Arizona Karen’s Husband Blames Wife’s Mental Illness For Racist Tirade
Update: June 10, 2020, 12:03 p.m. PST: Tamara Harrian became a household name when she was slapped for telling a woman to go back to Mexico. The Arizona Karen caused anger after confronting a Native American woman in a convenience store and flew into a racist tirade unprovoked.
Bob Harrian, Tamara’s husband, spoke out about the incident defending his wife.
Bob spoke with FOX 10 Phoenix about the incident that has gone viral. Bob gave a tearful interview with the FOX affiliate defending his wife and her actions.
“Karina, I don’t know what to say. I’m just so sorry,” Harrian told FOX 10. “I’m just so sorry that this happened. You never walked into that store thinking something like this was going to happen. I understand, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what she said. It was very hateful. It was — it’s indefensible, but I just have to tell you this. It’s her mental illness. A year ago, she would never done — never have even thought of that.”
Karina Rodriguez was at a convenience store when Tamara began to berate her, according to a video posted on Facebook. Tamara told Rodriguez that she needs to go back to her country. Rodriguez argued back saying that Native American people are literally from the U.S., unlike people of European descent. The confrontation escalated into Rodriguez slapping Tamara after Tamara grabbed her by the arm and tried to continue the argument.
Original: Racism is a rampant problem in the U.S. The nation is being to confront that reality after the death of George Floyd. Protests have raged in major U.S. cities against the systemic racism that has been deadly and dangerous for minorities. A white woman in Arizona is facing her own repercussions after telling a woman to go back to her country.
A white woman in Arizona was slapped after telling someone to go back to their country.
Racial tensions are boiling over across the country. Social media and smartphones are making it possible to push these examples of blatant racism. It is 2020 and people still think it is okay to verbally and physically attack people for their skin color or ethnicity.
The latest example of U.S.-grown racism comes from Phoenix, Arizona. The woman, who is being included in the growing list of problematic Karens, faced physical punishment for her offensive comments.
The woman confronted another customer telling her to go back to her country and that’s when things got heated.
The video starts with the young woman asking the older white woman if she is the manager. The white woman claims to be and begins to tell the young woman and her friend that they have to leave the store. According to comments from people who live in the area, the employees of the convenience store say she is not a manager at the store.
“Excuse me but you did say that she needs to go back to her country,” says the person recording the confrontation. “What is that?”
“This is my country,” the young woman being yelled at says. “Literally, Native Americans are from this country. White people are not from this country. Don’t serve her. Don’t serve her racist a**.”
The smack at the end of the video has people of color on Twitter celebrating.
Towards the end of the video, the white woman approaches the young woman and tells her that she is going back to Mexico. As she leaves, the spins around and claims she was touched by the young woman, and everyone in the store denies it. When she gets in the young woman’s face again, she is slapped and mumbles, “Oh my god” repeatedly as she walks out of the store.
Everyone in the store was supporting the young woman.
The man recording, identified as Greg Conn on Facebook, is heard siding with the young woman again at the end. The woman is stunned as she leaves the convenience store after being slapped for telling the woman to go back to Mexico.
“Yup. You deserved it,” the man says to the white woman as she leaves the business. “You pushed her and she slapped you. That was self-defense on her part.”
Some people on social media think that the woman got off easy with one slap.
It might be one slap, but you can hear the generations of trauma pushing her hand. Others are celebrating the young woman telling her that she is not from this country as her ancestors originated in Europe and colonized the U.S.
It shows that despite a deadly pandemic and major Black Lives Matter demonstrations, some people can’t let go of their hate.
“Oh my god,” indeed. It is 2020 and people have had enough with racism in our society. Thousands of people have maintained sustained marches across the country demanding change in policing and justice for Black and brown people killed by police for their skin color. Yet, this woman is still telling Native American people to go back to their country.
