You’ve probably heard this term many times before. 

The phrase “cancel culture” is commonly used when people want to silence a person or a person’s point of view due to something controversial that they may have said or done, specifically when it pertains to someone with large followings such as actors, singers, social media influencers and political candidates.  

 This may sound ironic, but I believe that “cancel culture” should be canceled.

I support holding people accountable for their actions, whether it be something they did in the past or something recent, especially those people who have a large following, however, I do not support what “cancel culture” has become. 

The origins of “canceling” began as a tool used by members of marginalized communities to bring awareness to people with power and authority who often retained their position even after committing wrongdoings. The “cancel culture” method is often appropriate and effective when it comes to social justice issues, such as calling for former officer Derek Chauvin to be charged with the murder of George Floyd. 

Unfortunately, modern-day “cancel culture” no longer has the same social justice and political activism origins, but rather has become a mainstream toxic ideology that teens use when someone’s remarks, thoughts, or actions are perceived as offensive or problematic. It is often associated with “keyboard warriors” who use social media to effectively call on others to “end one’s career” through boycotts of their work, the products that person may represent or call upon disciplinary action from a company, employer or any other organization with ties to that individual. 

The issue with today’s “cancel culture” is the shift in emphasis from taking issue with someone’s mistake in relation to political or social justice issue(s) to taking issue with the individual themself. The Black Lives Matter movement tends to get ignored whenever a person with a large platform is racist towards Black people. Rather than having people focus on a person’s “controversy”, it is much more effective to shed light on the issue with what they said or did rather than make the individual’s existence the issue. 

“Cancel culture” defeats the purpose of educating a person and places emphasis on using someone’s mistake to justify your dislike for them, taking away the power of “cancel culture” as a tool for social justice and political advocacy. As a society, we must emphasize the importance of learning from mistakes through education on various issues instead of canceling them.