It is a gross understatement to say that one of the major social controversies of our day is the notion of so-called “cancel culture.”
Conservatives routinely and reflexively employ this phrase to describe the phenomenon of calling out people for their misguided words and deeds — real or perceived. They also assert, without any legal merit, that doing so is an assault on the First Amendment. Of course, “canceling” is at least socioeconomically democratic; the rise of social media allows it to affect everyone from the obscenely rich and famous to the abjectly poor and obscure (who then often become outrageously infamous).
For their part, progressives often retort that they are not canceling anyone; they are calling for accountability regarding inappropriate actions and words (spoken or written). Of course, that isn’t quite true. Some progressives are quite open about using the phrase. This includes, for example, actor Joshua Malina, who recently wrote an essay for The Atlantic magazine that was titled “Cancel Mel Gibson.” Malina cites Gibson’s anti-Semitic and anti-Black tirades as justification for why Hollywood should cease offering roles to him.
Then there are the recent calls for Dave Chappelle to be boycotted due to remarks that he has made in his comedy routines that many progressives consider to be disrespectful to the LGBTQ community. There is even an ongoing fight between employees and the senior leadership of Netflix regarding this issue. (Chappelle is the rare entertainer who, apparently, is cancel-proof.)
The Book of Ecclesiastes is correct; there is “nothing new under the sun.” I am old enough to remember when conservatives wanted to cancel Madonna for videos such as “Like a Prayer” and “Justify My Love.” I also remember when they wanted to cancel the artists formerly known as the Dixie Chicks for their public stand against the Iraq War. The difference is that Twitter and Instagram didn’t exist back then, so the vox populi had limited bandwidth. (Facebook was still known as “FaceMash” when the Dixie Chicks controversy began.)
In short, conservatives and progressives both have engaged in sustained — and sometimes coordinated — efforts to limit the ability of entertainers and others to ply their trade, or even to express themselves. To be sure, I believe that “freedom of speech” does not mean “freedom from the consequences of speech.” There are times when I very much agree with said consequences; there are other times when I very much disagree.
In any case, neither progressives nor conservatives have a monopoly on calling for people to be social outcasts. Democracy is messy.
Incidentally, the notion of virtue signaling has similar motivations, implications and hypocrisies. Conservatives argue that progressives virtue signal by, for example, proudly exclaiming that “Black Lives Matter.” Yet, Christians virtue signal by, for example, placing the symbol of a fish on bumper stickers and businesses. (And we won’t even delve into wokeness.)
We all just need to calm down, take a deep breath and reflect more deeply on what we actually value.
More importantly, we need to act like adults. Most importantly, we need to stop turning every disagreement into a political issue. We all should rally around the values of civility, respect and tolerance for reasonably opposing viewpoints. We need to think of people with whom we disagree as having a different perspective, not as our mortal enemies.
It should go without saying, but such does not apply to those who commit or encourage physical violence; those who actively discriminate against people who they perceive to be different or inferior; or those who attempt to use their social, economic or political power to try to deprive others of their God-given (or man-given) rights. We should have no patience for such people, who should very much be held accountable for their actions.
I can’t wait to see who wants to cancel me for writing this column.
Larry Smith is a community leader. Contact him at larry@leaf-llc.com.
