Karen Freaked Out Because ‘Asians’ Were Coming

July 5, 2020

This incident took place at a Target in Arlington, Texas yesterday. Facebook user Jenni Hoang recorded much of the incident on her smartphone and posted it on the social media platform. These are her words.

“Yesterday evening I took my 13yo sister to Target and we had a firsthand experience of one of the so many xenophobic and racist incidents that’s been happening, targeting Asians. As my sister and I walked by, this lady rushed to pull her guy to get away from us as she said loudly “HURRY-ASIANS. MOVE-ASIANS COMING. ASIANS!” It was then that I started the video and questioned her for her comment.

Maybe I followed her a tad bit too long? Idk but at that point I wanted to expose her. I wanted her to experience the walk of shame like in the GOT scene. I wanted her to feel super uncomfortable for the racist comment she made. It is people with this mindset that are fueling anti-Asian racism and xenophobia everywhere.

When the Target manager confronted her, she said she didn’t say anything to me. Would it had been a he-said she-said scenario if a target employee didn’t also hear what she said to us? This lady had the audacity to call the police and said we were “threatening their lives”. The Target manager asked these people to leave the store and they waited outside for the cops to come.

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This incident took place at a Target in Arlington, Texas yesterday. Facebook book user Jenni Hoang recorded much of the incident on her smartphone and posted it on the social media platform. These are her words. “Yesterday evening I took my 13yo sister to Target and we had a firsthand experience of one of the so many xenophobic and racist incidents that’s been happening, targeting Asians. As my sister and I walked by, this lady rushed to pull her guy to get away from us as she said loudly “HURRY-ASIANS. MOVE-ASIANS COMING. ASIANS!” It was then that I started the video and questioned her for her comment. Maybe I followed her a tad bit too long? Idk but at that point I wanted to expose her. I wanted her to experience the walk of shame like in the GOT scene. I wanted her to feel super uncomfortable for the racist comment she made. It is people with this mindset that are fueling anti-Asian racism and xenophobia everywhere. When the Target manager confronted her, she said she didn’t say anything to me. Would it had been a he-said she-said scenario if a target employee didn’t also hear what she said to us? This lady had the audacity to call the police and said we were “threatening their lives”. The Target manager asked these people to leave the store and they waited outside for the cops to come. This cry wolf scenario ended up with the police making a formal hate incident report and Target issuing her a criminal trespass warning so she can’t come back to the store. Thank you to officer Barnes and his partner, to Connor, the Target manager and the Target staff, and to those fellow customers for supporting us and standing up for us. It was unfortunate that my 13yo sister had to experience that right when she moved to Texas. But I wanted to use that unfortunate experience to teach her that it is important to stand up for yourself and even more importantly to stand up for others when you witness racism and hate or whatever unjust. Repost via @asianswithattitudes @jackfroot

A post shared by @ asian__dawn on Jul 5, 2020 at 11:49am PDT

This cry wolf scenario ended up with the police making a formal hate incident report and Target issuing her a criminal trespass warning so she can’t come back to the store. Thank you to officer Barnes and his partner, to Connor, the Target manager and the Target staff, and to those fellow customers for supporting us and standing up for us.

It was unfortunate that my 13yo sister had to experience that right when she moved to Texas. But I wanted to use that unfortunate experience to teach her that it is important to stand up for yourself and even more importantly to stand up for others when you witness racism and hate or whatever unjust.

Karen tried it with the wrong person… @ Arlington, Texas”

Feature Images via Jenni Hoang (Facebook)