The #Karen meme has taken on new frenzy in recent weeks, with virtue enforcers roving the streets, real and virtual, intent on catching and publicly humiliating supposed race offenders. A concept that developed in part out of grievance with overbearing busybodies and social policing has devolved into an obsession with shaming, a contest whose winners are measured in likes, follows, and retweets.
Lost in the #Karen stories is the reemergence of a much older, and more problematic, species of scold: the witch-hunter. We might call this character #Liz, in honor of Elizabeth Hubbard, a key figure in the Salem witch trials, whose impassioned accusations led to many a hanging.
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