Cancel culture is the phenomenon of promoting the “canceling” of people, brands and even shows and movies due to what some consider to be offensive or problematic remarks or ideologies. It’s not really new. Throughout history societies have attacked and punished those that they think fall outside perceived social norms. Social norms are the informal rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Over the last few years, the social-media trend has made “cancel culture” practices much more prominant. Things like placing celebrities, companies and media alike under a microscope of political correctness. The proponents of “CC” hunt down posts, old videos, old interviews, old friendships, acquaintances and publish them particularly on Twitter. These people’s lives are often never the same. They lose their jobs, lose positions offered in universities, rescind new offers of employment, civil service jobs, artists who are boycotted, entire corporations boycotted because a CEO made a donation to the “immoral” political party! Most recently Robert Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods made some complimentary comments about President Trump. It took NO TIME before there was a boycott of all Goya products! You can view the video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A52cTd5_lFE
Utter insanity. What happened to freedom of speech?? Goya Foods is the largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the United States. Founded in 1936 by Don Prudencio Unanue and his wife Carolina, both from Spain, the Goya story is as much about the importance of family as it is about achieving the American dream. But Twitter came alive and here are some of the boycott messages that went out. The fact that Unanue would associate with Trump was sufficient to anger some of the “so called” Hispanic leaders like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who suggested in a tweet that she’d boycott Goya. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro acknowledged Goya’s “staple” status in Latino households, but he encouraged people to reconsider buying Goya after Unanue’s White House appearance. This was his “tweet”: “Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway Is any of this making you “concerned” yet??
Brands are under fire as well. Thing’s like Uncle Ben’s Rice, Aunt Jemima Pancakes, Eskimo Pies and even one of my favorite cookbooks “Thug Kitchen” was renamed “Bad Manners”…..are you kidding me?? I wonder if Grandma’s Molasses is even safe anymore! Harper’s Magazine recently had an open letter detailing how serious all of this has become.
https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/
It took no time before there was this article that essentially says “Cancel Culture” doesn’t exist and that the “elite journalists should find something better to write about”. If you read the article it literally OOZES lies and misinformation and goes on and on trying to dissuade the reader that they should “pay no attention” to the alarm bells that some of us hear as loss of freedom of speech. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cancel-culture-harpers-jk-rowling-scam_n_5f0887b4c5b67a80bc06c95e
Last July, 2019 a boycott of Home Depot was called for since the Chairman had contributed to President Trump’s campaign. (btw…please notice the use of “President” as I was taught to “respect the office”). What a horrible man! But did you ever hear that Bernie Marcus was RETIRED 15 years ago and plans on giving 80-90% of his wealth to Charity….a number somewhere near 5 BILLION DOLLARS……of course not!! How about the damage done to employees, shareholders, suppliers? Here’s a snapshot of their stock price during the time in question:
So while greater racial sensitivity and awareness of “moral behavior” is ultimately positive we need to be INCREDIBLY careful about not returning to the “McCarthy Era” or the “thought crimes” predicted in George Orwell’s incredibly prophetic novel “1984”. The CHILLING final lines may be some of the greatest in literature of all time.
“Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”