this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024

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From racist Central Park encounter with a ‘Karen’ to Emmy-winning birdwatcher (spokesman-recorder.com)

submitted 5 days ago by ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net to c/upliftingnews@lemmy.world

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Four years after a racist encounter with a so-called “Karen,” Christian Cooper has earned the ultimate payback: a Daytime Emmy Award for his passionate love of birdwatching. The racially charged incident, which took place in 2020, not only spotlighted systemic racial issues but also paved the way for Cooper’s extraordinary success.

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[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 74 points 5 days ago (2 children)

He has action hero vibes about him.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 47 points 5 days ago

Stupid sexy birdwatcher

[–] ToyDork@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago

For some reason my first thought upon seeing this was "Reading Rainbow" and I'm not sure why because I was born in the early 90s.

[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 56 points 5 days ago (3 children)

By the way I looked up the Karen, and she's still playing the victim and claiming Christian was posing a danger to her. She cries that her life has been ruined and she's "sorry", and immediately follows that up with a sob story where she's the victim

[+] TheFonz@lemmy.world -34 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

Yea i don't know about this one.

Initially I was on the dudes side and jumped on the 'lady is a Karen' bandwagon.

Then I watched the video and I think both were kind of dicks to each other. In the video he straight up baited the dog while she was also being non chalant about the dog being off leash. Maybe it's a New Yorker thing. I just think a lot of people jumped on the Karen bandwagon really fast.

Same thing happened with the lady with the bicycle and and that time it was later rewealed the guys were actually threatening her.

All I'm saying is online mob mentality has gotten pretty insane lately and I just have turned to being more skeptical in general.

Edit: to the downvote brigade I highly recommend go watch the full video and decide for yourself

2td edit: I rewatched the video because its been a while. Apparently he was scared of the dog but he also said he lured the dog away with treats. Haha ya this guy was actively looking for a confrontation but found a racist Karen. They're both dicks

3rd edit and I'm done: I think Lemmy (and social media in general) struggles with female perspectives. Is she a narcissistic prick? Maybe. But this convo won't go beyond that since 90% of the people here are well... Male.

[–] PM_ME_YOUR_ZOD_RUNES@sh.itjust.works 36 points 5 days ago (2 children)

She kept repeating "African American man" over and over. What does that have to do with anything?? She's clearly a racist piece of shit.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 20 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Black ppl are just going to be considered in the wrong no matter what we do. We make up a tiny about of drug users yet we're more likely to be arrested for it. Make it make sense

[–] ToyDork@sh.itjust.works 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

As someone not familiar with all this, I think what's telling is that she says "sorry" yet plays the victim outright immediately afterwards. If you say "I'm sorry for what I did and I just hope he's sorry for what he did" then that says to me "I realize I screwed up, stop forgetting he screwed up too" then fine. But "I'm sorry" and then segueing into "he hurt me" without an acknowledgement of what you did? Clearly trying to deflect as much blame as possible. The worst part is she's probably doing it that way because the family lawyer advised her on what slander is. Fucking rich bitch flaunting her whiteness, and I say this as someone who looks as white as they come.

That said, a big help is that it doesn't seem like the black dude was spending his time since the incident with business as usual from what the event suggests. That's nothing on it's own, but it lends further credibility that the Karen has no ground to stand on.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago (2 children)

How exactly did he screw up? He's a wildlife photographer who told someone to leash their dog because it's a rule that protects wildlife. All of this happened because she flouted the rules and escalated the situation. If she just would've leashed her dog we wouldn't be talking about this. It's 100% on her

[+] TheFonz@lemmy.world -7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Out of curiosity: did you watch the video?

Edit: in the og full vid he tells her he will lure the dog away with treats. This is definitely an "internet jumped to conclusions" before the video was even uploaded. Don't get me wrong, she was still a pos but this guy definitely looking for a confrontation

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yes i rewatched it and read some more articles about it before I commented. Telling her he was going to lure the dog away with treats is the quickest and simpliest way to get her to leash her dog. Dogs running off and fucking with wildlife or ppl is exactly why the official park rule is all dogs must be leashed at all times. He would know considering he's a wildlife photographer. Which is why he confronted her. SHE WAS BREAKING THE RULES OF THE PARK.

The situation basically boiled down to:

"Put your dog on a leash or I'll show why that's the official rule of the park."

Oh my God you're assaulting me!

[+] TheFonz@lemmy.world -6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

simplest way to get her to leash her dog

It's also an escalation. Clearly he wasn't afraid of the dog. We all agree the dog should have been leashed but it's still an escalation of the confrontation.

I walk my dogs all the time leashed and run into other non-leashed dogs and their owners. I politely ask them to leash up because my dog has trauma and is gets very agitated around other dogs. But one thing I never do is threaten the other owner that I will "lure their dogs to me with treats". That's kinda hostile, dontcha think?

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The guy is a wildlife photographer. If he asks once and gets ignored he's going to escalate because you then become a nuance to his job. It's like someone coming to your job and overflowing all the toilets or tying up the phones. Obviously it's a reoccurring problem and being nice about it doesn't work.

And again if she just leashed her dog when he asks like she was suppose to be doing in the first place none of this would have happened. You're acting like he threw a rock at her dog

[–] TheFonz@lemmy.world -5 points 4 days ago

Oook. So we both agree he also escalated the situation? Maybe he was having a bad day or he was fed up with all the off leash dogs. I agree. I think I can totally understand. I can think of a million other ways to handle the situation. If you want him to be your hero that's fine. That lady was going to have her racist feelings revealed one way or another either way she had it coming.

[–] guillem@aussie.zone 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Clearly he wasn't afraid of the dog.

That isn't the problem about the dog being off leash, the problem is it being able to go after the wildlife.

Maybe he should have been colder headed maybe not, we could critisize his being in the right but being an asshole about it, but we cannot equate that to her being in the wrong and doubling down by consciously making use of her white privilege to make a false accusation that could have ended very badly for him. This is not a both sides situation.

[–] TheFonz@lemmy.world -1 points 4 days ago

It's hard for me to put myself in a woman's shoes, esp. one walking by herself in the park in an not very crowded area. Did she panic in the heat of the moment and actually feel threathened or was she a narcissistic prick that overreacted? Was he justified in escalating?

It seems to me he was aware that he had power over the situation and used that - even though he had reason to - threaten her dog. Which again: dog had no business being off leash. But is in justification to escalate the way he did? Lemmy seems to have made up their mind. I never both sides them. She clearly took it to an extreme end by involving the police. But again, I don't know the perspective of women in matters of close encounters such as these. And as Lemmy is like 90% men I don't think this convo will go beyond : racism bad; Karen got what she deserved.

Lemmy just seems hostile to women in general. But that's just my perspective. I could be wrong.

[–] ToyDork@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think you assumed I disagree with you on that. I was trying to explain the exact reason I think you're right: He hasn't shown any signs that it was at all his fault, she's definitely shown signs it's her fault. Simple as that. I swear, I wasn't not trying to imply there was any fault for the black guy, only that his behavior DOES suggest he's INNOCENT. Sorry, I'm a bit annoyed but I get there was some ambiguity to what I typed.

[–] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Thank you for clarifying. Sorry about the misunderstanding

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)

to the downvote brigade I highly recommend go watch the full video and decide for yourself

Yeah it's obvious she's weaponizing the police against a guy who she doesn't like, by knowingly playing directly into the "police will overreact against a black guy" card, and faking panic in her voice. This is violent escalation to a non-violent situation. The faked panic is straight up sociopathic.

People who don't leash their dogs are assholes, and his response to that was relatively tame.

I don't see how you can watch this and respond the way you have, unless you're also the type of asshole who feels entitled to walk dogs without leashes, or generally dislike black people, or are completely oblivious to the social context in which police in New York interact with black people.

[+] TheFonz@lemmy.world -7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I never said she wasn't a pos. She absolutely is a trash person. I agree. I'm not defending her to be clear. We got that out of the way.

However, it's not unusual to run into off leash dogs - depending on the park, of course - in a park like setting. Maybe he was having a bad day, but he absolutely escalated by goading her and saying that he would lure the dog with treats.

It's a weird thing to say.

I've had interactions with dog owners all my life, no one has ever said that as a threat anywhere.

Is it as harmful as calling the cops on someone? Absolutely No. Is it possible she panicked? Maybe. Is it likely she's racist? Seems so (at least to me). Hard to put yourself in the shoes of a woman by herself in a park etc.

Am I trying to equivocatu between the two? No. I'm merely pointing out there could have been other means to deescalate the situation than by threatening to feed something to her dog. This is the part that gets left out of all the clipped vids. Social media ftw.

In my book she's a piece of shit, for sure. He's not a saint to me though.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

She absolutely is a trash person. I agree. I'm not defending her to be clear.

People who let their dogs off leash in public are assholes and deserved to be confronted and shamed. She was a piece of shit well before their conversation started.

[–] TheFonz@lemmy.world -2 points 3 days ago

I don't disagree. I live in Italy and half the people keep their dog off leash. And this is in the city. When I lived in the Midwest it wasnt uncommon to see off leash dogs in parks. I'm not saying they aren't assholes, but you gotta pick your battles. Seems overkill to threathen someone's dog with treats.

[–] carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 30 points 5 days ago

I’m glad her life is ruined, fuck her

[–] eran_morad@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago

Good for homie

[–] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago

That is so cool!

NatGeo picked him up for a birdwatching show and that show won an Emmy. I'll have to watch it.