By Arriana Williams
VALDOSTA, Ga. – “Cancel culture” has found its way back into the stoplight after recent celebrities and political officials have been called out on their antics. You don’t know what cancel culture is? Cancel culture, or call-out culture, is loosely defined as “a form of boycott in which someone who has shared a questionable or unpopular opinion, or has had behavior that is perceived to be either offensive or problematic called out on social media.”
Former President Barack Obama recently touched on this while speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit. He stated, “That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change. If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do,” according to the New York Times.
While the Former President’s statements did receive negative backlash, stating that he was acting “very boomer” during the speech at the summit, there were a lot of Millenials who agreed with him via social media.
One Twitter user stated that “cancel culture is the new age witch hunt. Only difference being is y’all don’t have the ability to burn those you dislike at the stake.”
An argument that is constantly made by those who understand cancel culture is how serious is it not taken by those who participate. It is a fickle substitute for actually doing the work. More often than not, a celebrity is canceled for statements that were uncovered from before they’ve reached a level of fame and they are then supposedly canceled. However, after some time has passed and the matter is forgotten about, they are once again held in the same spotlight of entertainment as they once were; celebrities like James Charles, Daniel Ceasar, and Sabrina Claudio are examples of this.
Even for celebrities that are completely deserving of being canceled, R.Kelly being one, people are finding themselves going back on their “mute R.Kelly” rant and more on the plight of “separate the man from the music.”
Cancel culture has moved away from its beginning stance of holding people accountable to gathering a temporary following fueled by the dislike of a statement made or an action that was done.
When asked their thoughts on cancel culture, one reader responded, “Cancel culture doesn’t really work because [it] doesn’t actually affect the social standing of people with power in society. It doesn’t really matter outside of social media but I wouldn’t call it a fad. I think it brings negative attention so people can make personal choices on what they want to consume but otherwise it’s not that impactful.”
