White woman who called the cops over Black people barbecuing is now a meme (2024)

A white woman who called the cops on an Oakland cookout is now a viral meme that calls attention to the everyday racism Black people face in America. The memes show that no matter what ordinary activities Black people are doing as they mind their own business, this white woman will always be one step behind them, phoning the police to tell them,“I don’t feel safe.”

For example, here she is phoning it in during President Barack Obama‘s inauguration.

The Oakland barbecue racist lady memes are why I love Twitter. pic.twitter.com/4TDEYztmS8
— Allen Wallace (@allenwallace) May 14, 2018

And she definitely has a problem with Rosa Parks taking “her” seat at the front of the bus.

https://twitter.com/Squatty386/status/995691585932324864

While the Root has dubbed this meme the “Oakland Cookout Meme,” Know Your Meme has more broadly called it “White Woman Calling The Cops.” The white woman in question comes from an April 29 incident during which a white woman in Oakland called the police on Black men who were barbecuing in a public park.

The woman was so strongly moved to call the police because the barbecuers were using charcoal in an area restricting the use of charcoal grills. “It causes extra money from our city to do things when children get injured because of improperly disposed coals,” the woman told people recording her when asked why she cared so much.

According to theSan Francisco Chronicle, the men ultimatelywere in a non-charcoal grilling area, but one of the men barbecuing said he had seen groups using charcoal in that same area just the weekend prior. Police ultimately came to the park and took down statements from both parties, but didn’t arrest anyone nor issue citations.

Regardless of where the men were stationed, however, calling up emergency first responders is certainlynot how to go about people grilling in the park. Nearly two weeks after the incident, the video of the white woman calling the cops went viral, showcasing another instance of white people phoning it in to the cops when they see Black people simply living—such as sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks, leaving a California Airbnb, or sleeping in their Yale dormitory. You know, things white people do every day and no one thinks twice.

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In response to this woman’s misplaced righteousness, members of Oakland’s Black community gathered at the same park last weekend for a massive cookout, showing that there’s no way a self-deputized barbecue monitor was going to scare away people who have a right to be there.

How Black Oakland responds to a white lady calling the cops on Black folks BBQing… pic.twitter.com/kRdJpnmXQ2
— Abbas (@Abbas_Muntaqim) May 11, 2018

https://twitter.com/QuartneyChante/status/995454163554328576

Samantha Grasso

Samantha Grasso is a former IRL staff writer for the Daily Dot with a reporting emphasis on immigration. Her work has appeared on AJ+, Vox, Splinter, Los Angeles Magazine, and Austin Monthly.

White woman who called the cops over Black people barbecuing is now a meme (2024)

Samantha Grasso

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