‘Wokespeak’ is Changing Faster Than I Can Keep Up
Ah, but will they forgive? Unfortunately as the current times have become more liberated, they also have become more punitive, often in ways that silence dialogue when we need it most.
Yes, I’m talking about “cancel culture,” the modern etiquette of ostracism that tries not only to reprimand but to banish those who violate current norms and etiquette — even on a first offense.
I don’t want to make too much of “cancel culture,” since it often is exploited to feed a “victim mentality” among those who would rather gripe about their victimization than pursue constructive remedies.
Contrary to popular belief, cancel culture is not limited to the political left or to cultural progressives. Look, for example, at the ruckus being raised by conservative parents and their allies at school board meetings across America. They’re being victimized by “critical race theory”? That body of ivory tower scholarship isn’t even taught in public schools.
But the protesters don’t need real CRT to justify their anger. They’re already angry and frustrated that the world seems to be changing too fast without listening enough to them.
Politicians love to take advantage of frustrations like that, and the people who rely on power more than persuasion to bring about change only help them to do it.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
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