Cancel Culture

Why do progressives have to implement a scorched-earth policy when it comes to this so-called "cancel culture"?

Up until about two weeks ago, nobody had any issues with the writings of Ted Geisel, known to countless generations as Dr. Seuss. He had been, for nearly three quarters of a century, the yardstick to which all other children's books were measured. His books made reading fun. There isn't a single soul reading this post right now who has not, in some way, been impacted by Dr. Seuss. Most of us, and our children, our grandchildren, and many even great grandchildren, learned to read using books written by Ted Geisel. 

Suddenly, the woke mob took exception to books and illustrations done more than six decades ago. It's almost as these folks comb through anything and everything to find something, something. It doesn't matter to them the contributions to society made by folks that are suddenly in their crosshairs. The only thing that matters is the power they derive from cancel! Cancel!! CANCEL!!!

Why such a violent reaction? Why didn't these folks go to the Geisel Estate and bring up their concerns? Why didn't someone point out that some of the caricatures illustrated oh so many years ago are no longer approved or acceptable? Why didn't they offer up alternatives? Surely, somewhere, there is an artist or illustrator that could replicate Geisel's unique style, keeping with the original theme, yet removing the more troubling aspects of the illustrations in question.

But that is not the modus operandi of the progressive left. Geisel has a provable track record of being strongly supportive of civil rights. During the years of WW2, he authored political pieces that highlighted and called out antisemitism that was prevalent in some corners of American society. During the Civil Rights era of the 50s and 60s again took pen to paper to show his support for Dr. King and King's goals. He may have even been a bit of a socialist, judging by his book, "The Lorax". For the progressives, even this was not enough. Burn it down, burn it all down. It's beginning to look more and more like Mao's cultural revolution is being repeated, complete with Mao's destruction of the "Four Olds"; old customs, old habits, old culture, old ideas. Initially, the goal was to encourage people to change the way they thought. But there was resistance this revolutionary change. The final outcome was an estimated 20 million dead. 

Nancy Green and what happened to her legacy is another example of the scorched earth policy so favored by progressives. I'm going to assume that many of you have not heard of Nancy Green. That's OK. Not many had until about a year ago. She was the original model for the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and other products sold by the R.T. Davis Milling company. Many have rightly criticized, under today's norms and standards, that the role she played was an idealistic caricature of blacks, former slaves, and the so-called "old south". Nonetheless, she was a very successful spokesperson for the Aunt Jemima brand, and by most accounts, was very well received by most audiences across the country during her 1000s of appearances. She was also an outspoken activist for civil rights and was directly responsible for the growth of the largest African-American church in the US. Yet, despite the pushback from many, including her decedents, who pointed out that Green was able to use her fame to advocate for civil rights, the progressives would only accept one answer. Cancel! Rather than use this as an opportunity to educate, Nancy Green has been relegated to the dust bin of history. All for one thing. The power of cancel culture.

I'll repeat. Cancel Culture is about one thing, and one thing only. POWER! The power to instill fear. The power to control. The power to completely rewrite history.