Museum directors, college deans, and newspaper editors take note.
A few weeks ago a petition spearheaded by a San Francisco Bay Area high school senior was submitted to the Trader Joe’s supermarket company that included the following claim. “The Trader Joe’s branding is racist because it exoticizes [sic] other cultures — it presents ‘Joe’, as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it … The common thread between all of these transgressions is the perpetuation of exoticism, the goal of which is not to appreciate other cultures, but to further other and distance them from the perceived ‘normal.’” These days such statements are followed by steely-eyed demands, and these days most companies and institutions comply.
Trader Joe’s response? “A few weeks ago, an online petition was launched calling on us to ‘remove racist packaging from [our] products.’ Following were inaccurate reports that the petition prompted us to take action. We want to be clear: we disagree that any of these labels are racist. We do not make decisions based on petitions.”
As a dedicated TJ shopper I say, “Good for them.”
As a lifelong fan who owns all your books, I can only hope that no one with power over museums, brands or other influential institutions reads this. Or, if they do, they realize that sometimes it for the best when the previous generation steps off the stage.
Goodbye boomer.
Actually I predate the boomers, but I take your point.
I’ll second the previous response, though less dismissively I hope. I am a boomer, pushing 70, and have no interest in canceling anyone, nor do I find critical theory particularly compelling. But this is clearly a moment when choosing to STFU would be a wise SOP for many of us. In your case you have a large and highly-respected body of work, incredibly well-written, and lacking a whiff of ideology. Descriptive not prescriptive. Should you now stand revealed as a Fox news grandpa and Peterson cultist is, of course, entirely your business. But many of your fans would be let down. I know I would be.
I don’t know who could find Trader Joe’s humor offensive, but I suppose that just means I’m part of the problem, and I’ll just live with it. Humor is offensive. Has nobody watched George Carlin? Now I’ll STFU.