It often seems that cancel culture is in full effect today wherever you look. Say the wrong thing or anger the wrong people and you could easily find a mob calling for your head. Many people have lost their jobs for a single social media post that angered someone. Never underestimate the power of mobs. But remember also never to appease the mob, because its anger won’t be sated until you suffer.
The recent case of an Atlanta IKEA is a good case in point. The restaurant decided to serve its employees a special meal this year for Juneteenth, choosing a soul food-inspired menu. The food to be served included fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, and watermelon. Predictably, the choices outraged many activists who accused the store of racial stereotyping and not allowing people of color to choose the food that was served.
Now if the store had chosen some different foods and called it a Juneteenth menu, it would have been accused of racial insensitivity for not trying to choose foods traditionally associated with black American culture. Or had the store not decided on a different menu at all, it would have likely come in for criticism for not honoring Juneteenth at all.
It just goes to show that you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. No matter what you do, you’re going to piss someone off. Trying to backpedal, apologize, or appease the mob isn’t going to work and isn’t going to save you. It’s far better to think long and hard before acting, commit to an action, and defend that action 110%. Most mobs don’t expect their targets to fight back, so fighting back puts them off balance and they end up looking for easier targets.
That’s why President Trump was such a breath of fresh air. Yes, there may have been times when he was wrong, but he never backpedaled in public in response to the mob mentality. He always stood up for himself, forcing the mob to move on to something else. Let that be a lesson for all of us.