The C.A.R.E.N. Act and how it could change Discrimination in America

By Joshua Kim

St Margaret's

San Francisco supervisor, Shamann Walton introduced the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act also known as the C.A.R.E.N. Act. Caren is a play on words of the name Karen which is being utilized by social media to label people who utilize racially biased 911 calls to target communities of color. This act makes it unlawful for someone to falsely accuse another person of fabricated accusations because of racial biases. Rob Bonta a California assemblyman who proposed a similar bill tweeted: “Using 911 as a tool for your prejudice towards marginalized communities is unjust and wrong!”. 

Cases of this tactic of accusing innocent people of color for false accusations have grown in awareness recently as the “Karen” slang has taken the internet by storm. Bystanders are using social media as a platform to bring awareness to these occurrences in our nation and to inform people of the underlying racism that still exists in our nation today. In North Carolina a black woman and her children had the police called on them by a white employee for using the pool at a hotel that they were staying at. Another time, a black man was birdwatching in Central Park when a white woman had called the police on him saying that he was attacking her and her dog after he had politely asked her to put her dog on a leash as it is a Central Park policy.

While making a false police report is a felony offense in many states, it is poorly enforced and is not keeping people accountable. This idea of increasing accountability has been introduced before. In 2018, a former New York senator had a woman call 911 on him for simply campaigning. He later proposed a bill where if a 911 was deemed racially driven, fines or even jail time could be issued. Again in 2019, Michigan proposed the idea of a “Human Rights Ordinance” where racially motivated calls would result in a $500 fine. 

This Act has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of “Karens” being posted about. This could also decrease the amount of people abusing the law enforcement system to racial discriminate against people of color. With the recent death of George Floyd, this act has gained a lot of support and with that support will hopefully bring about the death of racism.