Evolving Beyond Errors: Lessons from Cancel Culture
Do you have a personal story – or a story of someone close to you who has been on the edge of being canceled? Anecdotally in my world it seems everyone can either tell of a moment they were on the verge of being accused of something or know someone who was accused of something that at the minimum sent their life into a tailspin or at the worst cost them their job and potentially their livelihood.
I was in line at the convenience store on campus where I teach part-time waiting to pay for a drink and the person at the front of the line was arguing with the clerk about a parking pass or something the clerk had no authority over aside from scanning the barcode and collecting payment.
There were about five people in line and I said “Hey, can we pay for our stuff and you pick up your complaint after he (the clerk) has cleared the line?” The person turned and told me to stop being racist. It was the oddest thing. The clerk started taking our orders anyway but it was so odd to have this threat against me.
A friend of mine has been a teacher for 30 plus years. Having had several meetings with the father of a child in her class that is continuously disruptive and sometimes violent, they suggested a deeper dive into these issues and suggested involving the school board social worker and perhaps psychologist. The father’s response was that the teacher is actually the problem because the teacher is racist and the father had been keeping a record of their racism.
My father was a mechanic for our city’s public transportation company. Despite Toronto being multicultural to the point where 55.7% of the city is a visible minority[1], all the mechanics in his shop were white. Clearly in a city where more than half of the residents are visible minorities, at least one mechanic would represent that.
And this is the rub in _The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution_,[2] the text is full of case studies and stories of cancel culture – even true stories of situations that are perfectly reasonable that resulted in a person’s job being terminated and their reputation squashed – it is a snapshot of Western culture’s struggle with equity, fairness and diversity.
Cancel culture is not new. During the 1950s actors, educators and scientists were shut out of their fields because either publicly or through suggestion, Senator Joseph McCarthy accused them of being a communist or communist sympathizer[3]. Comparing McCarthyism to Cancel Culture draws eerie parallels. Groups from both eras feature often unsubstantiated claims, loose connections to the “shameful act,” and can lead to public shaming, loss of employment and worse.
Today, these accusations are amplified by happening in the digital age where accusations can spread across the globe quickly and it is easier to find a tribe who will share your outrage. Thinking of Kevin Hart who had been tapped to host the 91st Academy Awards in 2019. Hart had made homophobic jokes between 2009 and 2011[4], had apologized and suggested that in the eight to ten years since he had told them he had grown as an individual, understood the hurt and was no longer making those types of jokes.
However, part of what makes “canceling” is the permanence. Despite the apology, despite the proof of growth, there is no room for forgiveness or grace. You must have lived a life free of error – or at least free of errors that rise to the level of such gross insult that meet one of the areas _The Canceling of the American Mind _highlights as particularly egregious.
The essence of “The Canceling of the American Mind” underscores a fundamental challenge to our societal fabric: the stark absence of forgiveness and the refusal to acknowledge personal growth.
This phenomenon not only stifles our collective capacity for understanding but also enforces a rigid, unforgiving standard of perfection that no human can truly meet. In this era where digital platforms magnify every misstep, the book serves as a crucial reminder of the need for a culture that values redemption, encourages open dialogue, and recognizes the inherent potential for change within us all.
As we navigate the complexities of modern discourse, it’s imperative to champion these principles, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives can coexist and where individuals are not defined by their past but by their willingness to learn, evolve, and contribute positively to society.
[1] [https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8ff2-2021-Census-Backgrounder-Immigration-Ethnoracial-Mobility-Migration-Religion-FINAL1.1-corrected.pdf](https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8ff2-2021-Census-Backgrounder-Immigration-Ethnoracial-Mobility-Migration-Religion-FINAL1.1-corrected.pdf)
[2] Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, The Canceling of the American Mind (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2023), 464
[3] [https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/2021/03/cancel-culture-and-mccarthyism-two-peas-in-a-pod/](https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/2021/03/cancel-culture-and-mccarthyism-two-peas-in-a-pod/)
[4] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-hart-homophobic-jokes_n_5c096ad3e4b04046345a2694
* I published this on Feb 12/24, but set the date as Feb 8/24 to keep it with the other posts on this book.
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