by Kara Machowski
We’ve all seen the viral videos that have circulated around YouTube this past year of white women who consistently call the police on a person of color because they are disrupting their lives. From #CornerstoreCaroline, who phoned police because a black boy brushed her backside with his backpack while walking by, to #PoolPatrolPaula, a white woman who attacked a young black boy at the neighborhood pool while she called him the “N” word and ultimately ended up physically abusing the young boy. People who have watched the videos and find themselves either laughing at the outrageousness of the situation or becoming understandably upset at the seriously racist behavior.
In this season of Shameless, episode 10, Emmy Rossum’s character, Fiona, comes face to face with a very racist and privileged white woman. Liam, Fiona’s younger brother who is black, decides to try and earn money for bills by selling lemonade that he and a friend made using discarded lemons. A very Gallagher-esque move for the young protégé and it seems to be a bit of success as he is reaping in money from thirsty South Side Chicagoan's who are sweating out the summer. Liam and his friend are posted on the side walk, most likely a teeming part of the neighborhood to garner the most customers, when a resident attempts to enter their driveway that the boys are partially blocking. The woman is visibly upset and eventually calls the cops on the two black boys saying that the boys are ‘loud’, ‘getting water on her car’ and ‘operating without a permit’. The police show up and ask the boys to relocate and ultimately throw the kids twenty bucks to buy a permit.
Fiona, has been on a bender since discovering that her boyfriend was still married with children, discovers that her brother has been morally wronged and becomes enraged. She gathers up a crowd to throw a block party in front of the racist lady’s home where the woman comes outside, yelling that she’s called the cops (again), phone in tow to videotape what she thinks is abusive behavior. Fiona ends up giving a very Frank-Gallagher-like speech, which puts the woman in her place, but ends up jumping over her fence to land a bad-ass punch in the woman’s face the exact same time that the police show up. We all gave a worried cheer for Fiona in that moment, doing what we all wish we could do to people who act privileged and racist; punch them in the damn face. Unfortunately, there are serious consequences that stop us from actually carrying out that wish, as Fiona does land herself in a legal battle for assaulting the racist woman, but hey, that’s what television’s for. Check out the clip below for a satisfactory feeling of getting even.
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