Posted on 11/08/2023 7:39:46 AM PST by Twotone
"Slit your wrists," strangers texted me.
"If anyone deserves prison rape, it's you," people I had never met called me to say.
"The noble thing to do is to remove yourself from society...so please kill yourself."
I'm Amy Cooper, but you probably know me as "Central Park Karen." You may not know my name, but you probably know my story—or at least the two-minute version of the story that was broadcast all over the world without key facts or context.
Everyone believed and amplified one story: That a white "Central Park Karen" called the police on an innocent Black man, a bird watcher, because of the color of his skin.
Today, I want you to read and understand the whole story. Not just what the media told you. And after you assess both sides—please tell me—was my never-ending cancel-culture sentence a just verdict?
On May 25, 2020, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when anxieties ran high, I took my dog—whom my life revolved around—for a walk.
I visited Central Park in the morning, during the hours when dogs were allowed off-leash. On my way home, I chose to take an unfamiliar path, landing in "the Ramble," a secluded area of Central Park.
Seconds later, I heard a voice boom: "Get out of here. You shouldn't be here." I saw a man who began yelling at me that my dog should be on his leash.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
“I was a female, alone in a secluded area of Central Park”
++++++++++++++++++
All she had to do was follow the rule that was clearly marked: dogs need to be leashed.
Why do so many dog owners break the rules and then go ballistic when someone asks them to please mind their animal?
What are the odds that two separate racial incidents, 1200 miles apart, both going viral - happen on the exact same day. And the two participants in one incident have the same last name.
You are a slender female & there’s a big black dude harassing you. Are you sure you feel safe just “walking away” or will he come up behind you & do something? I’m not sure I would turn my back on him. You can try it, but...
The “birdwatcher” sounds like the “Karen” here. All he had to do was mind his own business. The woman and the dog were posing no threat to him but he went out of his way to confront the woman. And apparently he does this all the time.
that too, situational awareness is not a luxury...
Thank you! I am a runner and dog owners can be idiots!
I agree!
He seemed to be a creep right from the beginning.
I am glad to read this. The punishment she has endured does seem disproportionate, given the misunderstandings on both sides that sparked the encounter.
You've never been stalked, tailgated by a rageaholic, or followed by a person bigger and stronger than you, have you?
She says she is a caregiver to one of her elderly parents. Could that be the reason why she wouldn't be able to leave New York?
Maybe his voice did boom? It does not sound like he started the conversation nicely.
In that situation, if a man nicely pointed out that my dog was supposed to be leashed in that area, I would have thanked him and leashed my dog.
However, if he started off the conversation with a loud, aggressive tone, which one might describe as booming, I might have been a little bit nervous around him myself.
Using the word booming might not be an agenda but an attempt to describe accurately what happened.
That is possible, but apparently she had to leave the country because of the harassment.
If she can’t leave NYC because she’s the caregiver for a parent, how did dhe leave the country?
Something does not compute there.
It wasn’t just her choice of words at the beginning.
It was the tone of the whole dissertation.
I can think of dozens of possibilities — there was a sibling to give care, but now they are indisposed; or the parent’s illness became acute recently, necessitating her return and PTSD from returning... we don’t know.
Since we don’t know, I’m leaning towards both of them misperceiving each other’s intentions and race emtered in, but she had to take the brunt of the upshot. Even if she is a Karen, the punishment didn’t fit the crime.
Agreed.
Regardless of the rules, dogs should never be off leash. If a person were coming towards you & tripped, a dog may interpret that as a hostile action & react. Having them leashed provides control & keeps your hands away from trying to control a biting dog.
When A-holes collide.
I totally agree! I like to run and when I am out on a run, dogs are my enemies!
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