One of the most refreshing things about the fight against cancel culture is that we’re starting to see left-leaning comedians speak out against it. Dave Chapelle has led the way, and Ricky Gervais is bringing the censorious nature of the left to the forefront as well.
Another voice is joining the chorus: Trevor Noah. The host of The Daily Show talked about the topic of cancel culture on the Award Circuit Podcast, and he had a somewhat different take.
The comic didn’t rail against the excesses of the woke; instead, he spoke about giving offenders another chance. He framed his point of view in light of his dispute with Kanye West, whom Instagram banned after he hurled a racial epithet at Noah. The Grammy Awards removed West from this year’s show, which Noah hosted.
Instead of retaliating against West, Noah offered forgiveness.
“I’ve just become more comfortable speaking my mind in situations where I feel like the mob forgets that we’re dealing with human beings,” he said regarding his attitude toward West and his destructive behavior.
“It’s easy to stand on the sidelines, see a train crash coming and say nothing about it. And then after the train crashes off the tracks, we say, ‘Oh, I saw that coming!’ Well, then why didn’t you say anything? Especially if you have some sort of platform, you have some sort of obligation to speak a truth.”
Related: Cancel Culture Has Destroyed the Power of the Apology
Noah believes that the antidote to cancel culture is redemption.
“If I’ve engaged you as a human being, and if you like me, or if you like anyone in your life, I hope you’d have the ability to say to that person, ‘hey, I think what you’re doing here is wrong. I think you may be headed in [a] dangerous direction. And I’m saying that [to] you because I like you. I don’t discard you as a person,’” he said.
Noah astutely points out that practitioners of cancel culture are too quick to throw people out over their mistakes.
“And I think we have gotten very comfortable discarding human beings, immediately tossing them away and making them irredeemable characters, when in fact, I think all of us should be afforded the opportunity to redeem ourselves,” he added. “All of us should have an opportunity at redemption.”
In Noah’s eyes, too much of today’s culture is transactional, and people face judgment for their last public actions.
“People instantly get defined,” he said. “And you cannot exist in a gray space. You cannot be a good person who’s done a bad thing. And you cannot be a bad person who does a good thing. You’re either a good person or a bad person. And that is it. And then society flip flops with you, depending on your last action.”
Noah’s attitude is a breath of fresh air at a time when the mob seeks to cancel offenders in a heartbeat. If we can put the power of redemption to work, the world just might look a little better.
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