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As oisdk points out, I would consider the very real threat of violence different than a celebrity getting their contract cancelled. But that’s an important poi

As oisdk points out, I would consider the very real threat of violence different than a celebrity getting their contract cancelled. But that’s an important point to also make. There’s a vast difference between a celebrity being cancelled and an average person. Cultivating popularity is a part of being a celebrity — so isn’t avoiding being cancelled a natural extension of that profession? As for regular people getting cancelled, there only seems to be a handful - particularly those that might actually have committed a crime (thinking of the Central Park Karen).

enoch_r 6y ago
Kindness Yoga shut down after their pro-BLM posts online were criticized as "performative activism" by employees: https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/29/kindness-yoga-closure-during-black-lives-matter/ https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/29/kindness-yoga-closure-dur... A woman in Kentucky was fired after 20 years from her job as a Hearing Instrument Specialist after she said she didn't support BLM in a facebook video: https://reclaimthenet.org/tabitha-morris-cancel-culture/ https://reclaimthenet.org/tabitha-morris-cancel-culture/ (Her GoFundMe was also shut down.) A high school teacher in British Columbia was fired after mentioned that he thought abortion was wrong, as an example of how personal opinions can differ from the law, in class: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-b-c-teacher-fired-for-having-the-wrong-opinion https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-b-c-tea... David Shor was fired after retweeting a black scholar's work on riots and election results: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/white-fragility-racism-racism-progressive-progressphiles-david-shor.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/white-fragility-raci... A Mexican-American utility worker was fired after someone filmed him making the "OK" hand and accused him of white supremacy: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-over-alleged-racist-gesture-says-he-was-cracking-knuckles/2347414/ https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-ove... A graphic designer was fired after the Washington Post published an article about how she wore a blackface-costume (attempting to make fun of Megyn Kelly) two years ago: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/why-did-the-washington-post-get-this-woman-fired.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/why-did-the-washingt... The operator of a campus cafe was fired after he posted an ad full of jokes, saying that he needed "a new slave (full time staff member) to boss around": https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/head-of-ontario-university-cafe-fired-over-joke-help-wanted-ad-seeking-slave/ https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/head-of-ontario-univers... The founder of a charter school was fired after he was accused of "white supremacist language" in a blog post: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/ascend-charter-school-petition/601696/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/ascend-cha... An author withdrew her book because she was mobbed for being a white author writing chapters from the perspective of a Gullah Geechee person: http://elainemarias.com/2020/06/26/bethany-c-morrow-gets-ya-novel-cancelled/ http://elainemarias.com/2020/06/26/bethany-c-morrow-gets-ya-... A Boeing exec resigned because of an article he wrote advocating against women in combat 33 years ago, when he was 29 years old: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-resignation/boeing-communications-chief-resigns-over-decades-old-article-on-women-in-combat-idUSKBN24334J https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-resignation/boeing... I can post more if you'd like. None of these people are celebrities. None of them committed a crime. Some of them have stupid opinions, some of them made stupid decisions, one of them cracked his knuckles in the wrong way. But if you don't believe that "regular people" are at risk here, well - I hope your opinions are all non-heretical and that they stay that way for the next 33 years.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
  - soundnote 6y ago
    You're suggesting the person would have to remain jobless for a long time for it to be a cancellation? We're talking people deliberately going for other people's jobs in a country where access to health care is often tied to employment.
- AlexandrB 6y ago
  Whenever I see lists like this, what's interesting to me is what's omitted. In this particular case I don't see mention of workers getting fired for trying to organize or advocate for unions[1]. I don't see the abuse that gets piled on cops who report the misdeeds of their colleagues[2]. And I don't see the NFL effectively blacklisting Colin Kaepernick for his views on police brutality. It seems like it's only "cancel culture" when it happens to people we identify with. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-protests-union-organizing-cracking-down-workers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-pr... [2] https://www.kcaw.org/2019/12/12/sitka-settles-police-whistleblower-lawsuit-for-325000/ https://www.kcaw.org/2019/12/12/sitka-settles-police-whistle...
  - rclayton 6y ago
    Great point.
  - enoch_r 6y ago
    I'll add Colin Kaepernick to the list for next time! I should also include things like the woman who lots her internship after she made a bad pro-BLM analogy: https://jonathanturley.org/2020/07/03/ima-stab-you-connecticut-woman-fired-over-pro-black-lives-matter-tiktok-video/ https://jonathanturley.org/2020/07/03/ima-stab-you-connectic... In my mind, "cancel culture" refers to the phenomenon where an outraged group (usually on social media) seeks to retaliate against someone over a (possibly inferred) political opinion. Firing union organizers or harassing whistleblowers is bad, but doesn't fit into my mental model of cancel culture.
domador 6y ago
Maybe there's only a handful of "regular people" getting cancelled... but that's enough to create a chilling effect, scaring others into compliance with convention. A good example might be Walter Palmer, the hunter who killed Cecil the lion. He's rich, but wasn't a celebrity. What he did was legal, as far as he could tell. He didn't ask for his guides to break the law for him. Yet he was doxxed, received death threats, and had his house graffitied. People showed up to protest at his business (which is unrelated to hunting) and lowered its rating on Yelp through bad reviews. (Incidentally, I disagree with the practice of hunting for sport, but think sport hunters should be stopped with new laws, rather than through mob action.)
- rclayton 6y ago
  I don’t know that we can attribute doxing or death threats to “cancel culture”. It’s certainly unjustified outrage. However, it does beg the question what exactly “being cancelled” means.
  - gpanders 6y ago
    I think you're splitting hairs here. The greater issue is unaccountable, internet mob justice, of which "cancel culture" is one part.

enoch_r 6y ago

Kindness Yoga shut down after their pro-BLM posts online were criticized as "performative activism" by employees: https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/29/kindness-yoga-closure-during-black-lives-matter/ https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/29/kindness-yoga-closure-dur... A woman in Kentucky was fired after 20 years from her job as a Hearing Instrument Specialist after she said she didn't support BLM in a facebook video: https://reclaimthenet.org/tabitha-morris-cancel-culture/ https://reclaimthenet.org/tabitha-morris-cancel-culture/ (Her GoFundMe was also shut down.) A high school teacher in British Columbia was fired after mentioned that he thought abortion was wrong, as an example of how personal opinions can differ from the law, in class: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-b-c-teacher-fired-for-having-the-wrong-opinion https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-b-c-tea... David Shor was fired after retweeting a black scholar's work on riots and election results: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/white-fragility-racism-racism-progressive-progressphiles-david-shor.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/white-fragility-raci... A Mexican-American utility worker was fired after someone filmed him making the "OK" hand and accused him of white supremacy: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-over-alleged-racist-gesture-says-he-was-cracking-knuckles/2347414/ https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-ove... A graphic designer was fired after the Washington Post published an article about how she wore a blackface-costume (attempting to make fun of Megyn Kelly) two years ago: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/why-did-the-washington-post-get-this-woman-fired.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/why-did-the-washingt... The operator of a campus cafe was fired after he posted an ad full of jokes, saying that he needed "a new slave (full time staff member) to boss around": https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/head-of-ontario-university-cafe-fired-over-joke-help-wanted-ad-seeking-slave/ https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/head-of-ontario-univers... The founder of a charter school was fired after he was accused of "white supremacist language" in a blog post: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/ascend-charter-school-petition/601696/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/ascend-cha... An author withdrew her book because she was mobbed for being a white author writing chapters from the perspective of a Gullah Geechee person: http://elainemarias.com/2020/06/26/bethany-c-morrow-gets-ya-novel-cancelled/ http://elainemarias.com/2020/06/26/bethany-c-morrow-gets-ya-... A Boeing exec resigned because of an article he wrote advocating against women in combat 33 years ago, when he was 29 years old: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-resignation/boeing-communications-chief-resigns-over-decades-old-article-on-women-in-combat-idUSKBN24334J https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-resignation/boeing... I can post more if you'd like. None of these people are celebrities. None of them committed a crime. Some of them have stupid opinions, some of them made stupid decisions, one of them cracked his knuckles in the wrong way. But if you don't believe that "regular people" are at risk here, well - I hope your opinions are all non-heretical and that they stay that way for the next 33 years.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
- soundnote 6y ago
  You're suggesting the person would have to remain jobless for a long time for it to be a cancellation? We're talking people deliberately going for other people's jobs in a country where access to health care is often tied to employment.
AlexandrB 6y ago
Whenever I see lists like this, what's interesting to me is what's omitted. In this particular case I don't see mention of workers getting fired for trying to organize or advocate for unions[1]. I don't see the abuse that gets piled on cops who report the misdeeds of their colleagues[2]. And I don't see the NFL effectively blacklisting Colin Kaepernick for his views on police brutality. It seems like it's only "cancel culture" when it happens to people we identify with. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-protests-union-organizing-cracking-down-workers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-pr... [2] https://www.kcaw.org/2019/12/12/sitka-settles-police-whistleblower-lawsuit-for-325000/ https://www.kcaw.org/2019/12/12/sitka-settles-police-whistle...
- rclayton 6y ago
  Great point.
- enoch_r 6y ago
  I'll add Colin Kaepernick to the list for next time! I should also include things like the woman who lots her internship after she made a bad pro-BLM analogy: https://jonathanturley.org/2020/07/03/ima-stab-you-connecticut-woman-fired-over-pro-black-lives-matter-tiktok-video/ https://jonathanturley.org/2020/07/03/ima-stab-you-connectic... In my mind, "cancel culture" refers to the phenomenon where an outraged group (usually on social media) seeks to retaliate against someone over a (possibly inferred) political opinion. Firing union organizers or harassing whistleblowers is bad, but doesn't fit into my mental model of cancel culture.

domador 6y ago

Maybe there's only a handful of "regular people" getting cancelled... but that's enough to create a chilling effect, scaring others into compliance with convention. A good example might be Walter Palmer, the hunter who killed Cecil the lion. He's rich, but wasn't a celebrity. What he did was legal, as far as he could tell. He didn't ask for his guides to break the law for him. Yet he was doxxed, received death threats, and had his house graffitied. People showed up to protest at his business (which is unrelated to hunting) and lowered its rating on Yelp through bad reviews. (Incidentally, I disagree with the practice of hunting for sport, but think sport hunters should be stopped with new laws, rather than through mob action.)

rclayton 6y ago
I don’t know that we can attribute doxing or death threats to “cancel culture”. It’s certainly unjustified outrage. However, it does beg the question what exactly “being cancelled” means.
- gpanders 6y ago
  I think you're splitting hairs here. The greater issue is unaccountable, internet mob justice, of which "cancel culture" is one part.