The Illusion of a Cultural Shift
Some things are looking up, but America has changed less than you think
Good luck finding a politician who wants to defund the police these days.
And we probably won’t be treated to more Black Lives Matter murals so huge that they can be seen from space. Today corporations and universities are cutting back on racial preferences and DEI. Even Cancel Culture, which used to deliver a rat-tat-tat of high-profile attacks, is now a less obvious feature of everyday life.
Our culture sure has changed a lot in recent years.
Or maybe not.
Today I’m not referring to my contention that those who say the mass madness is behind us are mistaken. I can be pessimistic in general, but still acknowledge progress. I’ll get back to being a dark cloud later, but today I’m focused on something else.
You know that big cultural shift so many people point to these days? It’s mostly an illusion.
Take Cancel Culture.
Americans have always been against it.
Back in 2018, the indispensable Hidden Tribes report by the British organization More in Common noted that majorities of political tribes representing 92% of Americans agreed that political correctness is a problem.
That means liberals, moderates, and conservatives largely agreed.
Only one tribe disagreed—a very online, very political, very educated, very white tribe known as Progressive Activists (I call the tribe’s members Eight Percenters). Subsequent surveys generally showed widespread antipathy to Cancel Culture even from Gen Zers and Democrats.
Activists may insist that Cancel Culture merely represents racial minorities asserting power that had long been denied to them. But most actual minorities seem to disagree, and it’s easy to see why.
Far from elevating underrepresented voices, Cancel Culture often pummels racial minorities who challenge Eight Percenter dogmas.
Take racial preferences.
Media outlets often imply that racial minorities favor preferences in school admissions and hiring. Journalists and activists try to make racial preferences a whites-vs-everyone-else issue, but surveys reveal far more unity.