I ain’t saying she a gold digger, but I am saying you’re canceled.
Kanye West and Cancel Culture
The cancel culture movement has recently plagued society and some of its most notable celebrities, including record producer and rapper Kanye West. The term refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered offensive. With the rise of the digital age, cancel culture is predominantly seen on social media platforms and in the form of group shaming.
Jonah Bromwich, NY Times reporter, effectively explains the origins of cancel culture and why it’s a 2020 election story worth paying attention to in his podcast, Cancel Culture, Part 1. Bromwich successfully mentions the phenomenon of public callouts and the imposition of specific points of view on social media platforms, including the exposing of Kanye West. Quoted in the podcast, Kanye West exclaims, “I’m gonna be canceled. They’re gonna cancel me because I didn’t cancel Trump” (Cancel Culture). It is known that West had been vocal about his relationship with President Trump and the support he had for the 45th US President. The two could be seen shaking hands, taking selfies with MAGA apparel and discussing important societal issues together. Although West blames the fact that social media users and the public will “cancel” him because of his relationship with Trump, it can be inferred that that is not the reason why. For example, West once exclaimed, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” and “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice” (Cancel Culture). According to Bromwich, “Kanye’s support for Donald Trump is a known thing” (Cancel Culture). However, his extreme political views and thoughts of slavery and segregation are the reasons why he has been referred to as “canceled” on various social media platforms.
Social media and its role in the cancel culture is pivotal. It is used as a platform to expose and publicly humiliate companies and individuals on the internet for their offensive and objectionable behaviors. According to Bromwich, “Canceled is there in 2018, but not cancel culture” (Cancel Culture). The phrase has recently been popularized by social media users and shared throughout multiple social media platforms, including, Instagram, Facebook and most notably, Twitter. The use of social media allows for these messages to be shared, reposted and spread throughout the world to make a statement.
Economically speaking, the rise of cancel culture and its presence on social media is quite damaging to those being exposed. Consider the video of a Florida man at Costco’s being exposed for not wearing a mask and aggressively shouting and threatening the person taking a video. Although this man should be exposed for his offensive and inappropriate actions, he should not be fired from his job, as that will result in no way of income to support himself and his family. As mentioned in Cancel Culture, Part 2, “When someone loses their job you are condemning them to material defamation” (Cancel Culture). As for ethical purposes, former president, Barack Obama, states, “There is this sense of the way I make change is to be as judgemental as possible of other people” (Cancel Culture). This idea of purity and not being compromised is the mindset with cancel culture. Although exposing someone for their actions by actively searching for their information on Facebook and contacting their work may seem like the right answer, it is important to recognize the economic factors at play.
Instead of ruining someone’s life by having them fired from their jobs, leaving them without an income and opportunity to find another job, I believe a better approach would be to keep your thoughts and actions to yourself and seek a more appropriate way of dealing with the situation, not resulting in the “cancelling” of someone or some place.
