Christian Cooper Launches Nat Geo Birdwatching Show, to Everyone’s Delight
Cooper, who was thrown into the spotlight after a white woman called the cops on him for birding in Central Park, is flying high these days.
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I believe the saying goes, the best revenge is a life well lived. This is true. But in the case of birding enthusiastic Christian Cooper, a Black man who was launched into the national spotlight after an encounter with a racist woman in Central Park, we could get more specific: The best revenge is hosting a show on National Geographic centered on the activity said racist woman called the cops on you for.
In May 2020, Cooper asked a stranger, a white woman named Amy Cooper (no relation) to leash her dog while walking through Central Park’s Ramble, a spot famous for its birds. Amy, threatened by Christian’s eminently reasonable request, called the cops to let them know that an “African American man” was harassing her. The encounter, which Christian filmed and shared on social media, was a textbook example of white woman fragility and entitlement, and the sort of racism that has led to Black people being killed by police—or civilian vigilantes—throughout American history.