Artists are not always their art. Canceled cartoonist Scott Adams is yet another reminder of this. For many of us, Adams’ most famous art Dilbert was a ubiquitous part of ’90s and ’00s corporate life.
Every secretary seemed to have a Dilbert strip pinned to their corkboard. Everyone else up to middle management seemed to have a Dilbert strip taped to their door or their computer monitor. Or drank from a Dilbert coffee mug. The little simpleton was everywhere.
Well, now Dilbert is at it again.
In a recent online rant, Adams called Black People a “hate group”, and a violent drain on society. He added that White People (writ large) would be safer and much better off if they just stayed as far away from Black People as possible. He then bragged about how much better his life has been since he’s minimized his contact with Black people.
I’m going to ignore the outlets that have responded by pulling Adams’ work because anyone who’s followed him over the years knows that his latest rant isn’t new for him. He’s shared similar views for years now online. It’s like deciding Tucker Carlson or Bill Maher “went too far” yesterday. If they shock you now, you likely just weren’t paying attention before.
Secondly, Adams’ current reported net worth exceeds $50 Million. Break your coffee mugs, unsubscribe, and stomp your feet all you want; there’s no canceling him. He’ll be fine. That’s why he’s doubled down on his racism in subsequent posts since.
But what is worth addressing now is that Adams has MILLIONS of fans and supporters with gigs in Corporate America that have stood by him the more of his true colors that he’s laid bare. And many of them have LinkedIn profiles and likely work with you. (I know I’ve worked with more than my share.)
REELated:
For them, Adams is a keep-it-real, tell-it-like-it-is champion. Like Tucker, Hannity, Maher, Chappelle (on certain topics) et al, Scott speaks a truth that THOSE PEOPLE don’t want to hear. He’s a slingshot that gets their rocks off. He goes toe-to-toe with what they snipe away at from distance.
Online they cheer Adams and his ilk. Offline they feign concern over police brutality in mixed company while privately saying “they shoulda complied.” They deftly obfuscate DEI initiatives at work. They offer platitudes of allyship then quietly vote for regressive latently bigoted candidates. They have a few diverse drinking buddies here and there, but their neighborhoods and spaces that matter to them are willfully far from integrated. And that’s all by design.
But don’t fight with Dilbert fans at your job. You won’t change their minds and we already told you how bad things were but you didn’t listen. But, if you choose to rock with Dilbert or any of these other goofs after this, I have a box set of Mel Gibson’s best flix for you.
Hadji Williams is an award-winning copy and content writer with Nigerian blood and Chicago roots. He’s pushed everything under the sun from AT&T to Gillette, Bayer AG to Mercedes Benz, and Spectrum to Wrigley’s Gum, plus a few NDA-unmentionables. He’s currently chasing big screens and streams in SoCal.
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