Under the guise of First Amendment free speech and combatting racism, the cancel culture mob has torn down statues, banned books, chastised kids’ cartoons and deemed several food items bigoted. Even daytime doyenne Ellen DeGeneres has not escaped the wrath of the left. This outraged activism has done little more than create confusion around maple syrup.
If impactful social change was the ultimate goal, the Chrissy Teigens and Lebron James’ of the celebrity Twittersphere would stop their virtue signaling over things like Goya Beans and start speaking out against the atrocities of Communist China.
Enslaving the Uyghurs, spying on Americans, preventing democracy in Hong Kong, stealing intellectual property, polluting the earth, spreading COVID. Communist China does it all. Yet, they are rewarded from every angle on an international stage. They win coveted and lucrative contracts, like the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022. They are praised and supported by every alphabetic initial and acronym, from the WHO, UN and NATO. It is not that the left is blind to the evils of China, it is that the world of leftist cancel culture selectively turns a blind eye because it doesn’t fit the narrative.
The cancel culture narrative has two facets: one of fear, bullying and intimidation… if you don’t do what we say, you are a RACIST and you are CANCELLED! The other, of leftist radicalism… you will conform to our standards or you should be removed from society, a society of socialism, oppression, hypocrisy and forced silence.
Cancel culture has been so effective because, sadly, the banning bullies have won the culture war. Many individuals and companies are so afraid of being called the dreaded R word that they fearfully post the black square, make a public donation to BLM, Inc., self-cancel or apologize for existing. At least in America, unlike in a Communist China, you will not be imprisoned or killed for your ideas, just shamed. However, if the mob is allowed to continue without recourse, such dangerous repercussions are not implausible. That’s why it’s best not to cave. Never meet their demands. Never apologize. It’s never enough. If you give the mob a finger, they want a hand. If you give the hand they want the foot and they don’t stop until they take your entire body. It will never be enough.
Since nothing is good enough, the demands are getting crazier. Under pressure surrounding the death of George Floyd, LEGO removed its police officer figurines. Yes, prickly plastic cop toys are evil. Yet, actual Chinese law enforcement officials can fire tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at thousands of peaceful protestors in Hong Kong without recourse. HBO removed “Gone with the Wind'' from its movie catalogue; it’s obviously not art within a historical context. It’s a tasteless celebration of slavery. Yet, what’s ignored are videos of starving, shackled, blindfolded, religious prisoners boarding busses bound for Chinese slave labor camps.
The left has gone so far that they care more about cancelling toys and fiction movies than they do actual lives; lives who are plagued with real oppression, real slavery, real lack of freedom. The cancel movement is more about the illusion of caring about slavery than confronting actual slavery. On computer screens, they shout concerns of social justice, but in all reality, they are just cowards with keyboards.
Erin M. Elmore is an attorney, political strategist, on-air correspondent, and the Executive Director of USA Strong, a grassroots organization focused on rebuilding American greatness. Her commentary has been featured on Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Nation, CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo News, Daily Mail, and The New York Post, among others. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.