To the editor:
This is a response to Michael Leppert’s column on cancel culture, published March 18:
I agree that dollars to business is like votes to politicians. Business should and does react to customers’ preferences.
I do find some error in the author’s comparison of stopping the publication of books (whether warranted or not) to the reaction of the Dixie Chicks fans or re-naming of French fries. In the former, no one will be able to purchase the books in the future. In the latter, no one was restricted from enjoying the Dixie Chicks or buying French fries at any time.
A true comparison would be if people stopped buying the Dr. Seuss books in question (or seeing Tom Cruise movies). Real cancel culture is when a subset of population, whether the minority or majority, restricts something for everyone. Not dollars, not votes (we don’t vote on culture as a general rule), just mob rule.
Wade Christian
Franklin
