We remember some years ago someone sharing with us a newsletter by Scott Adams, the creator of the “Dilbert” cartoon strip. Nothing overtly political was in the newsletter, but a careful reading of several newsletters led us to believe the cartoonist was not part of what is commonly known as “the liberal media.”
The newsletter didn’t have enough in it to interest us in subscribing, so we admit we don’t know how, or if, the author’s views have drifted, darkened or become more political since that time.
But we admit we were flabbergasted when we heard that on his YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” Adams had described people who are Black as members of “a hate group,” a “racist hate group.” White people, he said, should “get away” from Blacks. He additionally said he would no longer “help Black Americans.”
What followed in short succession was the decision by hundreds of newspapers — including this one — to drop his comic strip lampooning office culture and for “Dilbert” distributor Andrews McMeel Universal to sever ties with him.
Adams initially defended himself on social media against those he said “hate me and are canceling me,” then later said he understands that newspapers dropping his strip “made a business decision, which I don’t consider anything like censorship.” He also maintained his remarks about Blacks were hyperbole.