The threats to free speech in the U.S. have been troubling to me for a long time, and the problem seems to be most acute in the very place where free speech should be deeply appreciated and protected – academia. I have spent a good portion of my career in or associated with the academic world and have watched in dismay as both the sanctimonious morality police AND the uber-sensitive progressive warriors have slowly chipped away at one of the fundamental rights we have in this republic. Of course, attacks on free speech extend far beyond the ivory towers to all branches of government, journalism, entertainment, the medical community, and so many other sectors of our society.

One of the worst examples of free speech restriction is the phenomenon of cancel culture, which has spread rapidly and broadly, sometimes inflicting serious damage to individuals and institutions across the political, economic, and social spectrum. Some progressives would argue that cancel culture is a myth, that what we are witnessing is a type of moral correction on a societal level. I must disagree. Of course, I recognize there are attitudes and actions that a society should not tolerate, such as child abuse, sexual harassment, and various forms of discrimination – race, gender, age, etc. However, the concept of “hate speech” as it has evolved in the western world turns the cliché of the slippery slope into a perfect metaphor. The empowerment of the masses through the Internet, particularly social media, has facilitated this toxic environment. To my way of thinking, cancel culture is the result of old-fashioned mob psychology intensified and magnified by more efficient means of communication. It is frightening.

Some of the strongest criticism of cancel culture in recent years has come from unexpected torch bearers, like John McWhorter, an African American academic and linguist who is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. His controversial 2021 book titled Woke Racism calls out what he sees as a pendulum that has swung way too far left, and for many, is stuck there with little chance of tearing itself loose. He argues that a segment of the country’s population has become hypersensitive about race, resulting in a punitive environment where the slightest slip or even perceived slip calls for immediate and total cancellation of the offender. When he identifies this movement as a religion, he isn’t employing a metaphor — he truly believes it IS a religion. Because he is not a religious person himself, he sees no problem comparing woke racism with Christianity or other faiths he perhaps deems oppressive.

I take strong objection to many of McWhorter’s arguments and how he posits that woke racism is an insult to black people’s intelligence because it pressures them into being offended, as if they can’t recognize “real” racism when they see it. His whole book seems to be designed to warn black people about a religious cult that apparently, he believes, they just aren’t smart enough to reject on their own. At the same time, I am deeply concerned how quickly some people have been “cancelled” and had their careers completely sabotaged for virtually no good reason at all because of a generation that seems to be too awake, wielding a moral sledgehammer rather than a compass.

It is going to take a considerable amount of time for the wide-swinging pendulum to settle down and adopt a more reasonable range of motion. We need less judgment and a lot more grace. There is far too much focus on punishment, refusing to admit that at times we all say or write things we regret. All sides must realize that canceling is a zero-sum game, and if history teaches us anything, it is that Americans are slow learners when it comes to social change.