Category: English 11

To cancel somebody is to ban them from something for doing something wrong.  Like kicking out a friend from a group because they crossed the line, or boycotting a store because it is taking part in some shady business.  To cancel somebody is to blacklist them, make them the most wanted person in the world.

Cancel culture has its advantages and disadvantages as all things do.  People now have an incredibly powerful platform to call out bad behaviour.  As a society this is good, we are no longer letting unacceptable behaviour go un-punished, people are taking a stand for what is right and that is an incredible thing.

There is also a negative side to this story.  This movement while punishing those who deserve it, can really cripple those who do not deserve to be cancelled.  Put yourself in Mimi Groves’s shoes, she was 19 and ready to graduate from high school.  Her future was looking promising and she was really exited to continue her education.  However, this came to a screeching halt as she suddenly went viral for all of the wrong reasons.  Jimmy Galligan, a black student that attends the same school had shared a video of Mimi using and anti-black slur around 4 years back.

Jimmy stated that he waited 4 years to share that video because, “I wanted to get her where she would understand the severity of that word,”.  The word that Mimi used was disgusting and cruel.  However, Mimi stated that she never knew the severity of the word and that she thought back in her freshman year that it was okay to use that kind of language.

Being cancelled is a very big deal, for Mimi it ruined her.  Her scholarship offers were rescinded due to backlash from the internet and she is now known all over social media sites for all of the wrong reasons.  Did she deserve what came to her?  This is a difficult question to answer because on one side you know that she used a racist slur, and in the other you have an innocent girl who had no idea what she was saying.

A similar incident happened at another school.  Alex and her team were practicing for a competition and one of the teammates who was not of African decent used the same slur as Mimi while singing some song lyrics.  There was an altercation between the group and the person that used slur,” He said he understood why they were uncomfortable but that it wouldn’t necessarily prevent him from using it again when singing along.”  In the end they played it off as somewhat of a joke to keep tensions to a minimum.  Essentially calling him in instead of cancelling him and making a whole big deal out of things.  He never did end up using that slur again while singing.

This example has a very similar issue but a much more civil end product.  I believe that in any other situation I would prefer this second option of calling in.  However, in Jimmy’s case he lives in a predominantly white area, it was important for Jimmy as he stated to make sure that she understood what she did wrong.  However, I am sure he meant it as a lesson for all people around him that are not familiar with the past implications of that word.

(This article is completely subjective and is entirely my opinion)