Spoiler Alert: It’s not insulin.
I can’t stop thinking about and reflecting on Sheryl Underwood and her nationally televised Sharon-Karen moment. I’m thinking about it also in the context of the high school sports announcer who attributed his racist rant to a diabetic episode. I’m thinking about it in the context of Roseanne Barr and her Ambien deflection.
Whew…where to even begin.
I’ve long said that Karens come in many varieties but the one main attribute that ties them together is their insistence on centering themselves so ass as to make every damn thing about them.
I predicted the non-apology from Sharon-Karen before she issued one. And true to form, it contained all the elements we’ve come to expect –especially this main element which gets expressed differently by all of them: “I’m not racist.”
Sheryl Underwood is every Black woman yesterday and today.
I am reminded of one of “my” Karens who, when I refused to give her “the answer” and instead told her to do the work, said this to me: “This isn’t how you help us learn. It just isn’t.”
Girl, hold on…
That’s pretty much how it went when she realized that she had gone and messed with the wrong one.
Noticeably quiet and absent pre-May 25, this particular Karen came at me because she’s now interested to learn and demanded that I teach her.
Demanded that I thank her for her interest and willingness.
Demanded that I center her feelings and make things easy for HER!
In the moment, there were
not enough slow breaths I could have breathed in,
not enough weight in a 1 to 10 count,
not enough willpower to release the tension. . .
So for all these reasons,
I applaud Sheryl Underwood for her external calm and restraint with a white woman colleague and “friend” who has participated in and benefited from racism and who demanded to be taught.
There are so many white women who need to do better. Until they do, “forced” decentering includes but is not limited to
- publicly exposing them
- holding them accountable
- subjecting them to consequences
*excerpted and adapted from Blaxhaustion, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being
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