The Complexity of Cancel Culture: Are Apologies Enough for Social Change?

Sep 19

Back in 2008, when Lil Wayne dropped Tha Carter III, someone close to me assumed his likeness for Halloween. He looked fantastic- dreads wig, sleeve tattoo shirt, bling, and…”blackface.” My guy trotted out his ensemble to the Greenwich Village Halloween parade, and was the belle of the ball. Everyone wanted a photo with him, predominantly people of color. If it dawned on anyone that his facial paint was inappropriate, we didn’t hear about it.

Many years later, I told a friend about his costume and showed her some photos. She was clutch-her-pearls shocked. I had heard that blackface was offensive, but I didn’t understand. My friend was honoring Weezy. How else was he supposed to complete the costume adequately if he couldn’t paint his face? It took reading up about minstrel shows, and the long American history of using blackface to denigrate the black community for me to fully grasp why it is so hurtful. No, the person I’m referring to isn’t former VA Governor, Ralph Northam.

I’ve often thought, what if those photos came back to bite my friend in the ass? All of this hullabaloo involving Jann Wenner really has me chewing on the concept of cancellation again, specifically, the concept of the “apology.”

ICYMI, Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, made some incendiary racist and misogynistic remarks in a recent NY Times article. His opinions resulted in his being swiftly dropped from the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which he also co-founded.

Jann Wenner has been immersed in the music industry since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. His commentary was specifically about musicians. He’s also been in publishing for decades. The guy is 77 years old. All of this is to say, he knows his statements aren’t PC. His opinions are as solidly ingrained as Excalibur at this point. No amount of societal backlash is going to uproot those beliefs. So what exactly is the point of his public apology?

When Uncle Randy spews off about those “dang illegals” at the Thanksgiving table, it’s good practice to call him out, right? Even if he accepts that he’s made a mistake (fat chance), it’s likely that the error he’s identified is that he shouldn’t have voiced his opinions in the presence of people who find them offensive. The apology he makes is to the dinner table, not to the innumerable immigrants who have been chronically marginalized.

If cousin Timmy makes a misogynistic joke he heard on the playground, it’s a teachable moment. We don’t expect an apology because he doesn’t know better. We understand that it’s our responsibility to teach Timmy a lesson. When Adidas severs its ties with Kanye, is it teaching him a lesson? If so, are they encouraging him to educate himself about why his antisemitic opinions are misguided, or simply admonishing, “Don’t ever say that out loud.”

I struggled with wanting to play Michael Jackson’s music at my wedding; the HBO documentary was that brutal. But then I assuaged my guilt with the argument that a person isn’t his art. There’s a great line in the movie Tar, "Don't be so eager to be offended. The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring conformity." Clearly pedophilia isn’t a small difference, but how much creative brilliance would we need to cleave from our remote collective history if we tossed out the art with the filthy bathwater of an artist’s personal life? That said, does anyone with a social conscience really feel comfortable further padding Kanye’s pockets when he’s traipsing around spewing hate?

There’s been annals written about cancel culture, and I don’t kid myself that I’m going to add any brilliant and ground-breaking ideas to the conversation. What I wonder is what are we truly accomplishing? It’s common to hear mockery of social justice warriors, those who are so language-militant that they tend to give liberals a bad name. It’s no longer breast-feeding, it’s chest-feeding. It’s not a walk-in closet anymore, because that’s offensive to those unable to walk.

Personally, I think it’s great. If anything I’m saying or doing is offending anyone at all, I’m happy to adopt new terminology. The problem is that it’s difficult to keep up at this point, and when vernacular has been flowing freely for generations, it’s no easy feat to remember all that we are learning day to day. It’s not difficult to see why some are resistant to all of the change. Humans strive for homeostasis, as unnatural as it is considering change is the only constant in life.

Does Jann Wenner get off the hook because he’s long in the tooth, and his views were likely planted and harvested in a time and place when those ideas were more publicly accepted? Or is he cancelled forever because you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Conversely, would my friend be exonerated for his use of blackface, considering he was young and didn’t truly understand the harm he was causing?

If what we are truly trying to accomplish by drawing public attention to offensive behavior, is to make broad social changes toward inclusivity and acceptance, then what does cancellation do to that end? And how can that mission be accomplished when a person is obviously not going to change long-established beliefs and is relying on a publicist to let the sponsors know they’re sorry? Personally, I think Janis Joplin would tell Mr. Wenner to kindly blow his apology out his ass.

As it is in life, in the realm of cancel culture, youth and flexibility are often strong assets. I would never say that an older person can’t change their stance on any issue. I’m a constant work in progress. Almost daily I learn how archaic and lame many of my views are. Ah, the joy of having teenagers. What I am saying is that maybe our approach should be custom-fit to the transgression. A little grace here, some healthy shame there. Cancelling seems to be more about the canceller than the cancellee. When people aren’t afraid to speak their minds, the need, and possibility for growth come into the light. By cancelling and silencing, people just keep all of their nastiness locked in the closet. And like the late, great MLK said so well…