Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

I came across two headlines this morning. Nike won its lawsuit against MSCHF blocking the sale of Satan shoes. The lawsuit was filed after calls from the right to boycott Nike. The second headline was that Trump is encouraging his supporters to boycott MLB and other “woke” companies.

This is what the right often refers to as cancel culture. I personally feel the shoes were a creative artistic expression, and MLB is as American as apple pie.

I am not going to play the victim and whine and complain. I just want to point out that this is the same cancel culture that the right accuses the left of.

Any time a product changes to be more culturally, racially, religious or LGBTQ+ inclusive, many on the right repeatedly complain and blame the left of cancel culture. Most of the time, I am not even aware of a campaign from the left to promote the change. A lot of the time there is no such campaign. Companies sometimes realize that evolving is the right thing to do, that it helps the bottom line and provides free advertisement.

If you have a problem with a company or individual, I support your right to take action by not purchasing certain products or services. I even support your right to create a campaign to encourage others to do the same. If enough of you stand up, you could effect change. After all, wasn’t the Boston Tea Party cancel culture?

But please, let’s be done with playing the victim. Let’s cancel the term cancel culture.

Angie Hanson

Albert Lea