Why on earth would anyone erase "If"? There's nothing remotely racist or colonialist about it. It's a poem of fatherly advice. What's most pitiful is how much today's most ardent progressives resemble China's Red Guards.
Scrubbing things from history is a dangerous precedent and isn't really accomplishing anything. Watching I Love Lucy isn't going to turn me into a misogynist and watching Dukes of Hazzard, Tom and Jerry, or Gone With the Wind isn't going to turn me into a racist. Do these people want to live in an alternate reality? Once you erase parts of history, it's not real and you don't have the full context to learn from it. Should we ban Benjamin Franklin's autobiography because of the comments about blacks and Native Americans? Will any of this solve the problems that minorities face in this country?
I can totally understand why someone from the movie, like Macaulay Culkin might say they should erase Trump. I get it, I would probably feel the same way. But it shouldn't actually be done ! Ridiculous.
I know it isn't really the point of the piece, and I agree with it, but I have been really struck by Trump's changing demeanor over the years.
He was on Oprah's show probably 30 years ago, and sounded like a sane person I could vote for. I don't agree with everything he said on the show, but he comes across as thoughtful, intelligent, and observant.
It's really striking how much he has changed. He was a weird mash-up of neoliberal/progressive, and I think this whole 'reactionary right' thing he has going is pure political expediency.
A tangential point, but I had a similar experience when rewatching some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episodes recently. In one episode, the Banks family house is up for sale and a rich businessman is interested in buying it - turns out that guy was Trump. It felt jarring at first, but I actually ended up thinking it was funny in the end. I don't know if anyone's campaigning to remove that episode, but there's actually a rumor that Trump went on an angry tirade backstage during a rehearsal and that he argued with the staff about his lines - saying it wasn't funny enough.
The guy's personality may be terrible, but I don't mind his appearance on Fresh Prince. Sorry, I know your main point was to advocate "read both-ing", I just liked this story.
Excellent article Erik. We are virtually the same age. 39 here and will be 40 in October. I had almost the exact same experience with Home Alone 2 when I saw Trump's cameo a few years back. I definitely agree with you and appreciate your nuance and consideration when it comes to censorship. I think cancel culture is a horrible thing and should be fought against as much as possible. The thing people need to keep in mind with cancel culture, lack of forgiveness and redemption, and censorship is that it can and will come for you too. The more we shrink the Overton window the more the folks involved in cancel culture will have their daggers pointed back at themselves. I hope we can get away from this soon before society literally implodes.
Far from erasing Trump, we should study his presence in culture and politics over the last 40 years. Aside from his own media hits, there was plenty of pop culture about him that would “need” to be erased, and you can pry Gremlins 2 from my cold, dead hands.
I’m not sure I agree that refusing places of honor to racists and proponents of colonialism is papering over the past. You’ve already attracted a couple middle aged white men keen to use your platform as a way to further their own racial grievances. The idea that progressives drive “cancel culture” (what a silly name that is) is ludicrous. No one loves to ban and burn books and the ideas in them more than evangelicals and fascists. Anyway, don’t mean to be preachy, you don’t need my advice. I look forward to your next piece.
Why on earth would anyone erase "If"? There's nothing remotely racist or colonialist about it. It's a poem of fatherly advice. What's most pitiful is how much today's most ardent progressives resemble China's Red Guards.
Scrubbing things from history is a dangerous precedent and isn't really accomplishing anything. Watching I Love Lucy isn't going to turn me into a misogynist and watching Dukes of Hazzard, Tom and Jerry, or Gone With the Wind isn't going to turn me into a racist. Do these people want to live in an alternate reality? Once you erase parts of history, it's not real and you don't have the full context to learn from it. Should we ban Benjamin Franklin's autobiography because of the comments about blacks and Native Americans? Will any of this solve the problems that minorities face in this country?
I can totally understand why someone from the movie, like Macaulay Culkin might say they should erase Trump. I get it, I would probably feel the same way. But it shouldn't actually be done ! Ridiculous.
I know it isn't really the point of the piece, and I agree with it, but I have been really struck by Trump's changing demeanor over the years.
He was on Oprah's show probably 30 years ago, and sounded like a sane person I could vote for. I don't agree with everything he said on the show, but he comes across as thoughtful, intelligent, and observant.
It's really striking how much he has changed. He was a weird mash-up of neoliberal/progressive, and I think this whole 'reactionary right' thing he has going is pure political expediency.
A tangential point, but I had a similar experience when rewatching some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episodes recently. In one episode, the Banks family house is up for sale and a rich businessman is interested in buying it - turns out that guy was Trump. It felt jarring at first, but I actually ended up thinking it was funny in the end. I don't know if anyone's campaigning to remove that episode, but there's actually a rumor that Trump went on an angry tirade backstage during a rehearsal and that he argued with the staff about his lines - saying it wasn't funny enough.
The guy's personality may be terrible, but I don't mind his appearance on Fresh Prince. Sorry, I know your main point was to advocate "read both-ing", I just liked this story.
Excellent article Erik. We are virtually the same age. 39 here and will be 40 in October. I had almost the exact same experience with Home Alone 2 when I saw Trump's cameo a few years back. I definitely agree with you and appreciate your nuance and consideration when it comes to censorship. I think cancel culture is a horrible thing and should be fought against as much as possible. The thing people need to keep in mind with cancel culture, lack of forgiveness and redemption, and censorship is that it can and will come for you too. The more we shrink the Overton window the more the folks involved in cancel culture will have their daggers pointed back at themselves. I hope we can get away from this soon before society literally implodes.
Far from erasing Trump, we should study his presence in culture and politics over the last 40 years. Aside from his own media hits, there was plenty of pop culture about him that would “need” to be erased, and you can pry Gremlins 2 from my cold, dead hands.
I’m not sure I agree that refusing places of honor to racists and proponents of colonialism is papering over the past. You’ve already attracted a couple middle aged white men keen to use your platform as a way to further their own racial grievances. The idea that progressives drive “cancel culture” (what a silly name that is) is ludicrous. No one loves to ban and burn books and the ideas in them more than evangelicals and fascists. Anyway, don’t mean to be preachy, you don’t need my advice. I look forward to your next piece.