Dilbert Takes a Dive
In case you missed it, Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, went on a YouTube rant that got his comic strip dropped from every single damn paper in the universe.1 How did it happen? Read on!
(Trigger Warning: Copious amounts of stupid discussed in this essay.)
It began with a stupid Rasmussen poll.
Rasmussen asked 1000 Americans two questions:
1 - Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “It’s OK to be white.”
2 - Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “Black people can be racist too.”
This was clearly a clickbait poll designed to get a heated reaction. Those are your only two questions? Really?!? Not precisely an in-depth and nuanced Upton Sinclaireque exploration of the American zeitgeist. Well played Rasmussen!
The part of the poll everyone zeroed in on was that only 53% of black people said it was “OK” to be white. For some folks, this meant that 47% of black people must hate white people!
Adams goes dark
Lots of folks freaked out, especially Adams. During his February 23 episode of “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” (a show that has Adams maundering about stuff while his zillions of fans type furiously into the chat sidebar) he went on a tear. If you want to skip to the money, go to the 13:20 mark.
It’s a bizarre segment, with lots of insider ‘humor’ directed at his fans.
As you know, I’ve been identifying as black for a while.
[Wtf?]
Because I like to be on the winning team
[sardonic smirk]
And I like to help
[sincere look]
There’s a lot of this with Adams. He’ll say something wacky, borderline (or well over the border) crazy, and then he’ll wink at it as if to say “Did I mean, that? Maybe, maybe, maybe not.”
And then he gets down to brass tamales.
Nearly half of that team [black people] doesn’t think I’m ok to be white.
This is the first political poll that changed my activities.
As of today I’m going to reidentify as white because I don’t want to be a member of a hate group. I’d accidentally joined a hate group.
Black people are a hate group? What should we whites do?!? Adams had the answer:
The best advice I could give to white people is to get the hell away from black people. Just get the fuck away…Because there’s no fixing this. You just have to escape. So that’s what I did. I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low black population.
(Fact Check: TRUE. Adams lives in a 7,000-square-foot mansion in Danville, California. Danville is 78% white and 10% Asian, and 0.8% black. In 2014, Danville was the 14th wealthiest zip code in the United States.)
Adams feels kinda bad for himself. He’s worked so hard for black people!
I’m going to back off from being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off. I’ve been doing it all my life and the only outcome is I get called a racist.
He goes on to blame black people because they’re not taking the obvious route to success: education.
The only thing that will work is you [black people] gotta fix your own problem. You know how to do it [education]. Everybody else figured it out.
And then, because he hasn’t gone far enough…
I’m also really sick of seeing video after video of black Americans beating up non-black citizens…I realize it’s anecdotal…but every damn day I look on social media and there’s some black person beating the shit out of some white person. I’m kind of over it. I’m over it. I quit.
The reaction to Adams’ rant was fierce. His fans vociferously defended him on Twitter, but the general reaction was he had gone way too far.2 Andrews McMeel Universal, which distributed “Dilbert,” stopped running the comic strip. GoComics stopped hosting him. Scores of newspapers followed suit.
Newspapers ranging from the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post to smaller papers like the the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette have also said they would cease to publish “Dilbert.”
Was Adams being racist?
Yes, of course, he was.
Look, I’m not saying Adams hates black people or thinks they’re inferior, but you don’t need to believe all that to be racist. If you are going to treat an entire group of people as a monolithic entity and shun them because of their supposed collective nature, that’s racist. Imagine saying, “I’m not antisemitic but I don’t want to be around Jewish people because they’re always trying to carry out their plans to take over the world.” Yeah, congratulations, you qualify for membership in the Aryan Youth League.
Did he really mean it? I don’t know. Adams has this whole edgelord3 vibe that he uses to speculate about everything from COVID conspiracies to election denial, always with that twinkle in his eye that says, “maybe I believe this stuff, maybe I don’t.” How much does he actually believe? I have the feeling that Adams doesn’t believe in much of anything except his own cleverness.
I think some of Adams’ support comes from people who like him because he’s “anti-woke.” Culture War loyalties have blinded some folks to the fact that a person can share some of their opinions but still have other bad views.
Do black people hate white people?
No.
Remember, this was a very stupid poll.
Yes, 26% of black people voted that they disagreed with “It’s OK to be white,” but so did 7% of white people! Most white and black people were ok with me being white (which is a relief). Only 18% of black people “strongly disagreed” with “it’s OK to be white.” (Were the other 8% just a bit iffy about whiteness? Or maybe it’s just that one white guy at the local hardware store that they don’t like? Darn you Kyle!)
The specific phrase “It’s OK to be white” is more than a little hinky.4 It started getting pushed back in 2017 on the message board 4chan as a kind of trolling answer to “Black Lives Matter.” Basically a juvenile response, “Oh 'Black Lives Matter,' but what about whites? It's OK to be white!” It was then picked up and spread by far-right groups like the KKK and the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer. Anyone familiar with that history is going to connect “It's OK to be white” with some nasty racist baggage and vote “disagree.”
Even if you don’t know that history, the phrase sounds a little sus.5 If you have an ear for American racial dynamics, it sounds like something an oversensitive racist might ask. “Oh, you don't think being white's OK?” I can imagine some white and black people responding “disagree” because the phrase hinted at hidden racism.
If you don’t hear racism, the question can still be confusing. Does it mean “it’s OK” meaning, it’s fine, or does “it’s OK,” mean that there’s no downside to being white and that white people don’t suffer from life’s ills? A sympathetic black person might think “No, white people actually have their own problems” and then choose “disagree.” Or maybe it means that it’s OK for the listener to be white, and a black person might respond “disagree” because they’re happy being black and it wouldn’t be “OK” for them to be white!
It’s a really stupid question.
Even if a black person means something negative by a “disagree” response, what exactly they mean remains unclear. Are they saying all white people are bad? Maybe. Or perhaps they’re just saying that white people still need to fix racism in America, so they’re not totally “OK.” Maybe again! There’s a long history of white racism in America and not every black American is going to be thrilled to say white people are “OK.” That’s not the same as wishing white people didn’t exist!
And let’s add one extra pound of stupid. The poll questioned “1000 American Adults” of whom “13%” were black. Thirteen percent of one thousand. One hundred and thirty people in a single poll with a badly worded question that could be interpreted seventeen different ways and they somehow represent all of black America? Getting upset over this would take a mountain of stupid, and yet a smart guy like Adams actually does get upset and responds by ruining his legacy. Marone, fuggedaboutit!6
Now do any black people hate me for being white? Of course! It’s a big country and black people can be racist too. The Black Hebrew Israelites are a literal hate group that harangues passersby with anti-white rhetoric, but they aren’t most black people!
There’s also a brand of lefty activism that involves berating white people but it’s mostly done by other white people. I find that kind of thing disturbing and bad for America but it involves a small minority and while it’s worth opposing it’s not an excuse for being racist towards black people!
I live in racially diverse New York City (32% white, 29% Hispanic, 23% black, 14% Asian) and have very rarely been directly confronted with hate because of my skin color.7
Do I find the Rasmussen poll numbers concerning? Sure, mildly. They remind me of this poll where both black and white people think race relations in America have gotten worse.
But that’s what black and white people think other people are thinking. What do they think about black and white relations? They say “go for it!” I find it hard to believe that most black people can both hate white people and think it’s ok to marry them.
So it was a stupid poll, it doesn’t mean black people hate white people, and Adams was incredibly stupid to overreact in the way he did.
Hotep Jesus
What about that February 25 Hotep Jesus appearance? Adams fans on Twitter, trying to support their guy, asked me to check out Adams' guest appearance (post debacle) on Hotep Jesus. Ok, sure.
Hotep Jesus, aka Bryan Sharpe, is a black influencer who pushes cryptocurrencies, herbal cures (“Master Focus, 100% Herbal Nootropic”), and various other money-making “opportunities” (for someone). He has a reputation for being critical of black people (which has made him appealing to a certain kind of conservative). He also has a history of antisemitic comments. “Alt-right isn’t afraid to call out the Jews and their implications in the destruction of the black community in America.”
Adams' appearance was an attempt to redeem himself. He’d talk to a sympathetic black face and this would show he’s not racist. After discussing his views on a few issues (reparations, education) he got to his defense.
First, Adams positioned himself as a free-speech martyr.
I discovered that the price of free speech was very high and there are only a few people wiling to pay it. And I decided to pay it. So I could extend the conversation to something everyone needs to hear.
He’s against discrimination.
I’m opposed to any form of discrimination against individuals.
but
You might want to avoid people who had a bad opinion of you.
It would be good for me to stay away from people who had been brainwashed [by the media] to dislike me.
And finally, he tell us he wasn’t really saying what we all heard him say.
I assume people know hyperbole when they see it, right. You know when I say stay away from black people anybody who thought that was like a literal like yeah all black people if you see one coming run run…like really, do you think that happened? That I went on a live stream and said stay away from black people, every one of them, there’s no exceptions, whatever you do.
Notice Adams’ use of weaselly qualifiers. “All black people.” He didn’t mean all! (But he’s still leaving room for saying “most.”) “Stay away from black people, every one of them, there’s no exceptions.” Again, Adams claims he was misunderstood because he didn’t mean every single black person! (Just most.)
It’s a convincing performance if you’re a fan, which I’m not.
Everyone was very mad at me, but nobody disagreed with the point I made.
No, Scott, we did disagree. Large numbers of black people do not object to the existence of white people. Thinking that is stupid. Basing your views on a single survey is stupid. Avoiding an entire group even if a minority in that group doesn’t like you is also stupid. Many of us disagreed with every point Adams was making. As the cleverest guy in his mind, Adams finds that impossible to accept.
The Hotep Jesus interview did not redeem Adams. (And I’m peevish that nagging fans made me watch it.)
Cancel culture
One annoying side-note to this very annoying sea of stupid were all the voices on Twitter saying, “see, cancel culture isn’t real because you support canceling Scott Adams.”
I like author Thomas Chatterton Williams’ response:
Did Adams deserve his fall from grace? If he was a plumber or a stockbroker, I’d say ‘no.’ Most people say stupid things and we shouldn’t fire them all. Adams, however, is a media personality who makes his money because people like his stuff. A lot fewer of them are going to like his stuff after he publically stated he was going to behave in a racist way towards black people. It’s simply bad business for the Washington Post or the Cleveland Plain Dealer to keep carrying his comic strip.
Should you keep enjoying Dilbert? Not my call. The art and the artist are separate. Ezra Pound was a raving antisemite who made radio broadcasts attacking the Jews during World War Two, but his poetry is still good (or so I’m told). I think old Dilbert strips are funny (because they are!).
The sad part about all this is if Scott Adams had really wanted to help he could have used his very big platform to bring attention to real issues, like the need for better educational opportunities for all Americans, or reducing racism among both white and black people. Instead, he just wanted to joke, flirt with edgy ideas, and be a provocateur. Well, he’s paying the price.
This may not be literally true but it sounds true. We’ll know for sure when the dust clears.
Although Elon Musk tweeted in semi-support. Because of course he did.
“Someone, especially posting on the internet, who uses shocking and nihilistic speech and opinions that they themselves may or may not actually believe to gain attention and come across as a more dangerous and unique person. Most Edgelords are teenagers trying to seem overly cool and/or over-casually apathetic.”
I picked up “hinky” (meaning dishonest or suspect) from “The Fugitive” (1993) and I’m not letting it go.
Yes, “sus” is the same as “hinky,” but in the language of young people. I’m going to keep using it because it upsets my son when his dad is hip. Or hep.
This is Brooklyn Italian slang that roughly means, “You were an idiot.”
I remember a black man getting angry because I was “standing over him” while on the subway. I was upset by his fury and I moved to a different part of the subway car. That was 40 years ago.
Scott Adams and Dilbert aside, that was ... some poll by Rasmussen.
Appreciate your apt takes on how it was more akin to trolling, than an attempt to usefully and actionably suss out race relations attitudes.
And yes, at least personally concurring that one can certainly appreciate art – including Adams' body of work of Dilbert cartoons – in its own right, separate from their artists and anything problematic about them within their own lives.
Adams did a superb job of spotlighting office workplace follies, in part through his own experiences and imagination and – IIRC from at least one past interview with him – also by riffing on suggestions sent by fans, from their experiences in their own workplaces.
Great article, I chortled- I groaned, I nodded along, occasionally I felt moments of despair at how easily people get played- then I made myself a cup of tea and acknowledged how little I miss Twitter drama but how much I miss all y’all!