Saturday, July 11, 2020
Cancel Culture
Cancel Culture is the new and supported movement enforcing that people (usually with social influence) who have said or done horrible things in their past should be held accountable for their actions. Although this movement may seem straight forward, there are certain situations that make me question whether or not this Cancel Culture is ethical. One example of the Cancel Culture making a bad impression on me is the situation with celebrity Skai Jackson and the many teenagers she has doxxed for saying racist comments on the internet. The problem here is that the people being held accountable for their actions are people as old as me, and I know from personal experience that teenagers aren't really the best at making good decisions based off of logical reasoning. The human brain does not reach full maturity until the age of 25, so it doesn't seem right to punish them for making errors with an undeveloped brain. And if the case is that a teenager has made an error, it is best to be discussed upon privately. Releasing somebody's personal information to the public is not a good way to teach someone a lesson and might even lead to other people being affected. In other instances, people get Canceled for things they did decades ago and even with a fully mature brain, I still thing its wrong. People have been known to learn from their mistakes, and this is easiest to explain using physical mistakes, like striking out in baseball or missing the goal in soccer. People make mistakes physically just like they do mentally, and it's only time and experience that makes people better. And if there is a situation that reveals the person in question has done something beyond sympathy, I hope that Cancel Culture holds them accountable through the court of law.
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Fabian, I totally agree with you. People should deserve a second chance and people who did make a mistake in the past should have this discussed privately. Of course racist remarks are extremely bad, but I don't think teenagers should be doxxed. If their information is made public, chances are they won't get a good job when they grow up just because of one mistake. If they are not making those same mistakes right now, obviously they've learned from their past. It is not right to judge someone from their past. We should judge someone on how they are now. It is almost like saying that Jordan is not a good basketball player because he did not make the varsity team at first. People can change and others must learn to forgive.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is sad that cancel culture chooses to ruin ones career/future primarily because of what someone says. What should be done instead would be to talk it over with them and have a civilized conversation to understand where they come from and change their mind. Simply put, people change over time. Take the Kevin Hart instance for example: people dug up homophobic tweets from him 10 years ago and made it so he was banned from hosting an award show. Has he changed? Yes, definitely. Why potentially ruin his career if he doesn't have the same stance anymore? It doesn't seem right at all. A very important value of Christianity is to forgive others as the Lord as already done to you.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have seen from cancel culture, there have been both good and bad outcomes stemming from it. I do agree with you that the public shaming, along with revealing private information-especially of minors- is something that should not be applauded for. There have been many instances on the internet, where those who have done/said something controversial, have had their addresses leaked. Personally, I think this is extreme because it could pose a threat to that person if someone decided to use their information to get back at them. I do not side with this part of cancel culture, because ultimately no resolution can be found from it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can not agree with your argument that teenagers should not be held accountable based off of their age and how far their brain has developed. At our age, we should have a sense of right and wrong. Yes, it is okay to make mistakes because after all we can’t help it in some instances. Yet, if we use this argument to justify our mistakes there will be no change in our character because it is just an excuse to get away with it. For example, if someone were to use a racial slur, which has been the main reason why people are being cancelled, and we were to simply say, “oh they’re young, they don’t truly understand what they’re doing by saying that,” then we would be simply brushing it off without addressing the real issue. At our age, we should be aware that using racial slurs are just not acceptable in any type of circumstance or environment. Now, I am not saying that you were implying this with your initial argument, but this is something that has been used as an excuse for years in order to gain sympathy when people knew that they were in the wrong.
Hi Fabian! I do agree with you on the topic of “cancel culture,” but to an extent. I do believe that it is very harmful. For example, if a teenager says a racial slur or something highly offensive, they are usually met with death threats and being “canceled.” I don’t think people should be sending teenagers menaces; they should instead try educating the teen on how and why what they said is wrong. We can’t inform others of their wrongdoing by threatening them; therefore we should talk and explain to them about their mistake. I also don’t believe teens should be doxxed because that’s an invasion of privacy and extremely scary for their family, if their address gets out. However, I do believe that teens should own up to their actions, even if they are young. For instance, if the person and I are the same age, yet they say something racist, then they should be held accountable. I know not to say such offensive terms, and so should they. Their peers may inform school counselors and advisors about their insulting actions, meaning a penalty will happen. It’s important that they learn from their mistakes, which includes accepting the consequences, such as a suspension from school, and move on. In conclusion, cancel culture isn’t right, but the person should have a consequence to be able to grow and learn.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with you, Fabian. Volunteers of the previous cancel culture movements are selfishly turning justice around and flipping it upside down to fit their agenda. This "guilty until proven innocent" mentality is unfair because people are quick to jump to conclusions and not considering the facts. As you stated, influential figures like Skai Jackson are "weaponizing" their communities against innocent people like the teenagers you've mentioned. People should stop and think about the facts, there were no racial connotations implied in this teenager's words. Now, I'm not trying to normalize his behavior and advocate that using slurs is normal, but like you said, this is a kid and people take time to learn and grow from their mistakes.
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ReplyDeleteMy response will cover three topics: the misinterpretation of cancel culture, the accountability of teenagers, and the reason cancel culture is necessary.
ReplyDeleteAs with all things on this Earth, there are good and bad sides of everything. Cancel culture has been overused in certain cases. Certain people have been bashed heavily for infractions they have committed in the past. There are some who were cancelled for saying things that might seem “light” to the opposition. Some would argue that this is not the pure form of cancel culture. Cancel culture, should one like it or not, is a means of destroying people’s ability to get away with hateful speech and actions. It is a way to protect those who fall victim to the heinous acts of those who are cancelled. The fierce opposition would claim that cancel culture harbors a “guilty until proven innocent” ideology, but that is not the case in most situations. Those who are cancelled have been extensively studied. Cancelled people have refused to educate themselves on matters. Those who are cancelled willingly choose to remain oblivious to the current state of the world and choose to perpetuate hate. That can no longer go unpunished.
Your argument, Fabian, that teenagers are not developed enough to make proper decisions is erroneous. Yes, the teenage mind is developing. However, if a teenager in the 21st century is unable to see the difference between right and wrong, they need to take a long session of self-reflection. No teenager can be excused for the crimes they commit because they are young. All teenagers must be held accountable for their actions. When teenagers are repeatedly allowed to slide, they become adults with the idea that they are untouchable. The idea that teenagers learn from their mistakes is plausible. That cannot happen if a teenager does not suffer the rightful consequences of their actions. If someone touches a hot stove and is not burned, they will do it again.
Cancel culture, in its intended form, is necessary. People need to realize they can be held accountable for their actions. Fabian, you said you would prefer for cancel culture to go through the court of law. That sounds reasonable, and we are raised to believe that the government will protect individuals. But, as I open my eyes and look out, I see the government committing injustice and defending the seeds of oppression. The main targets of cancel culture are those who say racist things. Those who do not experience the effects of racism would say that those people “didn’t mean it” or “are just kids.” Yes, it would be very beautiful if those who spewed hate were “just kids.” What is not realized here is that those kids who harbor racist, sexist, hateful prejudices will go on to be doctors, lawyers, social workers, police officers. These people will directly harm people because their prejudices were not demonized at a young age. Need it be reminded that victims of prejudice have been murdered, assaulted, and harassed? Moreover, I would like to highlight that those who are against people with prejudices losing jobs are the same people who wish to deny felons the right to vote. People must be held accountable and it is not right for those who do wrong to be allowed to go free.
I do agree with you about how people who are young as make very dumb mistakes. Nobody's information should be spread online putting them in danger just because of something they said. As a teenager I fully understand how dumb we can be. Although I don't think that age is always an excuse. Social media has made it easy to let people know what it right, and what is wrong. Most of these people who made the "mistake" of using a racial slur knew it was bad when they used it. Based of experience I know people who have used these horrible racial slurs and continued to use it after being taught not to. I feel as if we should educate people about what they are saying, but sometimes people don't even care when you do. I know people younger than me who can tell what is right and what is wrong, so I don't see why people our age can't do the same thing. It's very easy to be a good person. These people saying ignorant things still shouldn't be put in danger either way.
ReplyDeleteI agree that many people are wrongly harmed by cancel culture. If a young person made a mistake, shouldn't they be given an opportunity to correct it or change?. Depending on what they have done, it's just a mistake and we are all human, however they should be held accountable for their actions. Saying they were "younger then" and "that I was a different person" does not excuse what they may have done to attract the unwanted attention. What is wrong though, is unfairly judging the person when we don't know the entire story. For example, some people will say things about a person that may be taken out of context or are just downright lies to make that person look bad. I think we should let people explain themselves before jumping onto social media platforms (like Twitter) and starting a # ___isoverparty. However, if found that the person actually did something deserving of being 'canceled', I think if they showed no remorse for their actions or haven't grown and learned from their lapse of judgement, cancel culture is needed. For example, Some people who I know have used racial slurs and even after many others have told them to refrain from using it, they still continued. They showed no remorse even when others made it blatantly clear it offended them. Therefore, in my opinion it definitely depends on what "mistake" a person makes and how they handle it afterwords.
ReplyDeleteCancel Culture is just a deadly weapon used against people that the left wing portion of the political spectrum use against people who don't fit their social agenda and this is stupid because the left is an ever changing mob of politically correct individuals that doesn't care who is at the end of their hate cannon when they fire it as long as the "bigoted" person is no longer able to say it again. It is a weapon of silent death for whoever is caught in the blast and is an idiotic tool because things that where accepted a few years ago that now are unacceptable now gives ammunition for their out rage cannon to completely destroy that person's life. Now, the next thing that I'm going to say is controversial but correct, the people who say the most racist and sexist things might be wrong in what they are saying but they have every right to say what they want without repercussions because that is true free speech and no one has the right to destroy someone's life over what they say. You can be outraged at what they say but you can't do anything to them because it is their right to say whatever they want.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that cancel culture has become toxic and career threatening, but I also think that people be held accountable for their actions at ANY age. To simply state that we are still impressionable and learning does not mean that we don't already know right from wrong. Although there is still more to learn, we can't ignore that racist remarks will always have a negative outcome in real life. Whoever is negatively affected by others' racist comments has a right to feel that way. If that means that they don't want such energy or blatant racism near their work space or learning environment, they shouldn't have to work with such a person. I do also agree that some of it has gone too far, especially when they have apologized or changed their ways, but also a lot of the time I've seen people continue to behave in such a way in response to being "canceled." Many people have shown that even after being called out for their behavior, they will continue to do so as revenge for being held accountable. There are both negative and positive outcomes to it in my opinion.
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