cancel culture
I’ve heard the term “cancel culture” quite a few times now, but I haven’t ever felt compelled to act on it. Until yesterday.
According to www.dictionary.com, cancel culture “refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (cancelling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive.” Said differently, cancel culture is a boycott that happens because of a person’s actions or behaviour.
On June 6, 2020, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation tweeted about the Black Lives Matter movement and why “racism is a public health issue”. In response, Greg Glassman, the CEO for global fitness empire CrossFit tweeted “It’s FLOYD-19”, a flippant and racist remark about protests across the world that began after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glassman’s tweet set off a public outcry from CrossFit gym members, owners, professional athletes and many brands that have long been affiliated with and sponsors of CrossFit. Reebok, which has been their leading sponsor for the past ten years, announced swiftly that they were ending their affiliation with CrossFit. Other sponsors followed in suit. In addition, hundreds of gyms have dropped their CrossFit affiliations and have changed their names to create space and distance from the CrossFit brand. As the wave of “unsubscribes” continued to mount, Glassman tweeted out a contrived and insincere “apology”.
CrossFit was cancelled.
CEOs of massive organizations like CrossFit should be held accountable for their comments, actions and inactions. Arguably, they come from a place of great privilege in that they have access to resources and teams of professional advisors to guide their actions and behaviours. They should be held to a high standard. They should know better. They should do better. They should be better. But, still. They don’t. And it hurts their brand, it hurts their personal and professional reputations and it hurts their bank accounts. In a big way.
Yesterday, as I was scrolling through social media, a friend’s Instagram story caught my eye - enough to make me click through to the Instagram profile post of a small business in Calgary. Earlier in the day, the small business owner had posted her support for “all lives matter” and went on to urge her audience to “…not become a guilty white person because of your own colour…I consider ever privilege that I have, hard earned and due 100% to my personal efforts and not due to the colour of my skin”. Her post had more than 70 comments from people calling her out on her racist, ill-informed and privileged comments. Many people attempted to explain and educate as to why her perspective was being met with such anger. And her response was disappointing as she continued on a defensive path.
I’m not someone who normally wades into public debates and commentary…
I picked up my phone and commented on the post: “stop defending yourself. Admit that you are wrong. Commit to taking action. Approach this with an open mind, an open heart, a commitment to learn and grow. Do better. Be better. The End.”
Because that’s the thing. A lot of people (myself included) and small + medium businesses have only recently started to recognize their privilege and bias, and have opened their eyes to the oppression of Black people that has existed for hundreds of years. They are in the process of reading and listening and learning and growing with a view to making changes within themselves and within their workplaces. People and businesses will make mistakes. But the real test is how do they respond when they are challenged or called out? Do they stop? Do they listen and I mean, really listen? Do they seek to understand? Do they apologize? Do they change their behaviour? Because that’s what’s needed and required if we are going to see meaningful and lasting change.
Then I read her second post of the day where she was talking about an old, discarded oak table that she had “rescued” and was restoring. And in her post, she wrote “All Tables Matter! Hahaha.” and I had a visceral physical reaction where my heart both slowed and raced at the same time with bile rising in my throat. Not only was this business owner posting shameful, racist and ignorant content, but she was also flagrantly mocking the protests, and the senseless deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Brionna Taylor, George Floyd and countless other Black people.
I picked up my phone again and I commented on how tone deaf the post was.
And that’s where I thought that my wade into public debate would end.
But then, this small business owner deleted my comments and all the other negative comments in her post. She blocked me and every other person who commented on her post on Instagram. And I realized that by doing these things, that she wouldn’t do the right thing. She wouldn’t stop and examine her posts through a lens of trying to understand a different perspective. She wouldn’t take accountability for her actions. She wouldn’t apologize for her mistakes. She wouldn’t do things differently going forward.
People should be held accountable. Businesses should be held accountable.
So I posted a review on Facebook. It was removed.
So I posted a Google review. It hasn’t been removed (yet) and there are a number of other people who have posted negative reviews about this small business in response to her ignorant and insensitive social media posts.
Some people regard cancel culture as a toxic form of public shaming and bullying. I’m not “for” shaming or bullying in any way, shape or form. As a workplace investigator, I have investigated many incidents of shaming, public humiliation and bullying in the workplace, and I wholeheartedly agree that these are toxic behaviours, that should not be condoned or tolerated.
In this situation, countless people, including myself, commented on this small business owner’s posts imploring her to remove the racist posts and apologize for her behaviour. She was given an opportunity to respond. And she did. By deleting the negative comments and blocking people on social media. She stood firmly entrenched in her position, she showed me that she won’t listen to the voice and reason of past and potential customers. I am someone who takes pride in living my values, and this small business owner has shown me that her values are not aligned with mine. So I cannot and will not give her my business. And after seeing so many outraged posts over the past few weeks, I thought that it was important for other people to know what this business stands for – or doesn’t stand for.
This is a person that runs a small business in my neighbourhood. In my community. In my city. A city that I care about and that I’m proud to be part of. I won’t turn my head, I won’t be passive, and I won’t be silenced.
#cancelled
June 9, 2020
Edited on June 10, 2020
A friend of mine reached out to me to ask why I hadn’t named the business that I wrote about. She said that not naming the business is ineffective as people may continue to support this business owner, unaware of her views.
I am grateful to this friend for reaching out and helping me learn and understand.
The small business that I was referring to in my blog post is Annie’s Closet in Kensington, Calgary.