{"id":35626,"date":"2024-02-08T11:40:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T19:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35626"},"modified":"2024-02-08T14:37:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T22:37:40","slug":"is-cancel-culture-really-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/is-cancel-culture-really-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cancel Culture Really New?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early 1980s when I was an undergraduate student at a large state university, I had several unsettling experiences in which it felt unwise to express a different point of view. To publicly disagree, raise alternative perspectives, or refer to my faith was risky. In my naivete I thought university would be a respectful place to learn from others as I engaged with new subjects, social issues, and wrestle with my own responses to them. My experience was similar but not as extreme to what Rikki Schlott described as the \u201ccrisis of self-censorship\u201d on college campuses today in which students are encouraged to report on each other and educators.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Below are two examples with the caveat that I truly enjoyed both professors and the classes described below but felt confused and taken aback by the censorship and shaming to which I was subjected.<\/p>\n

During my junior year I forced myself to take two speech classes. On the first day of class the professor warned us to stay off the controversial topics of religion, politics, and abortion. The most memorable student speech I heard was the reflections of a young man\u2019s experience baking brownies with his grandma as a child complete with detailed instructions, the recipe, and samples. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I loved the speech, and my heart was warmed by what the student shared. Grandparenting is impactful and awesome! My point is that we were all silenced on topics that at least I had assumed would be integral to my academic learning. I wasn\u2019t fearful of hearing opposing opinions or original thoughts, so I was genuinely surprised that students were not given the benefit of the doubt in terms of being tolerant and capable of listening and interacting respectfully with diverse perspectives.<\/p>\n

Another course for my degree in social work required us to participate in a values clarification exercise in which we were to indicate in front of the entire class where we stood on social and moral issues. Presumably, this was so we could identify how our values might impact our future vocation as social workers in diverse settings. It ended up with a public shaming by the professor as he equated the few of us who stood for the sanctity of human life with arsonists. I could go on. My brave attempts to practice using my voice left me more anxious about doing so. I am not surprised that my alma mater ranked 188th<\/sup> on the FIRE 2022 College Free Speech Rankings list.[2]<\/a> Are these examples of early cancel culture tactics designed to conform me to certain ways of thinking and to not use my voice? Shouldn\u2019t college campuses be a safe place to express a variety of intellectual thoughts, ideas, and perspectives?<\/p>\n

I am both validated and alarmed by Rikki Schlott\u2019s more recent experience and impressed by her willingness to speak out as it appears things have only gotten worse. After reading a few of Schlott\u2019s articles, including a delightful piece about her relationship with her 84-year-old father who influenced her independent thinking, I am so impressed with this young woman, her voice, and her leadership in such a volatile profession as journalism.[3]<\/a> She reminds me of the type of leaders Annabel Beerel calls for, \u201c\u2026leaders with new levels of consciousness, courage, and compassion.\u201d[4]<\/a> I\u2019m also inspired to have a nice long conversation with my own 84-year-old dad.<\/p>\n

The Cancelling of the American Mind, <\/em>by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, added another layer to my understanding of the cultural changes that occurred during my decades-long absence from the United States. The term cancel culture only entered my vocabulary about 18-months ago, but its impact was noticed almost immediately upon my return in 2014, the year Lukianoff and Schlott identify as the beginning of the cancel culture movement. The level of judgment, slander, and disrespect for anyone with a dissenting opinion on every news channel was frankly appalling. Granted, I may be a bit sensitive after decades in countries where national and world news reports were tightly controlled, but where did news anchors like Dan Rather go? Was he a victim of cancellation when he was fired from CBS in 2006?[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lukianoff and Schlott formulated a definition of cancel culture as, \u201cthe uptick beginning around 2014, and accelerating in 2017 and after, of campaigns to get people fired, disinvited, deplatformed, or otherwise punished for speech that is – or would be – protected by First Amendment standards and the climate of fear and conformity that has resulted from this uptick.\u201d[6]<\/a> They clarified that being cancelled also includes \u201cattempted cancellations.\u201d[7]<\/a> Referring to the explosion of cancel culture during the Covid-19 pandemic and the missed opportunity to encourage robust debate, Lukianoff and Schlott offer an antidote to any epistemic crisis, \u201cepistemic humility\u201d which means acknowledging we might be wrong and not cancelling those who think or believe differently.[8]<\/a> It also might look like renewing our belief that, \u201cEveryone is entitled to their own opinion.\u201d[9]<\/a> If we can calm down enough to humbly listen to one another might we actually come up with better responses and solutions? Are we capable of creating a Free Speech Culture where respect, debate, and open dialogue can be modeled for future generations?<\/p>\n

The truth is free speech isn\u2019t free. At least not for everyone. Using our voice to advocate an unpopular perspective can be costly. Free speech can be done with humility. And, just my opinion, I think cancel culture has been around for a long time. Jesus was cancelled and yet His truth and teaching continue to spread. Free speech and standing up for what is right takes courage. Maybe we need better strategies for supporting one another and managing the consequences of free speech without silencing anyone in the process.<\/p>\n

P.S. Thank you to all the moms, dads, and grandparents who faithfully challenge their offspring to think, stand up for themselves and what they believe, and share their stories!<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/07\/31\/freedom-of-speech-is-endangered-at-colleges-so-im-fighting-back\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, The Canceling of the American Mind, <\/em>(New York NY: Simon & Schuster, 2023), 328.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/11\/27\/how-my-84-year-old-dad-helped-me-see-the-folly-of-gen-z\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories <\/em>(London, UK: Routledge, 2021), x.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/tv\/news\/dan-rather-documentary-cbs-firing-family-tribeca-1235634679\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, The canceling of the American Mind,<\/em> 31.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 315.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 91.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 18.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additional reference:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.tribecafilm.com\/films\/rather-2023<\/a><\/p>\n

The documentary is not yet streaming<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early 1980s when I was an undergraduate student at a large state university, I had several unsettling experiences in which it felt unwise to express a different point of view. To publicly disagree, raise alternative perspectives, or refer to my faith was risky. In my naivete I thought university would be a respectful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,3005,1535],"class_list":["post-35626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-schlott","tag-lukianoff","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35626"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35646,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35626\/revisions\/35646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}