Cancel Culture

TYLER POTTENBURGH | FEB. 7, 2021 | OPINIONS

Among the many trends that have emerged from Generation Z and the age of social media is one which is particularly controversial, known as cancel culture. A  modern form of public shaming, cancel culture is where someone’s mistake, made recently or long ago, resurfaces and makes its way around the internet. People see this mistake and “cancel” them, which is the widespread termination of support for them. This can have a significant impact, leading to the person’s dismissal from organizations or even denial from schools and job opportunities.

Cancel culture has no mercy. If skeletons are in the closet, cancel culture will find and share them with everybody. For instance, once beloved R&B singer R. Kelly quickly became infamous after the cancelation of his personage and music all over the internet. After his sexual abuse and misconduct scandal surfaced, the hashtag “mute R. Kelly” became wildly popular. RCA records dropped him and Spotify recently stopped including  his music on public playlists. Someone known for making incredibly popular hits like “Ignition” and “I Believe I Can Fly” are is now seen as nothing more than a sexual predator, who many feel guilty about supporting.

Cases like this usually have minimal controversy. R. Kelly was guilty, therefore deserving of the public shaming he endured. However, in other cases, people feel as if cancel culture goes too far when it only involves a minor personal mistakes.

Take for example superstar comedian Kevin Hart. On Dec. 4, 2018, Hart was announced as the host for that year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Soon after, there was widespread backlash all over the Internet. From 2009 through 2011, Hart used Twitter on several occasions to make fun of the LGBT community. People lashed out at the Academy Awards for employing somebody who they thought was homophobic. After being shamed and bullied into it, the Academy asked Hart to apologize.

Initially, he wouldn’t, saying “I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first time it has come up…I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were.” Over the next few months, Hart wasn’t able to escape the situation. This situation brings up the question: should we hold people accountable for the things they’ve said in their past? If so, how many times must it resurface before their apology is accepted and the world can move on?

We, as a generation and the future of this world, need to be more open to change. It is hard to accept an apology for repeated offenses, especially when the repeat comes after an apology. However, if those of us who call out others for their mistakes cannot invite necessary changes, then how are we making the world better? We are all human and every one of us makes mistakes. It is from these mistakes, however, that we learn from, and grow.

Unfortunately, it is hard for a line to be drawn for how much public shaming someone deserves. There must be another way, because people can easily have their futures ruined over one mistake. Should we really be ruining somebody’s life based on one small sample of their character? Or can we expect them to change, if we are willing to let them?