Peachy and I run a book group. It has a gazillion members who discuss what book is going to be the next hot item in the y/a market, what author, what artist is the new wonderkind, etc. (That totally doesn’t look like I spelled it right but I’m too lazy to look it up)
Last night someone wanted to post an unsubstantiated – at that time – rumor that a certain unnamed author was a racist and anti semitic. I refused to publish the post because a rumor is a rumor and I’m not about to help ruin someone’s career by helping to spread something that may not be true.
I was immediately questioned as to why I declined this post. After a conversation with Peachy, we put up a post saying that we didn’t want to participate in cancel culture and until this accusation was proven, we were not going to discuss it.
You would have thought I drowned a puppy. HOW DARE I not participate in cancel culture????????? Don’t I know that racism is important???????????? Don’t I know about ASIAN HATE?????????????????????
News flash – Peachy is Asian.
Back to the book group. I commented, after a bit, that they were forgetting that one admin is Asian. HOW DARE I USE HER AS A TOKEN??????????????????
Pretty sure no one uses Peachy for anything unless Peachy says it’s okay. But then, I know her, they don’t. And the more I’ve thought about this, the more it pisses me off. How dare THEY think that Peachy, apparently because she’s of Asian descent, is so stupid and gullible that she would allow herself to be used? How racist is THAT? She can’t possibly have thought the same way I did about this issue because I’m white and she’s not so one of us is leading the other and it can’t be her doing the leading because she’s ASIAN! (Yeah, tell my credit card bill how often this child leads me down the path of one more book!)
Anyway, cancel culture – where do we draw the line between investigating true instances of hateful behavior and believing every rumor? And honestly, is it my job to do this? Do I really care what someone does in their personal life as long as it’s not impacting children or puppies? Write me a damned good story, and I’ll read it. I may hate the author, but does that seriously mean I have to hate the work?
Most famous people are not terribly nice, even if they portray themselves to be. (It’s called acting. It’s how they make their livings) Do I care? Am I horrible for not caring? Am I a horrible racist because I honestly don’t think that someone should really take the words of a book so seriously that they feel that they have to destroy the life of the author? Read it or not, but don’t try to make that decision for the rest of us. I’m pretty capable of knowing when something is a stereotype or not.
So what are your thoughts? Should we censor or cancel authors?
**News flash two – think about CCP trolls and Asian hate suddenly being a thing. Just think about that for me.
The current occupant of the White House has heavy ties to China, that’s not a rumor. Suddenly we have a problem with Asian hate? Seems a touch suspicious that this has become the latest cause celebre. Or maybe I’m just suspicious. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, by the way, I’m asking why it’s suddenly in the forefront of all conversations.
Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues 
Cancel culture is an ism just like sexism and racism. It just doesn’t use the letters. Any form of hate should be avoided. Hate breeds hate. I do not recommend it.
My answer for your dilemma is to have a policy that you discuss the book, not the personal life of the author. You can discuss the writing of the author but to make assumptions about a person you don’t know personally seems wrong to me.
But then again I’m just some white woman who adopted an Asian child. What would I know about love or hate;)
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Old white women like us are supposed to sit down and shut up these days. Unfortunately I’ve never been one to take direction from youngsters
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I’m not good with that too. Plus my name is Karen so I have to speak up and express my opinion as much as possible. That’s the memo I got anyway:)
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There are times when I want to be a Karen myself!
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I love you, Karen! ::hair flip::
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You cranky old woman!
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Got that right!
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Let’s all send her spiders.
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April 9th is National Day of Silence Day. Really.
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HA! I’m never silent! And what is this national day of silence for, pray tell?
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I had a conversation with my 11-year-old granddaughter yesterday about the canceling of the Indian maiden on Land o’ Lakes butter cartons. The Indians weren’t upset about the image but someone else thought they should be. These idiots are canceling things when they have no “skin” in the game.
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Same with Aunt Jemima! The part with being told I was using Peachy just really pissed me off – how dare they make such an assumption about her? Talk about privilege! How privileged and racist is it to assume that a person, by virtue of their race, is incapable of making their own decisions and has to be being used by the far more intelligent white person in the room?
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Trader Joe’s initially planned to remove their “Trader Ming” and “Trader Jose” products per a petition, and then did some more customer research and found that their customers actually liked the marketing. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trader-joes-says-it-will-keep-trader-mings-and-trader-jose-products-because-we-disagree-they-are-racist/
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I get nervous talking about Asian women. They are scary. Maybe that’s a side effect of living with one for 47 years. But we all like Peachy.
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Maxwell, you are so funny. Can I boop your snoot?
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I am sorry you and Peachy had to deal with this behavior. When strangers feel it is their right to judge an individual based on perception then drag them through the mud, they put themselves in the same category as the early advocates of the witch trials. Where is that glass house when you need it?? Actually, you better sit down, face forward, put your feet on the floor and follow along. Get your cookie cutter out and fall in line. The people who demand tolerance are the most intolerant and the people who cry ‘racist’ are the most racist. If they can divert attention toward someone else’s behavior, then maybe no one will pay attention to them. This is a centuries old defense that grew out of guilt and shame. It must be such a burden to be in their skin.
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This. You are so right. So much anger over perceived slights
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{{hugs}}
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We have a lot of anti-racist diversity equity & inclusion trainings at work now. I honestly feel as though as a company, we are becoming more racist as a result of the trainings…
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Thank you for this. It’s the same at my work. It feels like all the battles of the 60’s that were fought to get people to look at each other as people first and skin color or religion second have been totally reversed.
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I can believe that the previous efforts to be more “colorblind” was never realized nor entirely desirable. But it feels like we have the opposite now, where skin color is the only thing we are seeing and focusing on and it does feel like a reversal.
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I’ve said many times that it’s impossible to be unaware of the color of someone’s skin – but it’s not impossible to treat everyone the same way. When people are judged solely on skin color, it’s racist- no matter what the excuse is
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Exactly
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It’s funny you said this. My eldest is on the spectrum. When he was in 3rd grade (he is 27 now), a parent wanted the class to learn about the Jewish faith. He never knew there were different religions at that age, so after class, he started his conversations with ‘are you Jewish’? His best friend was and he told him he liked the story about the horn. The child told his mom and she contacted the school accusing him of being antisemitic. (again, he is 8) The parent refused to let them be friends. It was hard enough for him to connect at that age. Broke my heart. He said “I really liked the horn mom”. As time went on, they worked out the matter on their own and are friends to this day. Now that’s love!
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This is beautiful. Kids don’t care about race and religion unless they’re taught- and I fear what they’re being taught these days
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I am so Jewish that my first thought reading this story about “the horn” was that the kid was talking about the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) when we blow the shofar, which is a ram’s horn. I wasn’t even thinking of the antisemetic stereotype. I agree that kids understand this stuff completely differently than adults do. I mean, I played with Barbies, and I never ever thought about comparing my body to my Barbies, or anything else that adults think about Barbies.
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I totally missed something- I’m not Jewish but I thought it was the ram’s horn as well. This is a slur somehow? Please educate me.
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https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/anti-semitic-stereotypes-of-the-jewish-body/
I assumed that is what the parent thought the child was referring to in ReginaMary’s comment rather than the ram’s horn (shofar) for the holiday. But again, you’d have to be reasonably well-versed in antisemitism for that to be your first thought!
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Thank you. I would never have thought people would think such stupid stuff.
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I am sure that is what he meant. He never, and still doesn’t, see peoples differences. I love that about him. Barbie is what got me knitting!
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My mom used to sew Barbie clothes – I had a wardrobe that was the envy of all my friends and I never once compared my body to the doll.
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Oh, and the shoes!!
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☹️. I’m sorry your book club had to go through this nonsense.
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It’s not the first time we’ve had drama but we actively try to avoid it. People on the internet can be vicious!
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I thought we’d gone a bit too far when a classic Christmas song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” suddenly became the center of attention for sexual innuendo. An online book group I belong to has very clear rules about what can be discussed there, pretty much books we’ve read and wanted to share about with others (without spoilers) or books we’ve read and didn’t like, and questions/recommendations from others. Any meme we send for inclusion onto the page is denied if it has young children, no matter what is depicted… example, a little girl in a floor-length nightgown curled up and reading isn’t allowed because some idiot will make a big deal about a little girl being seen in night clothes. As admins of your site, it is your duty towards the good of ALL members to decide if something sent to be posted might be offensive. If it were me, I’d write a post with all of the rules of the group (maybe you need to add some?) and clearly state that anything submitted that breaks the rules will not be included. Heck, I’d even threaten that if someone continues to send inappropriate stuff gets banned. Same with people who engage in any kind of racist or hate communication to a post. There are too many people out there who need drama in their lives and try to stir it up whenever they have a chance!
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I think you’re right about making the rules more stringent. We’ve always been about guessing what book will be included in a subscription box – just fun for everyone. It’s the current atmosphere of actively looking for offenses that’s become a problem
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