As newspapers throughout the nation lower ties with “Dilbert” cartoon creator Scott Adams(Opens in a brand new tab) after a livestreamed racist rant, one influential Twitter consumer has doubled-down on defending him: Twitter proprietor Elon Musk.
For Musk, it began with a reasonably innocuous query.
“What precisely are they complaining about?” he requested in a reply to the “Dilbert” creator. Adams was criticizing a reporter for sharing a narrative concerning the cartoon being dropped by newspapers.
Shortly after, Musk deleted his tweet to Adams, ostensibly discovering out what the discourse was about: Scott Adams went on a racist rant on his livestream, calling Black individuals a “hate group” and telling white individuals to steer clear of them.
However, Musk would return to defend Adams in a collection of tweets.
Responding to a right-wing Twitter account attacking the media for reporting on the Adams story, Musk tweeted “the media is racist.”(Opens in a brand new tab)
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“For a very very long time, U.S. media was racist towards non-white individuals, now they’re racist towards whites & Asians,” Musk continued(Opens in a brand new tab). “Same factor occurred with elite schools & excessive faculties in America. Maybe they will strive not being racist.”
When one other Twitter consumer replied that Adams’ feedback had been “not good” however had an “component of fact,” Musk merely responded “precisely.”(Opens in a brand new tab)
Musk’s most up-to-date remark, posted on Twitter proper earlier than this text was printed, opined about Adams being “canceled.”
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“I don’t agree with every little thing Scott says, however Dilbert is legit humorous & insightful,” tweeted Musk.(Opens in a brand new tab) “We ought to cease canceling comedy!”
Beyond these feedback, Musk provided no condemnation of what Adams stated.
“Dilbert” creator’s racist rant
On Wednesday, Adams was internet hosting his livestream present, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” when he began ranting a few ballot from the right-leaning pollster Rasmussen.
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The ballot requested surveyed contributors in the event that they agreed with the phrase “It’s OK to be white.” The phrase began as a troll marketing campaign on 4chan in 2017. Whatever the originators’ precise intent was, not lengthy after the 4chan marketing campaign, precise white supremacists started adopting the phrase as effectively. The Anti-Defamation League(Opens in a brand new tab) lists the phrase as an emblem of hate.
Regardless, the Rasmussen ballot discovered {that a} majority of Black Americans (53 p.c) polled agreed with the assertion, with 26 p.c disagreeing and 21 p.c saying they weren’t certain. It’s not exhausting to think about that some who disagreed with the assertion might have been aware of the precise which means of that very particular phrase.
However, the creator of the “Dilbert” comedian was outraged over the ballot.
“If practically half of all Blacks usually are not OK with white individuals, in line with this ballot, not in line with me…that’s a hate group and I do not wish to have something to do with them,” stated Adams. “And I might say, based mostly on the present means issues are going, the perfect recommendation I might give to white individuals is to get the hell away from Black individuals, simply get the fuck away. Wherever you need to go, simply get away as a result of there isn’t a fixing this. This cannot be fastened.”
Within days, tons of of newspapers introduced that they’d be dropping the “Dilbert” cartoon.
“Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon, went on a racist rant this week on his Coffee with Scott Adams on-line video present, and we’ll not carry his cartoon in The Plain Dealer,” stated its editor, Chris Quin, in a submit(Opens in a brand new tab) on the outlet’s web site Cleveland.com(Opens in a brand new tab). “This isn’t a tough resolution.”
“The Times has determined to stop publication of ‘Dilbert,’ introduced the L.A. Times.(Opens in a brand new tab) “Cartoonist Scott Adams made racist feedback in a YouTube livestream Feb. 22, offensive remarks that The Times rejects.”
By Monday, even Andrews McMeel Universal, the distributor of the comedian, had severed ties with Adams.
Par for the course for Musk
Seeing Musk so brazenly wade right into a dialog to defend Adams, effectively, it is not fully stunning.
For years, Black staff at Tesla, the place Musk is CEO, have come ahead with allegations of racism skilled whereas on the firm. Just one of many many examples(Opens in a brand new tab) contains slurs and racist harassment reportedly leveled at Tesla’s Black workers from their superiors on the automobile maker’s factories. Lawsuits have been filed(Opens in a brand new tab) through the years, one leading to a single worker receiving $137 million in a jury verdict. However, the previous Tesla employee goes again to courtroom(Opens in a brand new tab) for a brand new trial after a decide lower the quantity to $15 million.
Since Musk took over at Twitter, many previously suspended accounts belonging to far-right customers and white supremacists had been reinstated and allowed again on the platform. Shortly after Musk’s acquisition, researchers found that the utilization of racial slurs(Opens in a brand new tab) on Twitter had been up as a lot as 500 p.c. Musk additionally mocked the “Stay Woke” T-shirts printed up beneath former CEO Jack Dorsey’s reign as a way to present the corporate’s help for Black Lives Matter.
Musk’s actions have resulted in Twitter shedding round half of its largest advertisers. Although, along with his most up-to-date protection of Adams’ racism, it would not appear to have deterred the billionaire’s conduct a lot.
