Do Not Underestimate the Power of Cancel Culture
US corporations are doing everything in their power to avoid being cancelled. CEOs are living in fear of losing their cushy, overpaid jobs because they are not following the equity agenda close enough
The Equity Agenda sounds great on its face. Who does not want Equity? However, equity and equality, it turns out, are two completely different things.
Equity flies in the face of accomplishment, skill, merit and earned entitlement. The Equity Agenda, now being practiced heavily in corporate America (and around the world), rewards people by the color of their skin. I know, that sounds like pure racism. In fact, it is reverse racism.
Airlines are now hiring pilots solely based on gender and skin color, so that they can meet their equity quotas. Imagine fine tuning your skills for years and not being award the job simply because you have the wrong skin color? How do you feel about not necessarily having the best pilots in the cockpit?
In a meritocracy, people are rewarded for accomplishments. Accomplishments help companies to move forward. It is best for a country to reward those who have worked the hardest and, as a result, have become the most accomplished. Meritocracy is in serious trouble around the world.
CEOs that do not support the equity agenda are at high risk of being cancelled. Cancel Culture is a real thing and many, large corporation CEOs are living in literal fear.
I am going to give you an example. This is almost unbelievable, but it happened to me.
Nearly two years ago, I went to Kohls Department store and bought a pair of pants. When I went to the check out, the very nice lady asked if I wanted to use my Kohls credit card and get 20% off. She then explained, I could use my visa card and pay off the Kohls bill right there at the register. The net result was I get 20% off. Who does not want 20% off? So I agreed, made the 2 charges, one for pants the other to pay off the Kohls credit card bill.
One month later, I got a bill from Kohls for $7. Obviously they had made a mistake. I immediately called them, they opened a ticket and needed to “look further into it”. I pretty much forgot about it until the next month when my $7 bill was now $8! What? So I called them up again and they said they were still looking into it, but I should pay them anyway. On shear principle I said I will wait and accept your apology.
The next month I got a note from Experian telling me my credit had gone down nearly 200 points! I was shocked. How could this happen? I pay $25/month to Experian so I can monitor my credit. So, I signed into my Experian account and sure enough Kohls had reported that I was delinquent in payment the last 2 months. For that, 40 years of perfect credit was flushed down the toilet.
To spare you all the details I opened two dispute tickets with Experian. Both were denied. I sent a hand written note to Kohls explaining that this was entirely their fault. That is the only way you can dispute with Kohls, by the way, is through snail mail. They sent a letter a month later telling me essentially to go blow.
I was at wits end. What do I do now? All the other credit agencies had caught on too. I now had substandard credit because of a $7 mistake made entirely by Kohls.
So I decided to try a Hail Mary. I know how powerful cancel culture is. In fact a read a note by the Kohls CEO essentially stating our country was a bunch of racists.
Like so many of you, I am deeply pained and angered by the killings of Black Americans — fueled by a long history of systemic racism that continues to plague our nation today.
Racism has stained our country for far too long, and it has to end. The pain and exhaustion caused by racial injustice is overwhelming. Our own Kohl’s associates, customers and communities are feeling this pain.
My original plan was to write another letter to Kohls calling them a bunch of white supremicists. However, I noticed a link on the Experian Site that basically said, Contact us for any reason. I figured I would write my letter to them and see if it got any traction. Here is the letter that I wrote:
To Whom it May Concern,
I have twice disputed a $7 delinquency report made by a very questionable vendor, Kohls Department Store. Experian is supposed to be the experts on who is or is not credit worthy. The level of incompetence shown has been shocking over the last two years. Experian has deemed me un-creditworthy for $7, despite me showing ample proof that the mistake was made by the vendor (Kohls) and a 40 years history of perfect credit. How could Experian have received such a stellar reputation for deciding credit?
Finally it dawned on me. I am in an interracial relationship that has produced 3 wonderful mixed raced children. That has definitely maddened the people deciding my case. So you are not incompetent, you are white supremicists racists! That is the only thing that can explain why you would ruin 40 years of credit over $7.
CEOs have been let go for far less. I am a regular reader of the New York Times. They are actively looking for these types of cases. I think I will contact them and see if this generates any interest.
I do not expect to hear anything in return, that is how a racist works, denial!
— John Doe (name withheld)
I expected nothing from Experian. That was fine, this allowed me to refine my point when I wrote a similar note to Kohls.
I received a reply that day, basically stating more of the same; that was their stance and they were sticking with it.
One week later I received an email from Experian, telling me my credit score had increased. I figured that would be about 2 points, which is the most you can ever expect. For some reason I signed back in and noticed my credit had increased back to the level it was at prior to the Kohls debacle. What? I combed the site looking for an explanation, there was none.
One week later I received a 3rd note from Kohls about my dispute. Remember the first 2 replies told me to go suck an egg. It mattered not that I was right, their reporting me was accurate, whatever that means. However, much to my astonishment, Kohls had basically admitted complete fault and informed all the credit bureaus and to please allow them 60 days to make this right.
I immediately got on Experian and looked to see if the delinquent Kohls charge had been erased. It had not! That means that Kohls did not just magically change their mind and informed Experian of their mistake. Something else triggered this.
My only conclusion was the letter I wrote to Experian. Somebody elevated it, then somebody elevated it until a person with authority and fear of being cancelled made the decision to contact Kohls and let them know what was up. Both companies immediately reversed course! It took 2 weeks from my letter to Experian and that is how dangerous and powerful cancel culture is. After 2 years of being ignored completely, I played the race card and had everything turned around in 2 weeks!
Here is one of the denial letters I received from Kohls:
Two weeks after I sent the racially charged letter to Experian and one month after the last denial letter, I received this:
Quite an amazing turnaround. Remember, I only contacted Experian. I think we know what happened after that.
For those interested, I am not in an interracial relationship, insofar as all relationships are interracial. You see as Americans we are mutts. It is plain and simple and that is ok. I adopted a mutt from a rescue shelter. When asked his breed, I said with great pride, “He is an American Terrier”. It is ok to embrace your culture as long as you understand we are all a part of Team Human!
Right or wrong what I did, Cancel Culture is a real thing!
Great post! Not only does does your story illustrate the absurdity of the equity agenda, I like how you outsmarted them at their own game.
(For what it’s worth, I have learned to pay the small sums and thus never not pay “on principle”… too aggravating and not worth the waste of time.)