The Church of Woke™ has taken over many of our institutions in the last three weeks. Perhaps none so entirely as the corporate media. Leading the pack has been the New York Times, which has turned the paper’s editorial decisions over to the woke interns. In keeping with their role as enforcers of the new cultural marxism, they are now elevating cyberbullying in the name of fighting racism.
Reporters Taylor Lorenz and Katherine Rosman penned an article elevating call-out culture among teens nationwide:
Over the past few weeks, as the Black Lives Matter movement has grown following outrage over the killing of George Floyd, high school students have leveraged every social media platform to call out their peers for racist behavior.
Students have repurposed large meme accounts, set up Google Docs and anonymous pages on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, and wielded their personal followings to hold friends and classmates accountable for behavior they deem unacceptable.
Stated another way, anonymous users are creating social media mobs to shame and shun their peers and school officials. Primarily what is deemed unacceptable is a failure to say the new religious mantras of the far left. Take Whitesboro High School teacher, Andrew Puckey. He had the nerve to say ‘all lives matter, and the mob came for him. The mob forced him to issue a public apology.
Next Level Cyberbullying
According to the article, dozens of call out accounts have appeared on Instagram. Some very large meme accounts have also devoted themselves to amplify the call-out posts from the school or community-based accounts.
While the article acknowledges this behavior has led to harassment, doxxing, and ostracization of the targeted teens, it does so dispassionately. It is a statement of fact with no nod to the inherent danger in these activities. They proceed to post the full name and location of a minor who is suffering harassment for posting in support of law enforcement. Her father is a police officer:
After posting some advocacy on Instagram and TikTok for the Blue Lives Matter movement, Ms. [deleted] , whose father is a police officer, was met with vicious harassment. Her posts spread across her peers’ Instagram feeds, and “my own friends were commenting that I was racist, that they can’t support me,” she said. “Things travel fast. I’m nervous about my address getting leaked.”
The authors did not comment on this child’s fear or the fact that she posted something that can be considered a mainstream view. Welcome to the new definition of “problematic” behavior. You will be made to care, and you will be punished for wrong think. This behavior is next level cyberbullying.
Retribution
The article repeatedly talks about racist language, but only ever mentions explicitly the use of the n-word. The same one I heard at least a half a dozen times during Dave Chappell’s recent special. But I digress.
However, there is no grace or forgiveness in this new secular religion. And it appears the New York times is okay with it. Even if the cyberbullying target is a teen in the period of their life where you are trying out behavior, prone to making mistakes and figuring out how to operate effectively in the world. The people running these accounts are clear about their aims. Step out of line, and they will endeavor to ruin your life.
Many students believe the only consequence their peers will take seriously is having their college admissions letter rescinded. “I’m not trying to target freshmen or middle schoolers, but people who are about to go to college need to be held accountable for what they say,” said Anamika Arya, the 16-year-old administrator of @Smithtown_Racist_Callouts, which is focused on Smithtown, N.Y.
“People who go to college end up becoming racist lawyers and doctors. I don’t want people like that to keep getting jobs,” Mx. Arya added.
“People think when you call out a racist student, it’s ruining their life,” said Mariwa Gambo, 15, a junior at a New York City public school. “But when you prevent them from advancing, you’re helping to stop the spread of racist lawyers or doctors or people who make it harder for the black community.”
These are teens looking to exact retribution with life long consequences on their peers. Cyberbullying may not even be the right word. Even the term cancel culture seems to come up short. To a teen, this would feel more like a life-ending event. One they may not recover from.
The first teen scalp grabbed by the thought police was Kyle Kashuv. No apology and no amount of sincerity or contrition would suffice. At 17, everything he had worked for evaporated. Primarily because he supported the 2nd Amendment, and someone caught him being a dumb kid. Corporate Media, like the New York Times, lauded the outcome. Luckily, Kyle had some high profile supporters who helped him navigate the blow. Most teens aren’t that lucky.
Everyone has been a dumb kid. Anyone over the age of 30 should take a look in the rearview mirror. I’d love to hear from the first one that can’t recall a cringeworthy moment that could have gotten you mobbed on Instagram today. No matter how woke you are. As the adults in the room, we should all be encouraging grace and forgiveness. If you didn’t criticize Harvard rescinding Kashuv’s acceptance, you need to stand up now.
The Real Dangers
This trend could not be more dangerous. Not that the cultural Marxists at the New York Times care. It is happening in a generation of teens and young adults with startling levels of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Add ostracization and exclusion to the mix, and it will undoubtedly lead to an increase in self-harm. The researcher and author Jean Twenge calls this trend an epidemic of anguish.
Twenge wrote “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less happy and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood and What That Means for the Rest of Us.” In the book, she notes youths or every racial group, region, and class are growing up more slowly. A teen at 18 now has achieved milestones comparable to those obtained by 14-year-olds in previous generations.
The author also notes her data sources access surveys of 11 million teens. In these surveys, it is clear. iGen, also called Gen Z, expects people of all genders, races, and sexual orientations are treated equally. They report being shocked when they encounter prejudice.
How this expectation will evolve in a political culture where a portion of them are asked to genuflect and acknowledge the original sin of being born white should concern everyone. The political left could easily erase decades of progress because they lost an election in 2016 and are seeking to divide us in the most despicable way possible.
This next-level cyberbullying is going to end nowhere good if people do not start to speak up. In highlighting the behavior without noting the significant downsides, the New York Times is helping to shove us down a dangerous path. One that relies on resentment and retribution with no avenue for forgiveness for a generation that is less mature than previous ones and already at significant risk for self-harm.
Don’t let this turn tragic. Speak up now.
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