When 'Cancel Culture' Is Understandable

redstate.com

We've written a lot over the years about the insidious nature of cancel culture and how it became a ruthless tool for the Very Online Left to cancel conservatives for the crime of WrongSpeak, especially when uttering inconvenient truths on issues like so-called climate change, men in women's bathrooms and sports, the assault on Christianity, and draconian government overreach during the COVID pandemic.

But are there times when "canceling" someone is understandable - or even acceptable?

I think a convincing argument could be made that, at the bare minimum, there are instances where it is definitely an understandable undertaking, if not outright acceptable, for reasons I'll explain below.

SEE ALSO: Joe Rogan Laughs All the Way to the Bank as Reports Note Efforts to Cancel Spotify Failed Miserably

In the immediate aftermath of the horrific Texas flooding, which took the lives of over 120 people, including 36 children, with 160 people still unaccounted for, the Usual Suspects in the media and on the left began the blame game, trying to figure out a way to tie the tragedy to the Trump administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's administration though the facts uncovered so far have told a much different story.

While partisan tactics like that amid a national tragedy are unseemly and gross, they pale in comparison to some rants posted to various social media sites by unhinged leftists who, in a nutshell, were saying Kerr County, Texas, residents and those little girls whose lives were cut way too short deserved it because Texas is Trump country.

Here's one example:

Ms. Propst is no longer employed by Texas-based Blue Fish Pediatrics and is begging for forgiveness, claiming she didn't know anyone had died at the time of her posting (as if it would have been acceptable either way). Here's a portion of her statement:

I speak to you as a mother, a neighbor, a pediatrician, and a human being who is deeply sorry. I take full responsibility for a social media comment I made before we knew that so many precious lives were lost to the terrible tragedy in Central Texas. I understand my comment caused immense pain to those suffering indescribable grief and for that I am truly sorry. I would like to make clear that my regrettable comment was in no way a response to the tragic loss of human life. But the words written were mine and regardless of how they are being presented, that is a fact that I deeply regret. I want to apologize to each and every individual suffering through terrible loss in this difficult time.

Then there was woke TikTok influencer Sade Perkins, who falsely accused Camp Mystic of being a "whites only" camp and who said she knew she probably was going to get canceled over her racist rant, but went there anyway (language warning):

Instead of apologizing after receiving intense backlash (including from many members of the black community), Perkins doubled and tripled down in comments she made to critics, as well as in more racist TikTok rants that were so filled with curse words that I opted not to share them here. Here's a quote from one of them, though:

“I get that white people are not used to people telling them and calling them out on their racism and telling them about their double standards and how you wouldn’t give a damn about other children and how there’s children in ICE detention right now who y’all don’t give two f–ks about,” she ranted. “There’s no prayers going up for them, but we’re supposed to stop the world and stop everything we’re doing to go and hunt for these little missing white girls.”

Ms. Perkins is now in the process of being removed permanently from one of the positions she held in her Houston community, according to Houston Mayor John Whitmire's office:

“The comments shared on social media are deeply inappropriate and have no place in a decent society, especially as families grieve the confirmed deaths and the ongoing search for the missing.

The individual who made these statements is not a City of Houston employee. She was appointed to the City’s Food Insecurity Board by former Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2023, and her term expired in January 2025.

Mayor John Whitmire will not reappoint her and is taking immediate steps to remove her permanently from the board.”

An online fundraiser for Perkins was also set up, in which $20,000 is being requested because Perkins "is being publicly targeted for telling the truth." To date, just over $1,000 has been raised, and many who contributed donated the bare minimum just to get a chance to mock and slam her.

I'm a Christian and one who believes in the concept of forgiveness, but it's just a little too soon for me to think about forgiving people like Propst and Perkins for their vile statements and deranged priorities in the face of unspeakable tragedy. In fact, I'm having a hard time feeling any sympathy at all for their "cancellations," considering the subject matter is not mere political disagreement but lost, precious lives.

Your thoughts?