By Stacy M. Brown
Four years after a racist encounter with a so-called “Karen,” Christian Cooper has earned the ultimate payback: a Daytime Emmy Award for his passionate love of birdwatching. The racially charged incident, which took place in 2020, not only spotlighted systemic racial issues but also paved the way for Cooper’s extraordinary success.
It was a sunny day when Cooper, an avid birdwatcher, found himself in the Ramble, a secluded area of Central Park known for its rich bird population. As he enjoyed the tranquility of the natural habitat, he noticed a dog running off-leash, violating park rules designed to protect his beloved birds. Concerned, Cooper approached the dog’s owner, Amy Cooper (no relation), requesting that she leash her dog.
What followed was a disturbing display of racial bias. Amy threatened to call the police and make a false claim that “an African American man” was threatening her life. Christian captured the incident on video, which quickly went viral and brought attention to the racial tensions that ignited during the time of George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota.
“I knew something like this could happen to me, as a birder who is Black,” stated Christian Cooper, a Harvard alumnus and accomplished writer and editor.
In a twist of fate, the viral incident caught the attention of National Geographic, leading to the creation of his show, “Extraordinary Birder,” which premiered in 2023. The show has since garnered critical acclaim, culminating in Cooper winning the Daytime Emmy Award this week for Outstanding Daytime Personality.
“No matter what anybody says or does, we are not going back,” Cooper stated during his Emmy Award acceptance speech. “We will only move forward together.”
Cooper’s run-in with Amy, who has since been dubbed “Central Park Karen,” exemplifies the challenges he faced. The altercation not only led to Amy losing her job but also highlighted the dangerous misuse of racial stereotypes and the potentially life-threatening consequences for Black individuals.
Beyond his television success, Cooper has also made his mark as an author. He penned the memoir “Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World,” which delves into his life experiences and passion for birdwatching. Additionally, he drew inspiration from the Central Park incident for his graphic novel “It’s A Bird,” featured in DC Comics’ digital series “Represent!”
Cooper said he aims to address the structural barriers that prevent people of color from engaging with nature.
“Black and brown people go to the national parks far less than our proportion in the population,” Cooper stated during a 2023 interview.
He explained systemic challenges that could correlate with statistics that show people of color do not spend as much time enjoying national parks and similar spaces.
“I think there’s a lot of structural reasons for that… I think some of them are in terms of legacy problems that affect our communities and built-in barriers. For example, if you are working two or three jobs to keep a roof over your head, you’re not necessarily going to have the money to be able to send your kids to a summer camp where they can develop an appreciation for nature,” he said. ”They’re not going to have that connection to nature to want to go out to the great outdoors.”
Cooper said he hopes his show will help address the disparities found in people of color engaging with nature.
“We’ve got a lot of things to overcome, and that’s one of the things I’m hoping the show will do —get a lot of Black and brown kids thinking, ‘Oh, he’s looking at birds. He’s outdoors. Maybe I can do that.’ Because it’s so much easier to picture yourself doing it if you can see somebody who looks like you already doing it.”
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