Over the last couple of months, we have seen an influx in "Racist Karens"...

And let me tell you, it hasn't been pretty.

Now, "Karens" used to be known for demanding the presence of a manager in order to complain...

And, once upon a time, they were merely an innocent and hilarious joke.

But, in more recent times...

We've seen an unusual influx of nastier, more sinister Karens dominating our headlines.

We can't help but notice that it is often middle-aged white women at the center of many of these racist scandals...

In May, a white woman was publically ridiculed after she was filmed calling the cops on a black man.

The incident happened in Central Park...

And the woman, who has now been identified as Amy Cooper, was seen calling the police on a black man who had asked her to put her dog on a leash. Thankfully, Amy's actions came back to bite her, and she was fired from her job in the days after the video went viral.

And, as well as being fired, Amy was christened as a "Karen"...

Thus kickstarting a new trend of labeling racist white women.

It stuck fast...

Because, just weeks after that incident, another racist Karen reared its ugly head.

A middle-aged white woman in Phoenix was filmed targeting a Hispanic shopper in her local supermarket...

She unleashed a barrage of hateful and racist abuse at the shopper, and even told her to "go back to Mexico."

The clip was truly shocking...

But people reveled in glee when she was spectacularly slapped across the face.

And then, the first-ever male Karen emerged...

And he was just as terrifying as you could imagine.

A man was filmed last month calling the cops (shock) on a pair of peaceful protestors...

And he could be heard telling them that he "fought for this country" and demanding their arrest. How very Karen of him.

Then there was the "hammer-smash" Karen.

A Twitter user shared a shocking video that showed one of his neighbors in L.A vandalizing his car with a hammer in a brutal and racially-motivated attack.

Do you get the gist?

If any bigoted white woman expresses racially-motivated hate or abuse, she is labeled as a "Karen."

Seems pretty straight forward, right?

Well, some black people have now called for an end to the nickname, and it's all for one important reason.

Many people are growing concerned that the nickname is making light of a serious situation.

As stated earlier, the term "Karen" has always been used in a light-hearted and joking manner... And racism is neither light-hearted nor a joke.

The whole "Karen" nickname is now considered more harmful than funny...

As it somehow makes light of the disgusting racism ensued by these women.

These people should be called by their real names...

Not by a silly gimmick used to mock women demanding a store manager.

This Twitter user shared a graphic to help explain their reasoning further...

It is total madness that "white supremacist" has been replaced with a cute nickname.

It's fine to still use the word for generic bossy white women...

Let's just stop using it to sugar-coat racists, okay?

What do you think?

Are these people simply being dramatic? Or should we put this "harmful" nickname to bed, once and for all?