Workplace comic strip Dilbert is being pulled from newspapers across the country this week, following creator Scott Adams' statements on his YouTube channel. In comments reacting to a Rasmussen Reports poll in which 53% of black surveyees agreed with the statement, "It's okay to be white," Adams stated that, "if nearly half of all blacks are not okay with white people ... that's a hate group." Adams continued "the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people ... because there's no fixing this, this can't be fixed."
As reported by The Washington Post, newspapers across the country are pulling Dilbert from their pages following Adams' vlog episode 'AI Goes Woke, I Accidentally ed A Hate Group, Trump, Policing Schools.' The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and hundreds of papers under the USA Today network are ceasing publication of the comic strip, with Adams stating that by Monday, "around zero" newspapers will still carry the comic.
Why Dilbert Is Being Pulled
Dilbert is a comic-strip workplace comedy which began in 1989, following the misadventures of the titular everyman, whose job becomes a nightmare of bureaucracy and moving goalposts thanks to the actions of the feckless Pointy-Haired Boss, callous Director of Human Resources Catbert, scheming housemate Dogbert, and a variety of unreasonable co-workers. The comic strip's ubiquity in '90s workplaces gave it significant cultural impact, with a 1999 TV show of the same name starring Jason Alexander, Daniel Stern, and Kathy Griffin.
Beyond its clear intent as racial provocation, the phrase "It's okay to be white" has long-documented roots in racist rhetoric, with the the Black Lives Matter movement and issuing bizarre political predictions. In the video, Adams states, "It makes no sense whatsoever as a white citizen of America to try and help black citizens anymore. It doesn't make sense. It's no longer a rational impulse."
Scott Adams Was Already a Controversial Figure
Adams' comments were made in the context of reversing his satirical decision to stop "identifying as black" - a concept which he also used in several 2022 Dilbert strips in which an engineer named Dave (the strips' first black character) 'identifies' as white, thwarting the Pointy-Haired Boss' attempts to expand the diversity of the company's engineering team. On Twitter, Adams has branded the response to his comments "my canceling," as well as sharing tweets characterizing his comments as "a stunt," suggesting a lack of sincerity in what some news sources have identified as segregationist rhetoric.
However, looking at the larger body of Adams' political and social commentary, it's difficult to conclude anything but a sincere, sustained and effortful championing of reactionary philosophy, albeit sprinkled with infrequent praise for select progressive individuals (Adams has repeatedly claimed to hold no political affiliation.) Given the context this lends Adams' comments, it's unlikely the publications currently removing Dilbert from their pages will reverse this decision, though the strip will continue via Adams' own website.
Source: 'Episode 2027 Scott Adams: AI Goes Woke, I Accidentally ed A Hate Group, Trump, Policing Schools' on Real Coffee with Scott Adams The Washington Post, ADL.org Scott Adams
