The “CAREN Act” (Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies) was introduced in July at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting by Supervisor Shamann Walton of District 10.
The ordinance is one step closer to becoming a law. On Tuesday, the board unanimously passed the act. Next week, the bill has to be voted on again by the board, and then it will be sent to Mayor London Breed to sign.
Today the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Caution Against Racial and Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act, aka CAREN Act, on first reading (1 more reading next week), 911 calls, are not customer service for people’s racism. #CARENacthttps://t.co/FWCz95gGFU
— Shamann Walton (@shamannwalton) October 20, 2020
The ordinance’s name is a reference to “Karen,” the name social media gives people making racially biased 911 calls. Perhaps the most famous “Karen” incident came this past Spring, where a white woman named Amy Cooper threatened to make a false 911 call to endanger a black man in Central Park NY, “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.” She warned.
The only real reason Karen got in trouble is because she was filmed, and the video went viral.
It’s no secret that in America, a white person can use their privilege to manipulate police and put a black person’s life in great danger. Even if she is lying through her teeth.
The ordinance is similar to the statewide AB 1550 bill introduced by California Assemblyman Rob Bonta, making it unlawful and accountable for a caller to “fabricate false racially biased emergency reports.”.
Excited to announce our partnership with Supervisor @shamannwalton ! Today, we unveiled our two-prong strategy to join forces and stop discriminatory 911 calls: #AB1550 and the #CARENAct. Using 911 as a tool for your prejudice towards marginalized communities is unjust and wrong! pic.twitter.com/NBfBaLe6x2
— Rob Bonta (@RobBontaCA) July 7, 2020
And let’s not pretend like Central Park Karen was just one isolated case. BeenVerified, a leading public data company based in New York, analyzed 150 incidents over the past 2 ½ years in which white people were caught on video calling police or security on people of color for seemingly trumped-up crimes.
Interestingly, they broke down the instances of these calls by state. California is at the top of the list, to be fair CA has by far the largest population of any state, but perhaps it has a large of amount of white privilege as well…
It should be noted that no “Karens” in these instances are actually named Karen. In BeenVerified examination of recent news reports, memes and viral videos, The have yet to find a “Karen” who is actually named Karen.
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