Elizabeth McCann/Staff Writer
Cancel culture needs to be canceled.
It seems Orwellian to me that nowadays that mob mentality can discard someone’s works and merits like they never existed, all because of questionable words, actions or behaviors from their past.
I am not talking about rapists, murders or other people who repeatedly exploit the vulnerable. Right now, I am referring to individuals’ “one-time” sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic and especially racist actions, statements or behaviors.
Instead of firing the person for a racist remark, first warn the person, then allow them to apologize and educate them on their actions. Instead of harshly punishing the person, we need to look at the underlying problems and circumstances in society that led them to this behavior.
People face job termination, school expulsion, break ups, threats, and intimidation for their actions, but are not educated on why their action was wrong. These punishments build more resentment for the offender and allow their hatred to fester. Thus, the response to one-time remark can fuel a deep hatred that justifies their anger and further divides society.
In cancel culture, keyboard activists appear to have a feeling of moral superiority over others, even though real activism is about educating and uniting, not exiling.
This phenomena has always perplexed me. I cannot judge a person’s character based on one minor incident caught on film or an old tweet. These mistakes became defining moments in that person’s life, even if they’ve changed since the event took place.
On social media, people will post videos and viral threads exposing celebrities to eliminate them from pop culture. When they celebrate others getting cancelled, it seems like their objective is more as a game than to right an injustice.
Last month, a 20 year-old Saturday Night Live skit resurfaced online, showing talk show host Jimmy Fallon doing blackface as he impersonated Chris Rock. For this, he faced momentarily backlash on Twitter and has since apologized and promised to do better.
But while many celebrities get a slap on the wrist for their offense, those who are not public figures, like you and me, face worse consequences.
I am not a perfect individual… However, my mistakes do not define me and I do not forget these mistakes because I have learned and evolved from them.
Nate Panza was a Cornell football recruit whose admission was revoked when a Snapchat video surfaced of him using a racial slur on Twitter. Unlike Fallon’s circumstances, this is a defining moment in his life. Though his actions were wrong, an approach to educate him rather than cancel him would have been more fruitful.
What bothers me most about this is that some of these “cancelled” individuals are not repeated offenders. Some have done good in the world and redeemed their character since then.
Meanwhile, there are people who have been repeated offenders of the vulnerable and are not cancelled, yet there are one-time offenders who have been severely punished and canceled. This inconsistency is unjust.
To be specific, Chris Brown has a history of violence towards women from a fight with Rihanna that left the singer battered and hospitalized, to several women he has assaulted for refusing to give up their phones after attempting to record him. However, as a prominent figure in the hip hop industry, it seems as if his abuse towards women is exempt from cancel culture.
If Chris Brown is an example of patterned behavior that should be canceled but is not, then how can we cancel people who are one-time offenders and whose actions are far less damaging?
My biggest problem with cancel culture is that it does not support an individual to learn from their mistakes. Rather than “cancelling” the person, this should, instead, be an opportunity for character growth and education.
I am not a perfect individual. I am sure that I have offended many people who I have come across in my life. However, my mistakes do not define me and I do not forget these mistakes because I have learned and evolved from them.
In cancel culture, the inconsistencies in the execution and severe consequences for one-time offenders negate its usefulness. Instead of approaching each incident ready to cancel someone, we need to supply them with support to learn from their errors and promise to do better.
Featured image by Stock Catalog on Flickr.
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