Cancel Culture Hits Dilbert’s Scott Adams

Is the left and the media making Adams’ point? Perhaps newspaper editors should look in a mirror.

The biggest news over the weekend wasn’t about the war in Ukraine (reminder: calling Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine a “war” will land you in jail there), or even Britian’s woke Prince Harry Windsor calling America’s First Amendment “bonkers.” Although, that’s pretty close to our big story.

No, the real news was the dying newspaper industry canceling Scott Adam’s highly popular comic strip, Dilbert, from its pages. I could have stopped at “canceling Scott Adams,” because that’s what they really did.

“Coffee with Scott Adams” is a daily stream on his locals.com channel, where he shares his interesting thoughts and analyses on multiple issues. He’s the author of several books unrelated to his comic strip, including a favorite of mine, Loserthink. He grabbed a third rail by noting a survey that actually said 26% of black people disagree with the statement, “it’s okay to be white,” calling them a “hate group.” He was citing a recent Ramusssen Reports poll. Only 42% of Blacks “strongly agree” that it’s “okay to be white,” while 11 percent “somewhat agree.” Here’s how Adams interpreted that as reported by the Washington Post:

“If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people … that’s a hate group,” Adams said on his live-streaming YouTube show. “I don’t want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people … because there is no fixing this.”

Adams, 65, also blamed Black people for not “focusing on education” during the show and said, “I’m also really sick of seeing video after video of Black Americans beating up non-Black citizens.”

The crosstabs linger behind a paywall, but I found just as interesting the fact that just 51 percent of Democrats agree strongly (18 percent “somewhat agree”) that “it’s okay to be white.” Same is true for people reporting incomes greater than $200,000 per year.

Most across the demographic spectrum agreed that “black people can be racist, too.”

Adams, for his part, wasted no time apologizing for his statements, and even found support from interesting places.

By canceling the highly-popular Dilbert comic strip, newspapers, many of whom are stuggling to maintain or grow subscribers, are cutting their nose off to spite their face. As a former newspaper editor from the 1970s, I remembered never to mess with “Dear Abby,” the obituaries, and especially the comics.

Adams is continuing his comic strip under a subscription model, and through his locals.com channel, which I have long subscribed and will continue to. Adams’ strips delve comedically into workplace cultures and rarely into politics.

I have a few reactions and questions to the this latest tempest in a teapot. First, what prompted Rasmussen Reports (to which I also subscribe) to ask those questions? They may be interesting, but are they the best barometers for gauging race relations, or proferring advice? They seem needlessly provocative.

Second, I don’t agree with Adams that people should avoid others on the basis of race. That’s the “advice” that made me cringe. But if you think it’s not okay to be (insert racial group here), is it fair to consider part of you a “hate group?” It is a racial trope to say “it’s okay to be White?”

Third, he’s owed the benefit of the doubt until everyone reads or listens to his comments in context before reacting (or overreacting. Perhaps more importantly, newspaper editors ought to tell us what they think makes his comments “racist” while ignoring the people who think being a member of a particular race is “not okay.“ After all, it’s not hard to find stories about how white people are evil, privileged, should take a knee or remain silent solely because of their race. None of them are being “canceled.”

Fourth, while perfectly okay to disagree with Adams, it is foolish, dangerous, and hypocritical for the First Amendment-protected media to “cancel” him over this particular view. Perhaps worse are smears being leveled against Adams for past views, which is part of the “cancel culture” playbook for canceling those who dare veer away from media groupthink. “The once widely celebrated Adams, who has been entertaining extreme-right ideologies and conspiracy theories for several years, was upset Wednesday by a Rasmussen poll that found a thin majority of Black Americans agreed with the statement “It’s okay to be White” — a phrase sometimes associated with racist memes,” wrote the Washington Post in a news story, not an opinion piece.

Last, perhaps newspaper editors clutching their pearls as they race to cancel Adams ought to look in a mirror. Here’s a sample of anti-white opeds run in newspapers from 2019, courtesy of John Kline and his Twitter feed (@JohnKline99).

Newspapers are free to carry whatever comics they want. They’re entitled to publish or express whatever views they wish, short of defamation and slander. They can publish falsehoods, misinformation, and disinformation (and have. See: Russian collusion hoax). They are free to discontinue comic strips and authors as they see fit.

So are we. Which might explain newspapers’ declining fortunes.