Not just a pretty face

Time to cancel cancel culture

CONGRATULATIONS to Ebony Mitchell, a 25-year-old graduate student from Harrison. She won the title of Miss Arkansas 2022 over the weekend.

She’s a graduate of UCA and is currently working on her MBA. Her platform seems to be an initiative to keep kids safe online with something called “A Responsible Digital You.” Good for her.

Folks might have been most impressed by what she said in response to a question given to her about cancel culture during the onstage interview portion of the contest:

“I believe in forgiveness, and I believe in giving second chances. I would love to see cancel culture come to an end in our lifetime.”

We think most people would agree. This country is already divided enough, wouldn’t you say? And there are those who make quite a good living keeping us that way. Nobody seems safe. The slightest mistake, the bad joke, the incorrect opinion, the unfortunate Twitter (re)post, or the worst five seconds of your day might mean the end of a job and financial security. And a canceled reputation that follows for years. Just the other day, an NFL assistant coach was fined $100,000 for calling Jan. 6 a “dust-up.”

Folks don’t have the right to be wrong anymore. They must be canceled from public life. Or worse, made to go through a modern struggle session in which they must apologize for their thoughts. The Maoists during the Cultural Revolution would understand.

Nobody is perfect. And everybody has a thought that might get them canceled by modern purists.

A better thought: Cancel cancel culture. And let’s all lighten up.