Time To Squelch Cancel Culture

Let me step outside the topic of law enforcement issues this column to take on a topic that is emotionally charged and fraught with peril for those who decide to swim in the deep end of the pool of race in America. I often advise people to stay on the shallow end unless they have the vocabulary necessary to thrive, meaning to talk without saying something clumsy in these discussions unless it occurs outside a circle of a few close friends. In this day and age, even personal communications can end up going viral if comments are posted, say for instance, on social media.

Issues of race are explosive. They are even more exacerbated when added to a discussion about politics. We live in a society today where generations of young people grew up being taught to be offended at the slightest transgression. Even looking at a person who feels a part of an aggrieved group can get one in trouble as someone might feel threatened.

There was a time in this country, and it wasn’t that long ago, when one of the most cherished American rights was that one could express themselves freely no matter how abhorrent or offensive it might make somebody feel. There was a time when you could count on the American Civil Liberties Union to stand at the ready to protect the First Amendment even those from controversial groups and individuals. In 1977, the ACLU defended in court the right of the Aryan Nation to march through the streets of Skokie Illinois, as disgusting as people thought that group was. The First Amendment was that cherished. They also once upon a time protected fiercely a person’s Second Amendment right, but I digress.

There have always been limits or borders on what a person could get away with in their speech, as there should be. What to do about someone who seemingly crossed the line in their public behavior or speech that wasn’t necessarily against a written law took place in the court of public opinion. Employers and businesses stayed out of it. There is this thing called the social contract. It is a set of rules that most people generally agree to live by. They are unwritten rules and the guiding principle is proper decorum in a civilized society. For instance, if you step on somebody’s foot or bump into them in a crowded area, most people generally excuse themselves for doing so. There is no law that says you have to say excuse me, but most polite people will.

Under the social contract the same thing happens if, for instance, somebody says something totally out of line. Public shaming occurs and that is usually enough to get most people to see the error of their ways and change their behavior so they would be accepted back into polite circles. If they apologized, even better. And everybody moved on. Not anymore. Not just for intentional unacceptable speech but now even for inadvertent slips of the tongue.

Remember TV star Roseanne Barr? In 2018 she had her top-rated TV show canceled after she put out a tweet referring to Obama aide Valerie Jarret as the offspring of the “Planet of the Apes” and the Muslim Brotherhood. Over the top to say the least. The reaction from most was one of, hey Roseanne, was that really necessary? We know your sarcastic style from your TV show but come on, clean it up in the public square. She apologized but that is no longer is enough. The public shaming under the social contract would have been enough in different times.

In another incident, former Trump associate David Bossie, a friend of mine by the way, was on a cable news show being interviewed alongside a black Democrat strategist. In the exchange the Dem strategist said something that Bossie found incredible. Bossie in objecting blurted out, “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind.” My initial reaction was, oh boy! That statement is an old one that was used to show

disgust. Hell, my mom used to say that to me in reaction to something I did that she did not approve of. But not today and not appropriate for a white person to say to someone black. Many older blacks today can attest to hearing that phrase uttered by a parent showing disgust. Bossie apologized after being suspended as a paid contributor to the cable news network. The public shaming of Bossie should have been enough. Not anymore. Now people want blood, especially those on the left who use cancel culture as a political weapon. They want to destroy your life. Permanently. But they only apply it against political adversaries.

Keep in mind that Bill Maher, who has a show on HBO, was interviewing a GOP congressman who invited Maher to come visit his district. Maher, trying to be funny referred to himself as a “house N-word”. It even drew laughter form the audience. I thought, oh really. Maher was not even suspended, much less fired nor had his show canceled.

Then there is Creighton University basketball coach Greg McDermott, who was addressing his basketball team in the locker room and in trying to get his team to play together told them not to leave the plantation. I mean come on now. He wasn’t making any racial reference. Only a hypersensitive person would think so. If that “triggers” something in you then it is you who needs to get a grip. As a black man I am not offended in anyway by what McDermott said. Hell, in fact I myself have used the plantation reference in TV interviews in saying that Democrat policies shackle blacks to the liberal plantation. Is it OK for me to use that figure of speech but not McDermott? Maybe a little edgy in this over-reactive racial environment but should your career end and basically any future earning potential over it? Please.

We are down the path of a journey to a very dark place in America when only a certain few get to control speech. Dissent and opposing viewpoints are healthy in a democracy. One of the main tenets in a socialist takeover is to silence the opposition. For a despot to take control, all that is necessary is to seize the guns and to control speech. This is scary.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com