An Alternative Approach To Understanding Cancel Culture
Here is Nicholas Christakis, the sociologist and physician at Yale University, tweeting in solidarity with a political science lecturer at UCLA, Lt. Col. W. Ajax Peris, under fire for using the n-word in class:
Christakis is known for railing against what he sees as “cancel culture” and the suppression of free speech. His tweet thread cited an article about the incident from the Wall Street Journal.
However, one of my Twitter mutuals, linguistics Ph.D. Caitlin Green, tweeted this excerpt from the Wall Street Journal piece:
It turns out Christakis had missed the point of it all. It was not about suppression of speech. Peris was not under fire for using the n-word. He was under fire for, basically, being a jerk when his students raised criticisms.
This exchange illustrates the problem with cancel culture. It is less about what was initially said, and far more about how that person responds to public outcry. Cancel culture is powered by people…
