Whether it’s in Costco, a local soccer game or in this case the United States and Mexico border, one thing is for sure: Karens are everywhere. This weekend, a hysterical woman attacked a group of peaceful, Indigenous American protesters as they challenged the continuing construction of Trump’s border wall on their people’s land.
Crazy Karen
Over the weekend, a group from Defend Kumeyaay Land gathered outside the border between the US and Mexico in Southern California. They stood in the path of construction crews and peacefully protested the development of Trump’s border wall. It was there that they were greeted by a hostile woman who repeatedly assaulted them, physically and verbally. She attempted to rip masks off, slap people in the face and knock over tents where the protesters were sleeping. Happening on multiple occasions throughout the weekend, all of the interactions were captured on video by the group.
In response to the hitting and screaming of the righteous Karen, the group of Peaceful Protesters took the high road and remained non-violent and de-escalated the situation with their words, songs and prayers.
Peaceful Response
On Instagram, the group followed up their post of the videos and explained, “Tonight we experienced a violent woman who tried to tear our tents down. We de escalated and stayed non violent. We used songs and prayers again just like how we non violently stop desecration to the land.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFTqB38jJo9/
The protesters exhibited great restraint in the face of such an angry and malicious person. It could not have been easy (I mean, you saw the videos!) Their resiliency and bravery impressed thousands of different people online. Many took to their social media platforms to praise the protesters for their handling of the intense altercation.
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@cultofdusty1
racist Karen attacking native American protestors. Props for their restraint – I don't think I would have been as kind:https://t.co/GW61gN843X— Anti-Chud (@anti_chud) September 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/FitzcairnHugh61/status/1307831085653344257?s=20
It’s clear that the group showed undeniable strength and restraint dealing with this woman. And while it would be nice to think this immediately worked on the Karen and she apologized and went on her way, we all know that Karens don’t go down so easily. Just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse, the woman was shown in the video (second page of the Instagram post) outwardly mocking the rituals and prayers of the Kumeyaay people. The Karen danced around, attempting to mimic them, which was incredibly offensive and disrespectful to say the least.
Can you say you’re really surprised by her actions? We’re not! She clearly shows she is ignorant within the first few seconds of the video (did you also catch she never wore a mask throughout any of the videos?) But, the point isn’t about the Karen, although that is what made this video viral. No, the discussion should really be around about why the protests were happening in the first place. So, while we will never know why that Karen was there, instead of making wild speculations (my guess is that she’s a confused time traveler), let’s focus our attention now on the peaceful protesters, since we know more about them and their mission.
Kumeyaay People
The peaceful protesters, members of the Kumeyaay people, were there because the Trump administration is continuing the construction of the infamous border wall. However, as the group explains on their Instagram page, the land does not belong to the United States government. It’s their people’s land.
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The Kumeyaay people are a tribe of Indigenous Americans, living at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California, precisely where parts of Donald Trump’s wall is being built. They wrote on their “defense against the wall” Instagram, “Tonight we ask people to seriously consider to helping us. We seriously are asking for prayers. We are here for the land and indigenous sovereignty. For the further generations, we need better laws for immigrants so xenophobia won’t be an issue.”
A user on Twitter chimed in and agreed with the group, noting the following:
Karen strikes and mocks Kumeyaay for protesting border wall, which is being constructed in direct violation of several federal laws and statutes. https://t.co/TYc2qmwmpe
— Obscure Archaeologist (@calamitycowboy) September 21, 2020
It’s clear that this violent Karen isn’t the only one who is ignorant in this video. Our government continues to destroy land that does not belong to them. Hopefully this video will be used as a tool to educate people all over the United States and bring awareness to the works of Indigenous peoples and the terrible history of their land being taken from them.
Overall though, the group of peaceful protesters proved to be a great example for all of us when handling a rogue Karen. What do you think? Should the group have handled the situation differently? Should that Karen be arrested? And how should our government reform to better respect land that is not ours?
Video Producer: Henry Kueppers
