This is not ‘cancel culture’, this is fighting systematic injustice

I’m going to keep it short and sweet today because my intent is to try to communicate to Cody Anderson why his statement about bullying and cancel culture is wrong.

While he did say he does not agree with or support the things Greg Glassman has said, he has criticized our movement for perpetuating “cancel culture” in the way we’re separating ourselves from CrossFit. Anderson wrote on Instagram, “Does anybody else see the hypocrisy in preaching unity and love across all people and then raising metaphorical pitchforks at somebody the next week when they make a stupid comment?”

Later in his statement he writes, “Cancel culture is not ok, it’s bullying and excludes all opinions except it’s own.”

Well. Cody. First of all, you spoke up and said that you want to embrace love. Which all of us agree with you on. For sure, everything we’re doing here is in support of love and in fight of hatred. But what your statement ignores and fails to address is a society that is systematically oppressing, arresting, hurting, and killing black people. Greg Glassman has had two weeks in the spotlight for this, and millions of moments he could have changed his stance, spoken up, or walked back his hatred.

Racism does not go away just because we say, “oh, silly Greg Glassman. You’re such a goofball. We forgive you.” We don’t. And we’re not leaving his brand because we don’t have forgiveness in our hearts. We’re leaving his brand because he isn’t changing. We’re leaving his brand because we already have problems with equality and the brand, under Glassman’s leadership, and he’s not providing a solution to the problem.

You’ve called us bullies. Is Glassman not a bully here? Are you saying we should pay Glassman $3,000 a year of our lunch money so we can stay friends with him while he terrorizes black people? The answer is no.

Will the oppression of black people go away if we forgive Greg Glassman? The answer is no. Will the mass incarceration of black people go away if we forgive Greg Glassman? The answer is no. Will the beatings of black people go away if we forgive Greg Glassman? The answer is no. WIll the killing of black people go away if we forgive Greg Glassman? The answer is no.

Will someone see the example we made here and, as a leader, learn that it’s not okay to perpetuate the systematic oppression of black people? The answer is yes.

This isn’t cancel culture. This is a cultural course correction and Greg Glassman is the iceberg.

By Ben Garves

Ben Garves is a digital product expert, author, entertainer, and activist. His portfolio of thought leadership in digital marketing and web experiences has included major clients like Microsoft, Google, Twitter, eBay, and Facebook. He’s also a freelance health and fitness journalist with over 400 stories written since 2018, a podcaster with 200 episodes to his name, and runs a YouTube channel with over 100 fitness and activism-oriented videos and live streams. Ben has founded the Fitness is for Everyone™ initiative to raise awareness about social injustice in both racial inequality and socioeconomic disparity in access to quality fitness and nutrition options around the globe.

1 comment

  1. But it IS cancel culture. He was not making a commentary about George Floyd, or the protests. He was making a comment about the poor handling of the health-care situation. His point was that ANYTHING they stick their nose in, would fair as badly.

    It was obvious what he meant.

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