2020 may finally be behind us, but racist “Karens” have followed us into 2021, despite literally no one asking.
In a video documenting the latest example of white privilege, entitlement, and racism, two white women harass a Black woman outside of a Five Below in Phoenix. This time, however, their actions have consequences, and the head Karen gets “mushed” for running her mouth.
Tensions are already high as the video begins. A woman sitting inside the car films the two white women standing in the parking lot. One of them stands in front of the vehicle, mask around her chin, making mocking gestures as the vehicle owner tells her to move. She may look younger and have longer hair than most Karens, but she still brings distinct Karen energy to the exchange.
As the driver shouts for her to move, Karen attempts to goad her into a fight. The video then cuts to show Karen’s friend (Becky? Sharon?) joining in the harassment, this time from the passenger’s side window, where the person filming is seated.
Both white women are nearly pressed up against the glass when Karen decides to pull out the N-word.
“That’s fine, n****r. That’s fine, I’ll call you what you are,” Karen says, standing on her tiptoes in an apparent attempt to spray as many of her aerosols into the vehicle as possible.
The next portion of the video is explained via voiceover.
“So the mic I was using didn’t pick this audio up, but watch, y’all. She about to get mushed,” the person filming says.
And mushed she gets. The video shows the Black woman towering over Karen in front of the car, then shoving her in the face.
It’s delightful on its own, but it’s made even better by the woman filming, who narrates the attack with a delicate “boop.”
Karen’s formerly brave friend dips the moment things start to get dicey. She can be seen in the background for the rest of the video, lurking near a white vehicle.
According to the videographer, the Black woman was telling Karen to “say the N-word one more time.” Karen, surprisingly brave considering her recent face-mushing, continued to talk back.
The video doesn’t show how the altercation ended, but it stands to reason that Karen and her cowardly friend didn’t fare well.
Twitter user @davenewworld_2 shared the video yesterday. Viewers applauded the driver for her restraint and gleefully dragged Karen and her friend. That sweet, sweet moment of fear as Karen realizes what she’s gotten herself into quickly became the favorite moment of the video.
“She saw her life pass before her eyes, I watched it,” user @denvergrl303 wrote.
“If ‘omg we just fucked up’ was a person,” @bryanwmills added.
Karen’s palpable fear was only surpassed by that of her friend, whose speedy departure amused many viewers. As one Twitter user aptly put it, “Her friend was definitely not willing to have her back.”
Let this new Karen video serve as a cautionary tale. As the woman filming succinctly put it: “This is why y’all don’t say the N-word.”
