Universities in the U.S. are bringing forth more and more examples of cancel culture being shared throughout their campuses. Cancel culture refers to the public disowning a figure who has stated or expressed opinions outside the community norms.
Most people acting on cancel culture nowadays belong to extreme left thought processes and are therefore highly liberal. This is the first time in history where the rights of racial and ethnic minorities, people in the LGBTQ+ communities, and . It is undoubtedly a great achievement on the part of the different social movements that have taken up space in public and on social media over the past few years. However, the question begs itself, is cancel culture taking things too far? Is limiting their expression also the same as limiting free speech?
The Benefits
There is no doubt that transphobia, homophobia, and racism are still rampant in many parts of the country. Academia is the one place where people of different orientations and backgrounds can come together and engage in self-expression.
An article reported in The Atlantic recalls an incident in the College of Wooster. In this liberal-arts school, a trans student, Artemis Swanson, who was in the middle of transitioning, was in attendance at the dialogue club when one of the conservative students began lashing out against the use of different pronouns and asking them.
Artemis had to explain to the conservative student, with eloquence, what the pronouns meant to her, and it was alright if the student did not want to be asked his pronouns. She was still going to encourage it. Whether it is the fear of cancel culture or becoming a social pariah, the movement has encouraged all people to acknowledge their differences with each other. This, at the very least, applies to people holding liberal beliefs.
The Negatives
The biggest cons of cancel culture are that it has limited self-expression and brings self-censorship into the act. Self-censorship refers to not voicing unpopular beliefs in the fear that you may get “canceled.”
This limits healthy debate and acceptance of different backgrounds, which can prove to be detrimental in places like college campuses. An example of canceled culture limiting knowledge and experience for students is an incident that occurred at the University of Michigan.
Professor Bright Sheng showed his class a 1965 rendition of the Shakespeare play Othello, where an actor appeared donning blackface. The professor merely wished to teach the music students in his class about how the play was transformed into an opera. Still, this particular part caused a massive outrage from the students who nearly “canceled” their professor. The dean eventually had to apologize to the student body in light of their protests.
This brings forth the question: are all pieces of art that featured controversial characters and messages from the past now to be erased from existence? Naturally, cancel culture in colleges does have quite a few negative impacts.