In defense of canceling
To be, or not to be? That is.. was the question. The question today, of course, is to cancel or not to cancel. And if you spend even a fraction of the time that I do on the internet, then you know exactly why the word elicits the kind of reactions it does. Cancel culture and its vilification and also, simultaneous glorification has always kept me intrigued and amused. And while there are too many tweets and enough articles along with an open letter signed by 150 celebrities, I think there is a lot more to unpack here than we do.
For starters, to cancel is not to call-out because calling-out believes in transformation, it looks at the ability of the one being called out to assume responsibility and take stock of things. Canceling is a denouncing of 2 things primarily, the system that enabled people to be put on a pedestal and the person’s power to perpetuate oppression. Calling out has a more individualistic take: we are hoping for the person to make amends. Canceling is beyond the person; it does not question the individual’s capacity for change, it is about the system that perpetuates and creates room for people with oppressive politics to flourish without fear. Calling out and canceling is, therefore, hardly interchangeable.
As I waited on my thoughts and read other’s thoughts, it became impossible to drown out the words of a kind friend who ceaselessly reminds me ‘We are no more creating anything new.’ And so, the need to look to the past became imperative in this quest for answers. My questions lead me to the civil rights movement that changed the way we fight for justice. Tracing it back to the anti-slavery movement where activities called for a complete overthrow (canceling) of the system that dehumanised a race and oppressed them, their demands are hardly for reform. They did not merely call out the slave traders to change their ways, but they called for the complete abolition of it. The fight continues as they make demands for the abolishment of the prison systems and a defunding of the policing system. The idea is not to change what is, it is to cancel and create a new.
Angela Davis remarkably says, “only by undoing the foundation can we build a new future.” In the context of India and our struggles with caste hierarchy, Dr. Ambedkar’s words shine, “You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.” The claim for a complete undoing of how we comprehend society in the now is the solution that one must put all their bets on, so then, why must we not cancel?
Because there exists a gap between the understanding of canceling and the practice of it. The crisis with cancel culture is that it has been reduced to merely being reactionary. When the practice stems from the deep need for transformations in society, how do we, in the digital space, repeatedly find ourselves holding individuals accountable for systems? A need for a real shift then awaits.
Dr. Ambedkar further adds, in the Annihilation of Caste, that “Criticising and ridiculing people for not inter-dining or inter-marrying, or occasionally holding inter-caste dinners and celebrating inter-caste marriages, is a futile method of achieving the desired end. The real remedy is to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the Shastras.” He hits the nail on the head because he reminds us that while looking at individual manifestations of oppression, we cannot forget that there is a system that fosters and enables this cruelty. And the canceling or abolition or annihilation of that system is our duty, if not just the greatest need of the hour. Along with it comes the need to shift focus from individuals to institutions and systems.
So, when Kiruba Munusamy answers the question of “What is justice in this case?” with “Annihilation of caste is justice” she reinforces in our resistance the need to remember the fight is beyond individuals. It is systemic; it is about redefining how communities are structured, how we do society, and life itself every day.
Canceling is not just a tool of accountability; it is the answer.
