It’s so funny to hear leftwing pundits talk about how “actions have consequences,” because they’re the ones responsible for the thugs and sociopaths who infect our cities feeling that they have the right to do anything they want without consequences.
Take, please, Denise Branch. She’s a consultant for big companies “to help [them] develop anti-racist employers and employees,” according to her LinkedIn profile. Branch, who’s Black, describes herself as “working the front lines of [the] racism pandemic educating minds to save lives…”. She also has a sideline career as a professional speaker, with specialties including DEI and social activism. Branch is, in other words, one of those woke ideologues who’s profitized the need for corporations to appear to be inclusive by hiring her.
Here’s something Branch said in Forbes Magazine: “Freedom of speech or freedom to act doesn’t imply freedom from consequences. ‘Consequence culture’ is needed to build safer, more inclusive, equitable and accountable workplaces.” What Branch means is that corporations must have “zero tolerance” for any individual in that organization who dares to express what Branch considers “racism, bias [or] broader discrimination.” This can be, for instance, a politician “caught hurling a racial slur on a hot microphone,” or when “a senior executive’s leaked emails are found to be riddled with offensive homophobic references.” In either case, the politician or executive’s career needs to be swiftly terminated. Lest you or I call this “cancel culture,” it is, according to Branch, actually “swift, direct consequences.”
Consequence culture has indeed permeated many organizations over the years, resulting in a lot of people losing their jobs and reputations. Progressives in particular love discovering when people they don’t like are caught saying impolitic things. But cancel culture doesn’t just impact politicians and business executives. I’m permanently banned from nextdoor.com for the crime of using the word “thug,” which nextdoor’s oh, so progressive censors interpret as racist.
The irony is that we never hear race activists calling for “consequence culture” to be applied to the disruptive elements who make life so much harder for everyone in a city like Oakland. The muggers and carjackers? They’re just victims of White racism. The mobs that loot stores? What else do you expect—they’ve been robbed by “the system” all their lives. The sideshow hoodlums? They’re just inner-city kids blowing off a little steam. In other words, when it comes to disreputable behavior by their own adherents, the race activists are prepared to issue excuse after excuse. But when it comes to someone who uses a word they don’t like on social media, then summon the mobs with flaming pitchforks! Erect the wooden crucifixes and nail them up! Exile them from polite society!
It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Yes, actions do and should have consequences. But, in a healthy culture, these consequences would apply to everyone, not just one’s political enemies. It does the race activists no good at all to be so highly selective in their denunciations. Most intelligent people see what’s going on: the woke attitude is, “My people can do whatever we want because we’re the victims of White supremacy. But your people better watch out, because we know what you’re doing and saying, and we’re coming after you!”
That is not a recipe for winning friends and influencing your neighbors. It’s a roadmap to civil disruption and conflict, in a zero-sum game in which one race has declared war upon another, and only one can win.
Steve Heimoff