'Naptime Nancy' Video: Harvard Research Head Ridiculed For Confronting Mom, Biracial Child

The director of a Harvard research center was ridiculed on social media after a viral video showed the woman trying to order a mom and her biracial child to get away from her home. Theresa Lund — executive director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative — was addressed with phrases like “Sidewalk Susie” and "Naptime Nancy."

On Saturday, a woman named Alyson Laliberte shared a Facebook video of her interaction with Lund in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Y’all here is another Permit Patty trying to kick me off my own property because she’s having a hard time getting her kids to take a nap at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday,” Laliberte captioned the July 14 video.

She continued, “I’m outside enjoying the afternoon with my daughter when this woman came downstairs and asked me if I would move so her kids can nap. Mind you it’s midday and we weren’t even being loud at all drawing with chalk. She followed me around and harassed me trying to get my information and apartment number as if she had a right to know. When I wouldn’t tell her she proceeded to ask me if I lived in the ‘affordable apartments’ of the building for Cambridge residents or if I lived in one of the Harvard owned apartments (which is all the same building anyways).”

Lund later apologized for the incident on her personal Facebook page, saying she was "terribly sorry" about the exchange. "What I said was inappropriate and wrong," Lund wrote. "I should not have addressed her daughter and there was no reason for me to ask what type of unit she lives in."

"I am accountable for my actions and ask for their forgiveness for a moment in which I fell far short of my values and what I expect of myself," she added. "I love our community and am committed [sic] engaging in dialogue and action about how to make it more welcoming and pleasant for us to live in together."

The phrases used for Lund where a play on "Permit Patty" and "Pool Patrol Paula" — terms coined in reference to some white Americans who recently become infamous for calling the police to report alleged problems with black people.

Last month, a woman reporting a child to police in San Francisco for selling water outside her home was dubbed "Permit Patty." Alison Ettel was criticized for calling the cops over 8-year-old Jordan Austin, who was selling water without an official licence.

Later, Ettel defended herself saying there was "no racial component" in her choice to call the police, saying her decision was "stress related" because of noise being made by Jordan on the street.

"I completely regret that I handled that so poorly," she said, claiming that she only "pretended" to phone the police. "I should have never confronted her. That was a mistake, a complete mistake."