"Cancel Culture" is actually "Consequence Culture"
In defense of "Critical Race Theory"
It seems like hardly a day goes by when conservative politicians like Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), Josh Hawley (R-Mo), or news hosts like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are not making some highly critical comments about "Critical Race Theory" or the ground-breaking NY Times "1619 Project." By so doing, these men seek to hijack victim status from the actual victims of four centuries of white supremacy and systemic racism in America.
While I strongly suspect that most or none of the above men have even read one full article from the 1619 Project, I do know that men (and women) of this ilk already know the truth about America's past—but they'd prefer to ignore it all in the name of propagating patriotism. You see, they want to praise Thomas Jefferson for his "All Men are Created Equal" line in the Declaration of Independence, but avoid discussing the fact that Jefferson owned hundreds of enslaved Blacks and fathered several children by his enslaved biracial half-sister in law, Sally Hemings. They want to praise James Madison's Constitution as a paragon of liberty, but avoid discussing that deplorable "3/5ths Clause" within it that counted enslaved Blacks as three-fifths of a whole white person for Census purposes. They take the microphone, like former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum did two weeks ago, and boldly declare that Native culture has no influence on American culture—but wish to avoid discussing how whites took Native lands by hook & crook (Treaties), and force (Trail of Tears), all the while killing Native men, women, and children indiscriminately from the 1600s to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre (and to add insult to injury, appropriating Native words to name states, cities, towns, counties, lakes, rivers, and sports mascots along the way).
They want to praise the original Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, for "freeing the slaves," but wish to avoid discussing Lincoln's racism and fervent wish to deport all Blacks to Africa or Cuba to prevent the two races from "suffering among each other."
They demand that statues and schools named for Confederate leaders like Nathan Bedford Forrest, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson remain intact to "preserve history," but wish to avoid discussing the clear facts that those men fought solely to uphold a "State's Right" to allow slavery in perpetuity, enslavement that allowed the American economy to grow exponentially BECAUSE of Black enslaved labor.
They praise FDR for his "New Deal" programs that pulled America out of the Great Depression, while wishing to ignore the fact that many of those programs inured few to no benefits for would be Black property owners and farmers who were, there's that word again, systematically excluded according to their race.
They praise the Boston Tea Party leaders who rebelled against King George and the British Parliament for being freedom fighting "Patriots," while condemning Black freedom fighters of old, like Fred Hampton, Huey Newton, and Stokely Carmichael—or today's "Black Lives Matter" leaders of anarchy and "hating whites." A dubious claim when once again considering their refusal to condemn real anarchy, like the thousands of angry (and armed) MAGA men and women that stormed the Capitol Complex last January and rained death and destruction across those hallowed halls while shouting "hang (Republican VP) Mike Pence," all because they believed former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen.
So I submit that "Critical Race Theory" is not a "rewrite" of American history as they claim; it is a telling of verifiable facts which confirm that from the Colonial Age to the present age, that people of color have been detrimentally impacted by systemic racism and white supremacy! An impact, I remind, that "colors" everything from our modern day schools, to businesses, banking, and both the legal and health care systems that are still skewed overwhelmingly against Black and Brown people. People, I remind, whose ancestors have lived, fought for, and died for country so that we, too, could have the right to demand a full accounting of historical wrongs—and redress of those wrongs—in the public square. Redress, I conclude, that is not "Cancel Culture" but "Consequence Culture," one that forces consequences for errors, omissions, and pernicious acts--past and present--in furtherance of a more equal future.
Nota Bene: The Hobbservations Newsletter is the latest vehicle of expression from the Hobbs Media Group and Chuck Hobbs, an award winning writer and two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee who has written for the NY Times, The Hill, The Christian Recorder, Tallahassee Democrat, and his pride and joy, the Hobbservation Point Blog. We sincerely thank those who have already subscribed to this newsletter and encourage you to e-mail your kin and friends—and post to social media—and encourage others to "Get the Point" in written and spoken word (podcasts) for as little as $5 per month!
Further reading:
https://www.vox.com/22384308/cancel-culture-free-speech-accountability-debate