Reason First: Is She a Murderous ‘Karen’? -Susan Smith

The lies ran rampant throughout this case. Susan Smith blamed a phantom black man (surprise, surprise) for hijacking her burgundy Mazda protegé. This did not happen. In fact, she was responsible for strapping her two infant and toddler sons to their carseats and pushed her vehicle into the John D. Long Lake. How much of a murderous Karen is she?

The story unfolded with an affair with the boss’ son at her job at Conso Products in Union, South Carolina. Emotion-driven, this case turned deadly after Smith found out that 27-year-old Tom Findlay wanted her but nothing to do with her children.

Ideas brewed in Smith’s head. She wanted the romantic relationship so bad that she sacrificed her own two boys over some left over penis.

And of course she had to make a black man out to be the scapegoat. In the south, this would mean that the “innocent white woman” would be caped for in relation to her offspring. In time, however, her story fell to pieces. The authorities investigated for nine days before she confessed on November 3, 1994.

How did this certified Karen who recklessly and dishonestly placed blame on an African-American man when all the while she drowned her own sons to be with some wealthy man who at least told her up front that he didn’t want to associate with her?

Still locked up behind bars, with at least four years remaining (as of this writing) on a 30-year-sentence, Smith has engaged in sexual encounters with at least two correctional officers.

This is the real Karen. While people toss around the term willy-nilly it should be reserved for actual women who lie and tell law enforcement that she has been wronged by a man of color, especially.

And of course, she subscribes to the unknown and the unknowable. She claims that her faith has kept her grounded. She puts her belief system ahead of her life, allegedly. When the weight of the world falls in someone, their faith often becomes a part of their lives. The irrationality continues in their minds.

She continues to hold onto the idea that she became a “nervous wreck” once she realized what she had done. Not a black man dreamt up from the recesses of her mind. Not that. Her ideas showed clear destruction. Her lust for men contributed to the double murder of her own children.

This real life Karen brought about a manhunt for a ghost black man. She knew that if she were to make the case for an African-American man in the United States below the Mason-Dixon line, racism would come to life. Fortunately, the lies blew up in her face and led to her time behind bars.

Smith said that her “lowest point [was] when [she] allowed [her] children to go down the ramp into the water without [her]....”

To this day, two portraits hang on the walls of her cell of her two sons. Instead of blaming a black man for her horrific actions, Smith should have controlled her erotic desires. She should have paid more attention to her life with her boys rather than the unthinking act of murdering them. Only ideas remained in the mind of Smith. She felt that she could somehow rid herself of her responsibilities and go after the romantic intrigue of an heir to a fortune. Worse than Abraham, Smith selflessly and self-destructively killed the ones who came from her womb.

As far as the term Karen goes, let it it be reserved for absolute monsters like Smith. She wanted to direct attention to a spectre of a black man when she knew that she had performed the vicious deeds.

As she said that she “...wanted to end her life so bad…” she declared to the world her guilt was based on complete and utter irrationalism. Without the presence of reason, only disaster can result. And that’s what happened to Susan ‘Karen’ Smith.