Dilbert Creator Cancelled After Conversation On Race

 

Source: Western Rifle Shooters Assoc.

Back in 1997, then-President Bill Clinton called for a national conversation on race after a backlash developed against affirmative-action in California leading to the passage of Proposition 209 which was intended to eliminate state and local government affirmative action programs in the areas of public employment, public education, and public contracting to the extent these programs involve "preferential treatment" based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. Then, as now, the Liberals did not really want a conversation about race or race relations. The Washington Post described Clinton's efforts as "a year-long campaign of town hall meetings, conferences and reports intended to bridge the nation's lingering racial divide three decades after the civil rights movement of the 1960s." But, at the end of the article, admitted that all Clinton was really calling for was increasing the budget of the EEOC's enforcement arm--I presume his intent was to punish employers that might have supposed that they, too, could dispense with preferential hiring.

    Similarly, on March 18, 2008, his presidential campaign in trouble due to the release of video showing Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, denigrating the United States and white people, Obama delivered what has become known as his "A More Perfect Union" speech. The speech was Obama's mea culpa in which he was forced to acknowledge that Wright's statements "weren't simply a religious leader's efforts to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country — a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America...." But that apology quickly turned into a defense of Wright, reflecting, Obama argued, Wright's experience growing up in a segregated America. As we know, Obama went on to win the White House and began the modern trend of white hatred as official government policy.

    The result was that by 2016, the conversation was over and done with.  Wesley Morris, writing at The New York Times Magazine, admitted that a national conversation was only possible when there were "a mere three television networks and no internet," but had now become wholly impossible because too many views could be publicly shared. "[F]ew subjects start more internet wars than gender and race," he wrote, adding: "The aspiration of 'national conversation' makes no sense in the age of Reddit." He notes that even Obama had determined that a national conversation on race was not very productive. Morris put the problem down to a lack of empathy, but perhaps the problem is that there was never any intention of having a true conversation. It was merely an exercise in beating down anyone that didn't tow the liberal line, to the point that even the term "racist" or "racism" merely means not agreeing with Leftist positions on race.

    The latest example of this is Dilbert creator, Scott Adams, being cancelled and blackballed after commenting on a Rasmussen poll on race relations. Fox News reports the substance of the poll and Adam's reaction:

The poll that Adams cited asked two questions: (1) Do you agree or disagree with this statement: "It’s OK to be white," (2) Do you agree or disagree with this statement: "Black people can be racist, too." The poll found that 26% of Black respondents said "no" to the first question, and 21% said they weren’t sure, which Adams concluded meant 47% had a negative response.

To which Adams responded:

    "If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people – according to this poll, not to me – that’s a hate group," Adams said during his "Coffee with Scott Adams" vlog, referring to a Rasmussen poll published this week. "That’s a hate group, and I don’t want anything to do with them."

    "And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I can give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people," he continued, adding, "There is no fixing this … you just have to escape," which he said was why he moved to his current neighborhood that has "a very low Black population."     

The reaction was as sudden as it was predictable: hundreds of newspapers stopped carrying the Dilbert comic strip, quickly followed by the comic strip's distributor dropping Adams. In other words, the story wasn't why 47% of blacks don't think it okay for people to be white but instead was "how dare Scott Adams point this out" and call him a racist for doing so.

    But if Adams was "racist" as the Left claims--as opposed to simply calling a spade a spade--it would have been through experience. Hot Air reporter Karen Townsend notes:

Adams has not lived as a racist, as far as I can tell. He worked to rebuild a 14-block area of Detroit to make the lives of its residents better. You can see the organization behind the project at blightauthority.com.

 She continues (underline added):

    The racial divide is real in America. Many groups, including the Democrat Party, thrive on that. Remember all the cries of Jim Crow 2.0 from Biden and other Democrats when the voting rights act House Democrats passed did not pass in the Senate? Biden went on a little tour of cities like Atlanta to stir the pot with his inciteful rhetoric. His latest insult is to say there are many white people who still enjoy watching lynchings today. Where are these lynchings? The truth is that there are none and Joe Biden is given a pass every time he says such crazy things. Remember when Biden told a predominantly black audience that Mitt Romney wanted to put them all back in chains during the 2012 election?

    So, calling black Americans a hate group fanned the flames of anger. Suggesting white people get away from black people was also an unnecessary thing to say. Adams asks why anyone would want to be around people who do not respect them. That’s a legitimate question but that isn’t exactly what he said. He explains his move to a mostly white area and how he no longer sees the benefit in helping black Americans.

   He sounds frustrated and a little defeated. It’s understandable. He does good work for a needy community in a dying city and all of that is overlooked to punish him for speaking his opinions on a poll. ...

But that is the point: Adams is being labeled a "racist" because he has pointed out an inconvenient truth: that nearly half of black people are racist against whites. 

    Elon Musk has bucked the trend of condemning Adams, stating:

    'For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians,' the 51-year-old billionaire explained. 

    'Same thing happened with elite colleges and high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist.'

That would make sense but it is anathema to the Left. And so a backlash is developing. And the longer the backlash is suppressed, the more likely it is to exceed simply passing laws against affirmative action programs and "diversity, inclusion and equity" propaganda.