their job’s business, unless it’s something that’s been happening on the job too. There’s holding people accountable and then there’s over-reacting. God forbid everyone’s boss gets contacted when we do something stupid. Imagine getting fired because you cheated on your spouse, had road-rage, stole something from a store, cheated on your taxes, etc. Call out racism, but don’t turn them into a martyr.
Yes, it is sad that people are fired from their jobs. It does seem to be an over-reaction. However, I think Lynching is also an over-reaction. Thoughts?