Given the recent attempts to characterize Trump's assault on the American people election as an example of CANCEL CULTURE let's lay out some actual examples of illiberal ostracism from this week's news:
- from The NEW YORKER:
- San Francisco’s Board of Education voted, 6–1, to change the names of forty-four schools, including schools named after Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. A committee formed by the board in 2018, in the wake of the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, had determined that any figures who “engaged in the subjugation and enslavement of human beings; or who oppressed women, inhibiting societal progress; or whose actions led to genocide; or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” should no longer have schools named after them and had recommended which names should be changed. Washington’s name was struck because he held slaves, Lincoln’s because of his policies toward Native Americans. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s name will be removed from a school, owing to the decision, when she was San Francisco’s mayor, in the nineteen-eighties, to replace a Confederate flag that was part of a Civic Center display and had been taken down by a protester. (A spokesperson for Feinstein said that the city’s parks department replaced the flag “on its own accord.” She later had it replaced with a Union flag.) Some of the committee’s recommendations have received more criticism than others: Paul Revere Elementary School will be renamed because of his role in the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, an assault on a British fort that the committee claimed, incorrectly, was intended to colonize the Penobscot people.
- from FOX NEWS:
- Actor Gina Carano of Lucasfilm's 'The Mandalorian' at the Disney+ Global Press Day on October 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Lucasfilm announced Wednesday she is 'not currently employed' by the company following backlash she received for controversial tweets. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
- "Really sad about @ginacarano not being in @themandalorian anymore, I really liked Cara Dune, she was so bada--, but I’m utterly disappointed to find out she’s an anti-masker, alt-righter, q-anoner, transphobic Trump supporter??! Girl... WTF," one person tweeted.
- "Also Gina Carano was fortunate to not be fired for a LOT of the other things she said previously. I would be fired from my job if I said some of those things! Being famous doesn't make you untouchable, or at least it shouldn't," another Twitter user reacted.
- "People defending #GinaCarano need to have a word with themselves. Stop defending people being racist. Racism is racism. It's rather telling that she deleted the tweets," another person said.
- One person labeled Carano as a "white supremacist" and argued Disney+ and Lucasfilm can fire whomever they want because they are private companies. "If they do not want a white supremacist/anti-semitic person working 4 them, they can take appropriate measures 2 remove that person from their payroll. #GinaCarano must learn words & actions have consequences. If not, oh well," the person said.
- Lucasfilm confirmed Wednesday Carano is 'not currently employed' by the company amid backlash she received on social media. The #CancelDisneyPlus hashtag picked up steam Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Some social media users shared proof they had begun canceling their Disney+ subscriptions. "I am tired of mob rule and cancel culture," one person tweeted. Others called for Disney+ to be canceled by arguing that Carano's tweets weren't insensitive. Twitter was ablaze with criticism against Gina Carano this week, with the hashtag #FireGinaCarano trending before Disney+ came under fire once it was revealed she's no longer employed by Lucasfilm.
- According to Variety, the backlash against Carano, 38, began when she shared a message on the social media platform in which she compared today's political divide to the events in Nazi Germany.
- "Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views," read the post, which was originally composed by another account.
- A second post contained a photo of a person wearing cloth masks to cover their face and head with the caption: "Meanwhile in California." The outlet reports that both posts were removed from her Instagram by Wednesday afternoon. Others remained, however, including one that reportedly read, "Expecting everyone you encounter to agree with every belief or view you hold is f--king wild," as well as another that said, "Jeff Epstein didn’t kill himself."
- Carano played Cara Dune in seven episodes of "The Mandalorian" across its first two seasons in 2019 and 2020. She was rumored to be the center of the upcoming "Mandalorian" spin-off "Rangers of the New Republic" at Disney+, but Disney has not announced casting for the show.
- State Republican Parties censuring Republican politicians for condemning political violence by Republicans:
- Liz Cheney
- Ben Sasse
- Jeff Flake
- CIndy McCain