It’s been quite a racially charged few days for Mr. Scott Adams, creator of the popular comic strip, Dilbert, whose apparent method for celebrating Black History Month is to pretend that he’s black.
Now, as if that weren’t bizarre enough, Adams stated today that because of the backlash he’s receiving, black people won’t benefit from his help anymore. It seems appropriate that a cartoonist has views that can be best described as cartoonish. Even those who had sympathized with him before are wondering what in the world Adams is thinking – or if he’s even thinking at all.
Last week, Adams ranted during his livestream YouTube channel Real Coffee with Scott Adams, after seeing the results of a Rasmussen poll that asked the question, ”Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Is it OK to be white?’ Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Black people can be racist, too.’”
The results showed that 53% of black people who answered the survey said it’s OK to be white. Adams — who is white — reacted by saying, “So, if nearly half of all blacks are not ok with white people – according to this poll, not according to me – that’s a hate group.”
The other 47% of those who don’t fully agree with the statement either completely disagree or are unsure. That caused Adams to slightly lose it. He again reiterated the suggestion that those 47% are a hate group, further stating, “That’s a hate group and I don’t want anything to do with them and I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people, just get the fu** away.”
Adams fell into the trap of continuing the hate.
Obviously, black people as a whole are not to blame for the poll’s results but Adams’ reaction was one geared toward black people as a whole, though he disputes this. However, he also added that white people should move to neighborhoods where the black population is practically non-existent.
Adams then suffered a major backlash, but not just on social media. Numerous newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today, said they will drop Adam’s comic strip Dilbert from their papers.
That’s when things got strange.
After Adams responded by saying he has lost 3 different careers to racist white people, he added that he identified as black for several years.
This received further backlash, though such backlash was limited to social media and not everyone’s sure if he’s joking or not or — if he actually is joking — why would that be the joke?
He livestreamed on YouTube today but he didn’t exactly make things better. The story just gets more bizarre.
Amongst many other things, Adams, speaking to his viewers, said all of the following:
“Answer this question: I have been a strong ally for black people for years. Yes or no?”
“I have been one of the strongest allies for Black America for years.”
“If you take my voice away is Black America better or worse? I mean, who is the victim? I’m still rich but the people I was trying to help are fu**ed because they’re not gonna get the same help – or are they?”
“Have I apologized to anybody? Nope. I own my opinion.”
Adams went on to say he is willing to sacrifice for his opinions but added that he can afford to while others can’t. He also stated, in an interview with popular YouTuber Hotep Jesus, that his original statements were not meant to mean all black people.
“When I say stay away from black people, anyone who thought that was literal — like all black people, if you see one coming then run — do you think that I would say on a livestream to stay away from black people, every one of them, there’s no exceptions?”
The problem here is that Adams is suggesting that he generalized which, if true, is problematic for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that generalizations are based on the majority. So, it’s as if he stating he only meant to say stay away from most black people. Yet, if he meant to say stay away from a small amount of black people then why make such a statement at all? Isn’t it obvious why such a statement is still a problem?
And how does one claim that saying white people should move to communities where there are almost no black people is somehow a generalization?
Regardless, the core of the controversy is that he continues to say head-scratching things and even if he can dispel one of those things, there are still all of those other statements he has made…. and it appears he won’t be stopping anytime soon.
