The Raleigh City Council Members voted unanimously to change the name of Aycock Street in the Five Points neighborhood. The street will soon be known as Roanoke Park Drive. You had to dig to be offended. Did you ever cringe when you passed Aycock Street? If asked why this name is offensive, I’ll bet 98% of you would have gotten it wrong…especially the guys.
The City of Raleigh has embraced the cancel culture. Let’s cancel them by voting every one of them out of office and, at the same time, un-canceling everything they canceled. Let’s start with canceling the cancellation of the name “Cameron”. The offensive name of the mediocre shopping center “Cameron Village” had to be changed because of this. (Duke hasn’t changed the name of their iconic basketball arena, “Cameron indoor stadium.” )
Is this a stand they have to take instead of talking about hiking property taxes up 15 percent to fund their other woke projects? Tell the City Council we do not want them spending one minute on supporting Boycotts or Canceling. Let’s put it in the City Charter or whatever. The city council of Raleigh should take no stand on political issues.
Here’s a good editorial on the Cancel Culture that is very applicable to Raleigh.
The Cancel Culture
Boycotts or “canceling” a person or business started well-intentioned. You and your friends stop going to your favorite chicken place because you found out that the owner doesn’t keep the chicken breast refrigerated because he’s cheap. You and others have gotten sick on occasion and now believe that you got food poisoning. It all makes sense now. You’ve told him several times that he needs to keep the raw chicken in a refrigerator till it’s ready to cook. You stop going and tell others to stop going, and you tell the owner why. He sees his sales drop to nothing, so rather than go out of business and feeling a little guilty about his cheapness, he spends the money on the big refrigerator and apologizes. Everybody starts coming back, and he listens to his customer more closely now, and has a better relationship with them.
Boycotting became “canceling” and really started to take-off 2017. You hear that your favorite chicken place is being boycotted again. Why? The new owner, a religious family, was heard saying that they think homosexuality is a sin. And also, they refuse to open on Sundays. Your friends have “canceled them.” You are asked not to patronize them, until they change their views and apologize. You are confused. What has this got to do with their delicious chicken sandwiches? And you know they serve everybody without discrimination. So why boycott them?
Then you hear that your favorite celebrity has been canceled. Why? He said something offensive about women…but he’s a comedian. He says offensive stuff about everybody, and it’s funny!!! By 2020 “canceling” celebrities for saying or doing something that was viewed as “objectionable” by a segment of society (generally progress type people.), became popular. The goal was to punish celebrities for their offensive speech, or beliefs so that they don’t make and money and lose their popularity by going to their movies and blocking celebrities ability to make public comments on social media.
The goal of canceling a business, not for their product or practices but for the personal beliefs of the owner is to punish them and put them out of business for their “offensive comments, or beliefs.
Brilliant CEO’s and talented “Play by Play” Sportscasters have been fired “canceled” not for their lack of skills but for humorous comments about transgender people.
Canceling has become the weapon to punish “offensive” beliefs. But the arbiter of what is “offensive” or not “politically correct” is defined in the court run by the politically “progressive” or quite simply people defining themselves as “liberal” or “democrats”. There is no trial and the group doesn’t have to meet to decide who or what to cancel. They all think alike and in sync.
To join the ranks and become a star is simple. Simply find something that offends you and post it on social media. Get creative and get emotional. Find a reason that a person, place or thing is racist and you win. That’s all it takes and in the past few years the “liberals” have gotten creative.
Statues are offensive. Saying “Merry Christmas” is offensive. The terms “Mother and Father” are offensive. Even Mathematics is racist and must confronts It’s white, patriarchal past. Eskimo Pies are offensive (but still delicious.) Sports team names are offensive.
Cancel Culture is offensive. The guardians of the cancel culture (soon to be the Raleigh City Council) are simply the “thought police”, telling how we should think and what we should say.