Campus Conversations: Riverside City College students react to cancel culture

April 20, 2022

From left: Cydnei Rediford (first-year, elementary education major), Ty Miller (second-year, philosophy major), Gorge Rojas (second-year, sociology major.) (Daesha Gear | Viewpoints)

Interviews and photos by Daisy Olivo

Questions: Is cancel culture toxic?

“It is toxic because it doesn’t work the way you want it to. The people that are doing things worthy of being ‘canceled,’ are still selling music, are still in political office, still making lots of money. (With other people) there are some genuine mistakes that are made from ignorance but not malice and those (mistakes) are treated like un-repentable sins.”
-Naila Santos

“I think cancel culture definitely has its place in society. (But) people need to be educated not canceled. If they are not given a chance to actually learn from their mistakes, we are actually hurting more people in the long run.”
-Keanush Avval

“I feel like cancel culture is beneficial in a way. We need to get rid of all of these elements that put other people down or do not add up to the rules we as a society have implemented. I think it is totally valid. We have to let these individuals know that whatever they are doing is no longer acceptable in today’s society.”
-Juan Koontz

“It is toxic because it is holding someone accountable for one of their mistakes. It is not an accurate depiction of who they truly are.”
-Marlene Gomez

“Cancel culture is kind of toxic because I feel that it takes peoples’ past experiences and puts that image onto them, that they are racist or (an) ableist or sexist in any way. It could be (from) ten to five years old, or even more but people still bring that up.”
-Maria Peña

“It is very toxic. You are basically f— them over because they don’t agree with you. Even if my point of view is wrong, what gives you the right to say my opinion is wrong? Cancel culture is going out of your way to start a fight simply because someone doesn’t have the popular opinion.”
-Roger Acosta

“Not supporting them (people that have been canceled) is more effective than just going out of your way to ruin their lives completely. It is not fair for people to get canceled for things they did in the past. I feel like people jump on the bandwagon of canceling people because it is a trend.”
-Zimarrah Mayo

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