A viral video from three years ago of an Ethiopian woman accusing an Asian bubble tea shop of appropriation over their restaurant name has recently reappeared on some social feeds, drawing fresh discussion over some people dubbing the woman as ‘Black Karen.’
The woman, who was identified as Alewia Tola Roba, recorded herself entering Trap Tea – The Boba Plug in Aurora, Colorado, to pick up an order. While she’s at the counter, she asks one of the employees if the shop is Black-owned, to which the worker tells her it’s not and that it is Indonesian-owned.
Roba then asks the worker if the restaurant is using Black culture to gain attention because of the name Trap Tea. The worker says no and tries to explain to Roba the meaning behind the restaurant name, but Roba begins accusing the shop of appropriating the terms “trap” and “plug” from Black culture to earn customers.
The word “trap” refers to trap music, a subgenre of hip-hop that originated in the South. It comes from the term “trap house,” which refers to a building where drugs are sold. The word “plug” is also a popular slang term that points to a person who is known to sell goods and services of interest, sometimes drugs.
When the video first populated, many people went on the offensive against Roba because of her unhinged approach to trying to expose the restaurant, especially after she called a Black customer a “coon” in the video. Now that the video has reemerged online, people are calling her a “Black Karen.”
The term ‘Karen’ garnered enormous popularity in recent years after videos were frequently recorded and shared of white women calling law enforcement, store managers, or other authorities on Black people over trivial matters as a form of weaponization.
Many rebuked the use of the term to refer to a Black woman.
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