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Official apology statement from Amy Cooper (aka Central Park Karen, the woman who called the cops and lied about an African-American man threatening her when he'd merely told her to comply with the leash law). It’s bad. We’ll tell you why. A thread. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-from-amy-cooper-on-central-park-incident-301065492.html
Her earlier apologies to CNN were also bad; she focused on her life being ruined and did not acknowledge that she'd lied to the police OR that she'd first pointedly threatened him w/"I’m going to tell [the police] that there is an African-American man threatening my life."
Her 1st apology (to CNN) claimed she was previously unaware of her privilege. Yeah, no. She CLEARLY used his race as a weapon against him when she threatened him with it, then said to the 911 dispatcher: “there is a man, an African-American…threatening me and my dog."
The 2nd apology refers to "misassumptions and insensitive statements about race” — SO minimizing! A white woman lying to cops about the actions of a Black man has terrible history in this country. She didn’t merely cause “pain” — they could have caused him to be MURDERED.
Observe, too, the tortured syntax of that phrase and of “I would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris.” What is the subject of the sentence? Where is SHE? What is “the type of incident”?
Oh, does she mean CALLING THE COPS TO LIE ABOUT HER LIFE BEING IN DANGER FROM A BLACK MAN? That "type of incident"? How is this owning her actions? & the phrase “that occurred”? This wasn’t an act of nature, a hurricane or tornado. Those “occur.” She DID a thing.
Amy needs an action verb. Amy needs to be the subject of the sentence. Amy needs to take responsibility for the full horror of what she did. The phrase “with Chris,” too, puts them on equal footing in a wild external circumstance that just shockingly happened to them both.
"I hope that a few mortifying seconds” — again, minimizing; again, focusing on HER experience rather than his. Her mortification is his possible murder. & "in a lifetime of 40 years” further minimizes her actions.
Asking that calling the cops and lying about him threatening her and her dog is a HUGELY unfair request. He's supposed to agree that her behavior toward him "will not define me in his eyes”??
Also unfair: Her public request that he "accept my sincere apology.” SorryWatch maintains that forgiveness is a gift; civilized adults do not ask for a gift. We do not get to put the person we wronged on the spot by saying “Now give me a present!” like a Veruca Salt.
You do what you can do to *earn* forgiveness, but you do not put the onus on the other person by ASKING them for it. And especially not publicly. (See Alison Roman.)
BONUS! She was not “acting inappropriately” by having her dog off-leash. She was breaking the law.
Sum: This is a terrible apology bc she's putting the onus on him to forgive & still insisting she's a good, not racist person. The phrasing of "I would never have imagined I would be involved in the type of incident" is wildly torturous in the evasion of personal responsibility.
She also makes sure to mention that he offered her dog treats as an attempt to say “see, he did a bad thing too!” As if they’re equivalent. SorryWatch tends to believe that people should be forgiven if they do the hard work of repentance...but Amy Cooper is nowhere close.
