A Washington Post editor sparked controversy on social media when she said white women are lucky that Black people are “just calling them Karens” and not taking revenge on them.
Karen Attiah, who is Black, tweeted on Sunday that the “lies and tears of white women” caused the murders of Black people in America for decades.
In her tweet, she cited civil rights violations by Karens throughout history, including Emmett Till‘s murder after a white woman accused the boy of flirting with her.
Attiah then tweeted that white women were “lucky” that “we are just calling them Karens and not calling for revenge.”
After surviving the backlash from white men and women who called for her termination, Attiah dug in her heels and tweeted: “Be happy we are calling for equality. And not actual revenge.”
Conservative writer Matt Walsh tweeted: “Oh so insulting generalizations based on race and gender are okay now? Or are they only okay for you? Just trying to understand the rules.”
Another user tweeted: “You threaten white women with violence. WashPo what is your response? The world is watching and waiting.”
The hashtag #fireKarenAttiah began trending on Twitter on Monday.
Karen is a pejorative term to describe entitled white women who snitch on Black people to the police, retail managers, or company HR departments.
Them: "Karen is a racist, dehumanizing slur!"
My inbox, after challenging racism: pic.twitter.com/A9Tkzt5xkc
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 29, 2020
