Compassion is Cancelled
I recently came across some posts on Instagram from someone that apparently had upset someone, had apologized and promised to work to do better, but yet still had people calling for them to de-platform.
I couldn't find any info about what exactly the original offense was, nor could anyone else that was responding. One person suggested that even asking about what was done was white supremacism because it asked the offended to do emotional labor or some such.
Another implied that the whole community of black, indigenous and people of color (often abbreviated as BIPOC) was offended. As if they spoke for every single non-white person on the planet.
Another person demanded they delete their account because they used the term BIPOC and they were offended because the 'default isn't white'. Again, assuming the reins for the whole community. Some people of color it seems are fine with this term, some appear to be offended.
One person even tried to call out a black person for coopting AAVE (African American Vernacular English) terms. Aside from the obvious hilarity at calling out a black person for using their own language, I couldn't for the life of me even discern what exactly that person had said that was AAVE, it just seemed like everyday use of language to me.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It seems more and more that in today's world some people are just looking to find something to be offended about, and that no matter how kind and compassionate, no matter how willing you are to recognize systems of inequality that still exist in American life, that there are people that want to find something wrong with you and cancel you.
And to suggest that even asking what someone did wrong is somehow racist just furthers my point. How is anyone to improve if they can't find out what they did wrong?
Everyone has flaws. Everyone has done something they weren't proud of in their life. The people that are trying to move forward and improve how they behave should be praised for doing so -- not condemned for eternity for a single slip up. If that person acknowledges the mistake(s) they've made, and has lived a better life from then on out, who are we, as fellow flawed people to continue to demand punishment?
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about not punishing criminal activity. Of course you should face the penalties for unlawful actions. But this country also has a bad habit of continuing to punish people who have done their time in incarceration. Which is essentially the same thing as a forever cancellation. How are ex-cons supposed to turn their life around if hardly anyone will forgive and hire them?
Perfection is unobtainable. We need people that can mature and learn from their mistakes. We need to show compassion for people that are struggling to learn and do better.
Do the people calling for de-platforming/cancellation/punishment expect for that person to never be in public again? To not ever have a job again? To just go off and die? That's a compassionless answer, and one that doesn't allow for forgiveness and growth of our culture.
If we cancel everyone that has made a mistake in their life, we will eventually cancel everyone.