John looked at this story recently, but I had a few thoughts to pitch in.  In case you missed it, this is something that can be added to the list of things that can go completely sideways when a company focuses on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) over its core operations and success. At Uber, a company already fighting plenty of issues, particularly with labor unions, they have employed a woman named Karen Bo Young Lee as the DEI chief since 2018. She holds regular DEI training seminars, usually over Zoom calls. They typically focus on the feelings of minorities and other favored demographic groups. But this year, Bo Young Lee decided to expand the program a bit, adding a seminar exploring the feelings of white American women. She named the seminar “Don’t Call Me Karen.” And as you would expect in 2023, everyone else lost their minds and she has now been suspended and will probably lose her position. (The Guardian)

Uber has suspended its head of diversity, equity and inclusion after Black and Hispanic employees complained about the workplace events she moderated exploring the experience of white American women under the title “Don’t Call Me Karen”.

The ride-hailing app has confirmed that it has asked Bo Young Lee, who has led its DEI department for five years, to take a leave of absence while the company works out “next steps”. Her suspension is the latest wave of chaos to strike the $72bn company over its corporate culture.

The complaints began flying in immediately, including from one Black female employee who said that she felt like it was a lecture. “I felt like I was being scolded for the entirety of that meeting.” Others voiced similar complaints.

One woman defined a Karen as a white woman who “is someone that has little empathy to others or is bothered by minorities.” She asked why “bad behavior” can’t be called out.

Perhaps she should take a look at the recent story of Sarah Comrie, the pregnant New York City nurse who was accused of trying to steal a CitiBike from five young Black men. She was called a Karen thousands of times all across social media and was quickly suspended from her job. Of course, she and her attorney produced the receipt for the bike rental, proving that the Black youths were lying and actually setting her up while trying to rob her. Criticizing or arguing with thugs who are attempting to accost or rob you is completely appropriate behavior even if they are Black. And it does not make you a Karen.

There has definitely been some Karenish behavior on display from time to time, such as the “OG Karen” who called the police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park in 2020. (Though even then there were questions about the man’s actions related to her dog.) But the entire Karen phenomenon has gotten out of hand and it’s now being applied to virtually any white woman who has any sort of interaction with a Black person.

With that in mind, perhaps a truly inclusive DEI program should include this topic, don’t you think? After all, regardless of skin color, the ironically named Karen Bo Young Lee is a woman and the people the seminar covered are also women. Weren’t we supposed to be believing and standing up for “all women?” Wasn’t that a thing at one point not that long ago?

Apparently not, because the rules have changed yet again. The feelings of women must be respected and people need training in how to relate to them properly, but only if they’re not white. You white ladies are no longer a member of the club, sorry. You’re just not “diverse” enough to deserve equity or inclusion anymore. So you all may as well just go purchase your MAGA hats now.