By now, most of us who consume news on an even semi-daily basis have seen the media and public reaction to Harrison’s Butker’s truly bonkers commencement speech at Benedictine College. The backlash has been swift and furious, and it seems he may soon go the way of so many others before him: down the cancellation chute, which will deposit him directly behind a desk at Fox News. Let me go on the record as saying that I, even as a person most would call “liberal,” am fully opposed to cancelling celebrities for their words. Why? Because if we let them keep talking, they’ll eventually end up cancelling themselves. That is a far better outcome, and something our young people need to see happen. Oh, and also this: freedom of speech.
I understand the push to have him cancelled: he is an influential person in a position of relative power who used that influence and power to make statements that many of us find highly offensive and societally damaging. Our young folks are watching and, especially for those who will grow up to be men, hearing a clean-cut, academic-robe-wearing, well-paid athlete make sexist, homophobic, misogynistic, comments can lay a foundation we don’t want them to build on.
But note: since Butker’s speech, the (Catholic) college, the NFL, super stars, and many others have made strong statements distancing themselves from Butker’s positions. Very, very few people are speaking in his defense. So what youth have witnessed thus far is a creepy guy making creepy comments that pissed folks off and he’s being called out for it. That’s amazing, and exactly what I want those still figuring out their own positions on these issues to see.
Just as importantly, if the universal “we” shut him down and tell him he’s not entitled to state his own opinions and still remain in polite society, we’re telling youth that freedom of speech is only free until we say something others don’t like. That is by far the more dangerous message, which I strongly feel would drive young people into the truly harmful arenas available to them, such as the collective -chans, incel chatrooms, etc., where real damage can occur. The NFL doesn’t put out statements saying they disagree with positions asserted in those forums, but it did put out a statement distancing itself from Butker. The Chiefs need to do the same, by the way. But do I think they need to fire him? No, I don’t. Playing football does not require one to have popular opinions.
What would be truly scary is if after his speech, big names—say, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift—had supported him and said, “you know what? I feel that way, too,” then Taylor hung up her friendship bracelets to have lots of babies. But that isn’t what happened. If she had done that, I would be disappointed, but again, freedom of speech and our right to our own opinions would render—should render—my disappointment irrelevant. That would be completely their choice to make as a couple.
Sadly, there have been a select few who have come out in support of Butker’s positions. I do wish our world were completely beyond such wrong thinking ways. A lot of conservatives feel the same way about the things liberals say. We are both continuously outraged by the other, as it should be. So instead of giving this guy a one-way ticket down the ol’ chute, let’s use this moment as an opportunity to talk to our kids about these issues and impart to them that what makes America so special is our codified agreement to disagree, saving cancel culture for the more egregious yet often ignored things plaguing us.