Remembering When Karen Wasn’t an Insult

Photograph Source: The Romero Institute – CC BY-SA 3.5

Karen has become code for an angry, entitled, racist white woman. Karen is “the kind of woman who asks to speak to the manager,” and polices others’ behavior said a piece in the Atlantic.

But Karens have not always been privileged busy bodies.

In 1974, labor union activist and radiation whistleblower Karen Silkwood was killed in a suspicious car accident on her way to show a reporter a binder of evidence about safety...