The Patriot Post® · Athletes Hit Back at Cancel Culture
The outrage mob. Cancel culture. These are phrases for the phenomenon in our culture wherein agitated people use various tools to punish people with whom they disagree. The main perpetrators are self-righteous leftist ideologues who see themselves as enforcers of woke precepts. They use bullying to beat people into submission. Anyone can be a victim of their vindictive fury, but the ones you hear about in the news tend to be high-profile individuals.
Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, was recently under fire by the cancel culture mob for comments he made on a hot mic. After scoring a six-yard touchdown against the Chicago Bears, Rodgers of course did his signature touchdown dance known as the BELT. Right in front of him were angry Bears fans giving him the finger. In the excitement of the moment, he said: “All my f***ing life, I own you. I still own you. I still own you.”
Indeed, throughout his career as the Packers’ quarterback, his team’s record against the Bears is a dominating 21-5. But this last game was unusual because it marked the first time he had trash-talked to the fans and used profanity.
Naturally, the blithering cancel culture mob was after his blood for unsportsmanlike conduct. Rodgers discussed with the media the reaction to his smack-talking the opposing team’s fans: “There’s a PC woke culture that exists, and there’s a cancel culture at the same time, and it’s based on people’s own feelings of maybe personal [baggage] or distaste for their own situations or life or just the enjoyment of holding other people down underneath their thumb.”
Rodgers’ advice for surviving these attacks from the mob is to not play their game. Woke mobsters are like the schoolyard bully who takes advantage of any show of weakness or apology.
Rodgers is not the only professional athlete who has had to suffer the slings and arrows of an outraged entity determined to stifle dissent. Enes Kanter of the NBA’s Boston Celtics is also enduring this censorship from the Chinese government.
Kanter already has a reputation for being an activist. His outspoken criticism of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has prompted the Turkish authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest. His most recent activism that raised the ire of the ChiComs was a video posted on Twitter calling on the Chinese government to free the Tibetan people who are under its rule — a stance that’s illegal in China.
Dear Brutal Dictator XI JINPING and the Chinese Government
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 20, 2021
Tibet belongs to the Tibetan people!#FreeTibet pic.twitter.com/To4qWMXK56
The response was swift and decisive. The Chinese government immediately stopped airing the Celtics games in China. This sort of censorship has also happened to the Philadelphia 76ers after their general manager, Daryl Morey, openly voiced support for Hong Kong and its pro-democracy protesters. Now the Celtics have joined the 76ers in the Chinese blackout of their games.
It’s a sobering realization that our cancel culture and the Chinese communist regime operate in the same way: silence dissent and hit at your target’s livelihood. The Chinese people are completely under the control of a repressive government, and it would take a great revolt for them to shake off the shackles of their oppression. We in America still have a chance to fight against cancel culture, but it’s going to take the courage to stand by your principles. In the spirit of Aaron Rodgers’ advice, don’t apologize to those who would never forgive you anyway. Don’t play their game.