A woman in the Los Angeles area is torn after finding out she is 7% Karen on her DNA Test. Julia, the millennial white woman, says the results of her Ancestry test shook her to her core.
“I have pledged to avoid racism,” Julia says while standing in line at a Starbucks. “I do not accept the behavior of my ancestors.” Julia claims she has at least two Latinx friends and has only yelled at a delivery boy once in her life.
“He forgot the soy sauce,” Julia explains.
Julia’s family is also worried about the repercussions of the test results.
“I mean, I don’t even know what to think,” comments Henry, her husband. “You know, before the test results I didn’t think twice about why Julia took two parking spaces outside Target. Now I’m wondering, should I wear a mask, is it contagious?” Henry runs a sporting good store that has seen a recent decline in sales because of “so many immigrants moving into our neighborhood.”
“I keep telling mom not to cut her hair short and add highlights,” adds Rachel, Julia’s daughter. “I mean, with those genetic diseases, you might as well push back for as long as you can.”
Julia’s mother however, was unfazed. “She probably got part of that Karen background from me. We’re proud Americans. Just because you have some Karen in you doesn’t mean you can’t succeed.” Julia’s mother happily watered plants as she sprayed any children that came too close to her lawn.
There is a silver lining in the horizon, however. Julia admits that it has been easier to get people’s attention. “When I scream, the cops come,” Julia says. “And I accidentally choked my dog while I yelled at a Black man not to come near me, and everyone forgave me.”
We also got in touch with one of Julia’s mentioned Latinx friends.
“La verdad, yo no le conozco a esa se ñora,” says Alberto, the local paletero. “A veces me compra un par de Big Dippers, y a veces me grita que mis campanitas le molestan.”
“Adios, Roberto!” Julia waves with a smile as Alberto hurries away with his cart.
In view of her DNA test results, Julia promises to try to do better, but she does admit that she battles every day with urges to call the manager, anyone’s manager, and to interrupt her BIPOC friends.
