Educational Articles

The Role of Cancel

Culture in Targeting Racism

In May 2020, a white New York woman, Amy Cooper, was ridiculed on social media after a video circulated showing her calling the police on a Black man, Christian Cooper, who was birdwatching in Central Park. After Christian asked Amy to put her dog on a leash, Amy said she was calling the cops. “I’m going to tell them there’s an Afri- can American man threatening my life,” she said. Chris- tian recorded the conversation and posted the video to social media. People spread her name across the Internet as the video went viral. Many of them contacted Amy’s employer about her racially prompted actions, and she was fired the next day. In February 2021, Chris Harrison, the host of the reality TV series “The Bachelor,” announced he was “stepping aside” from his role on the show. In an interview during the franchise’s first season with a Black bachelor, Har- rison discussed photos from one of the show’s contes- tants. Her photos included images of her attending an Antebellum party three years prior. Though celebrating pre-Civil War history can be an offensive point of conver- sation for many Black viewers, Harrison’s opinion on the contestant’s photos showed what seemed to be support as he defended her attending the party. After seeing and receiving a host of posts and comments responding to his interview, Harrison announced his temporary departure from the show. In schools across the country, students have also created Facebook groups among their peers to expose and dis- cuss racist behavior from other students. In some cases where the behavior was taken to authority figures and deemed to be racist, severe consequences have resulted. Some students have had their college admission revoked and received deductions from their scholarships. Social media can often be an echo chamber for racism and hateful rhetoric. While cancel culture does not only apply to behaviors involving racism, it has become a tool many users define as an obligation of social activism and holding people accountable for their words and challeng- ing them to more productive actions.

Students have created Facebook groups to expose racist behavior from other students.

S ocial media has long been a source of entertain- ment and opportunity to connect with friends and family and establish new social circles. However, in light of the movement against recent acts of racial injustice and police brutality, it has become a hub of platforms many people are using to expose actions, be- haviors and language that are primarily racist or sexist. Among the Black community, this has become a power- ful avenue for pursuing justice on a social level. As conversations and perspectives from the Black Lives Matter protests continue to linger, people on social me- dia have become quick to highlight racist behavior and effectively “cancel” the people behind that content. The online movement is often referred to as “cancel culture” and involves people shaming and withdraw- ing support from businesses and individuals known to engage in racially offensive behavior.

“Social media has become a hub of platforms people are using to expose racist or sexist behavior.”