Scott Adams, the illustrator behind the “Dilbert” comic strip, has found himself in hot water after making inflammatory racist remarks. Apparently he has promoted right-wing ideologies for quite some time, but the results of a Rasmussen Reports poll caused him to further amplify his ignorance.
The poll allegedly found that around 26% of Black Americans disagreed with the phrase “It’s okay to be White” while others weren’t sure. On his YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” the cartoonist constantly referred to Black people as members of a “hate group” or a “racist hate group.”
Adams stated: “If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people … that’s a hate group. I don’t want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people … because there is no fixing this.”
After saying Black folks aren’t “focusing on education,” he then remarked: “I’m also really sick of seeing video after video of Black Americans beating up non-Black citizens.” After readers voiced outrage about Adams’ remarks, The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the USA Today network said they would stop publishing “Dilbert.”
Days later, Adams said that racism against “individuals” and racist laws is unacceptable but: “You should absolutely be racist whenever it’s to your advantage. Every one of you should be open to making a racist personal career decision.”
On Sunday (February 26), Twitter CEO Elon Musk chimed in on the controversy by defending Adams and posting: “For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians. Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist.”
Adams and Musk are intentionally promoting white replacement theory, reiterating that white people are in danger of becoming a minority and losing power. Adams’ comic not being circulated by major newspapers is an apt response to his racism, but his hate is proof of a larger endemic American problem.