CW: Racism, mention of violence towards black individuals
Karen Formee, a white woman, attracted ire last week after calling the police four separate times in non-emergency situations involving black individuals.
Critics were quick to label her a racist, prompting a tearful response from Formee in which she declared, “I don’t have a racist bone in my body.”
Formee, who most recently called the police on a seven-year-old for selling lemonade, explained “I was just looking out for the safety of consumers.”
Her comments come days after police killed a black man named George Floyd in Minneapolis. “Look, I love black people, I mean I wish my own kids were mixed; wouldn’t that just be so cute? I might have overreacted in the first situation and then overreacted again and then overreacted again and then overreacted again, but that doesn’t mean I support white supremacy! I ask to speak to the manager whether they’re black, white, blue, or purple”
She later took to Twitter to respond to the protests in Minneapolis, writing “why can’t we all just live, laugh, love?”
When directly asked in an interview whether she planned to contact her local representatives and police in regards to the killing and other abuses enumerated by BIPOC, she replied “Oh, well…um. I’m not really sure I have the time. I’m actually pretty busy, having just been fired from my job and all. I’m actually going through a lot of emotional distress right now. My favorite Target in Minneapolis was recently damaged during protests! I’m trying to take it one day at a time and give myself the space to grieve. Besides, I’m sure Minneapolis police are on top of investigating this whole death thing.”
–Sophia Franco
If you are white, don’t be like Karen Formee. Here are some resources listing actions you can take to demand justice for George Floyd and all BIPOC:
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
Here are a few Minnesota-based organizations that work to support BIPOC in MN and beyond:
https://minnesotafreedomfund.org
https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/issues/racial-justice
thecarletonsalt.com 