The syndicated comic strip “Dilbert” has been taken off newspapers across the country after its creator Scott Adams went on a racist rant and seemingly encouraged White people to “get the hell away” from Black Americans. Shortly after, Twitter owner Elon Musk jumped into the discussion and accused the media of being “racist against whites & Asians.”
What happened
Adams was reacting to the results of a recent survey done by conservative-leading polling firm Rasmussen Reports that showed 53% of Black American respondents agreed with the statement, “It’s OK to be White.”
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with White people – according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll – that’s a hate group,” Adams said on his YouTube show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams” on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” he added. “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 f**k away … because there is no fixing this.”
Gannett Co.’s USA Today Network, which publishes hundreds of newspapers around the country, denounced Adams’ remarks and said that they will no longer be publishing his work.
Chris Quinn, editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland shared that the move to not carry Adams’ work “was not a difficult decision.”
Andrews McMeel Syndication, the firm that distributes Adams’ long-running comic strip, was initially quiet on the issue but the company announced on Sunday that it will be cutting ties with the creator and said that his recent remarks about race and race relations do not align with the company’s core values.
Elon Musk weighs in
Musk, who imagines himself as a defender of free speech, was quick to jump into the controversy. In a now-deleted tweet, he asked Adams, on a quote-tweet mocking a Washington Post columnist’s reaction to the issue, “What exactly are they complaining about?”
Musk later responded to the @MonitoringBias account, focusing on the media’s reaction to the controversy and not the controversy itself, declaring that “the media is racist,” before comparing the media to “elite colleges & high schools in America.”
“It’s OK to be white”
The poll that Adams was reacting to only had two questions and these were:
- Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “It’s OK to be white.”
- Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “Black people can be racist, too.”
The poll found that 72% of the 1,000 respondents agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white,” including 53% of the Black respondents, 26% of the Black respondents disagreed, and 21% were “not sure.” The survey also found that 79% of the respondents agreed with the statement “Black people can be racist, too.”
The statement “it’s OK to be white” is a slogan that has its roots in the notoriously alt-right online forum 4chan, where in 2017, users flyer-bomb public spaces with the slogan as an effort to trigger the liberals and promote racial polarization. It’s since been used by a host of individuals and groups, including some associated with white nationalism, as a way of asserting a supposed right to white identity and resisting multiculturalism and diversity.
The Anti-Defamation League has denounced the statement as a hate chant. It recently made an appearance on a banner in Portland, Oregon, where it was displayed at the beginning of February, which is Black History Month.
In his lengthy tirade, Adams, who also happens to be a proud Donald Trump supporter, claimed that the portion of Black respondents who did not agree with the statement was a “hate group,” but did not discuss the roots of the statement and whether the respondents also understood its context.
“It turns out that nearly half of that team doesn’t think I’m okay to be white,” he claimed. “I’m going to back off from being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off,” he said. “I get called a racist. That’s the only outcome. It makes no sense to help Black Americans if you’re white. It’s over. Don’t even think it’s worth trying.”
Information for this briefing was found via Bloomberg, NPR News, Washington Post, Twitter, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
