Abstract

In his seminal book “The Souls of Black Folk” published originally in 1903, scholar and activist W.E.B. Dubois powerfully declared that race and racism constitute the most important issues of the twentieth century. Well over a century later, racism remains a scourge on American society and has been named as directly contributing to health and economic racial disparities. Furthermore, racial stereotypes continue to be used as justification for discrimination, harassment, abuse, and violence directed towards African Americans. The year 2020 presented global challenges with the interface of a pandemic alongside the resurgence of visual displays of historical racism. At the same time, the term “Karen” was coined to describe White women committing racist acts against Black individuals. Looking to expand upon the gendered nature of racism, this article explores historical and contemporary manifestations of White women’s racism toward Black men. The theory of prototypes is advanced to highlight mechanisms that permit White women to engage in racist behavior with impunity. This discussion is timely considering the current spotlight on the BlackLivesMatter movement in response to the killing of Black men, Black women, and Black Trans and non-binary individuals. Such an analysis also has important clinical implications as the ethnic/racial diversity in the United States (US) is increasing,, thereby also increasing the cultural heterogeneity of those seeking counseling services. Thus, understanding gendered racism is important in the provision of psychological services to diverse individuals.