Shaun King Cancelled

Cancel Culture Comes for Shaun King at Union Seminary

Erik Tyson on July 21, 2020

A leading proponent of so-called “cancel-culture” has found himself on the receiving end of online “cancellation”.

Former Atlanta pastor and activist prominent in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement Shaun King is drawing increased scrutiny for his charitable fundraising activities, apparently leading to cancellation of an event with a prominent liberal New York seminary.

Cancel-culture, also known as cancelling or callout-culture, is the process of boycotting a celebrity or individual who has acted or carried themselves in a manner that is against the “normal”. An individual can go against this “normal” in a wide variety of situations, including acting in a questionable or controversial manner or carrying themselves in a politically incorrect way.

Canceling often starts online with social media, spreading to other news platforms, gaining traction and attention, most often resulting in the removal and “cancellation” of individuals that are the target of the movement. Most times, the individual that is perceived to be at fault is no longer publicly supported, their works are boycotted, and their name is slandered.

King has a record of advancing cancel-culture. When a person is deemed to be the perpetrator of a heinous act or politically incorrect misjudgment, King and others will take to social media platforms to expose their alleged misdeeds. Oftentimes, these individuals will be treated as “guilty until proven innocent”, with their names, home addresses, and other identifying information publicized in a process known as “Doxxing”.

King attacked frequently, targeting those in leadership positions throughout the United States. Members of Congress, governors, and the President. Besides public figures, King has sought to cancel private citizens such as the married couple who displayed firearms in front of their home while protestors marched by in St. Louis, MO. Recently, King announced that images of “White Jesus” should be removed prompting disagreement among Christians and those of other faiths. A full break-down of this movement can be found in a recent Juicy Ecumenism here.

The cancel-culture that King long advanced has now come for him instead.

On July 12 the official Twitter account for the Seminary announced that the event had been permanently cancelled.

No reason for cancellation was offered, unusual as events featuring King are not typically cancelled. King’s appearances bring publicity and attention to host organizations, but Union faced strong critique from its progressive base.

When the King event was announced, it was almost immediately met with backlash from the seminary account’s Twitter followers. Many of these followers, including Seminary students, alumni and supporters, called for King’s removal from the event ticket. These followers are charging that he does not represent the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement or black women in general.

The Union Seminary followers and others went on to claim that King has done more harm than good for many communities. Association with King has ended in the tainting of various activist platforms, movements, and messages. King’s online detractors alleged that an invitation to King to speak at the Union event would give him an undeserved platform. In addition to the claims that King has harmed multiple activists and communities with his actions, King’s handling of money and other donations has been called into question. King has had a history of threatening to sue other activists who call his financial accounts into question, causing division and strife among the activist community.

In a 2015 DailyBeast article, King confirmed that HopeMob, a non-profit organization he co-founded, raised $1 million for survivors of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. According to the DailyBeast article, $540,000 was raised and only $200,000 was given to a designated Haitian relief organization. There is no record of how the remaining $340,000 was dispersed.

Twitchange totals are in $540,631.25 has been raised through Twitchange to help build the new Miriam Center campus in Bonneau! Thank you Shaun King and Eva!

Posted by Northwest Haiti Christian Mission on Saturday, September 25, 2010

Intended beneficiaries of other crowdfunded campaigns that HopeMob facilitated claim that they never received money raised. After leaving a leadership position in HopeMob, King went on to raise $11,000 to fund his own lobbying efforts for gun control legislation in honor of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The author of the Forbes piece, Tamela J. Gordon, notes that King is neither a registered lobbyist nor is there evidence that he paid an individual or entity to formally lobby government entities.

Instances such as these call into question King’s actions. When given money in the form of donations or gifts, King cannot produce evidence as to where the money went. Distrust of King has resulted in parts of the activist community, prompting the criticism that seemingly led to cancellation of events including the Union Seminary discussion.

If King continues to leave charges of financial impropriety unanswered, the cancel-culture that he has strongly supported will continue to direct opposition back to him.

  1. Comment by thegentletruth on July 21, 2020 at 9:15 am

    surprising pic to see that ugly scold
    affecting a smile of Christian joy

    but he affects a lot of things

  2. Comment by Michael McInnis on July 21, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    Sounds like the IRS should audit him. He seems about as trustworthy with a “foundation” as the Clintons.

  3. Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on July 22, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    Truth be known and told, “Cancel Culture” is the current American Far Left’s rendition of Mao Zedong’s Chinese Cultural Revolution that began in the mid-1960’s in the wake of his “Great Leap Forward” that featured the collectivization of agriculture in China, and subsequently led to great leap downward – as into the grave – for somewhere between 30-50 million Chinese, with 45,000,000 dying of starvation as the most noted body count.

    Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1962-1976) led by the Red Guards, aimed to smash “old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.” It was another Maoist disaster – but with a body count of only about 1.5 million.

    Today’s American Red Guard is a 20th Century version Mao’s Cultural Revolution now being led by Black Lives Matter (who top three leaders openly admit to being Marxist-Leninist trained), and Antifa (a rendition of the original early 1930’s Antifa which was the German Communist Party’s street thugs who battled in the beer gardens with the Nazi Party’s Brown shirts).

    To his deficit, Eric doesn’t know any of this because, when he took H.S. history, it wasn’t taught. Likely the (public school) teacher didn’t know about it. I know this because I was in H.S. several decades before Eric, and it wasn’t taught then, either.

  4. Comment by Erik Tyson on July 23, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    Dr. Lee Cary,

    Thank you for your comment and historical information! However, I believe you may have underestimated my educational background. In High School, my history classes rather extensively covered the topic of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. I have taken both Honors Chinese Politics/History and Theories of International Relations in my collegiate education, scoring very high marks in both courses. I also consider myself to be a World War II history buff! The tragedy occurred in China under Mao Zedong’s leadership was something that should never be repeated in history, and I believe that we will not see something anywhere close to it in the United States of America.

    Respectfully,

    Erik

  5. Comment by Jeff on July 23, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    Mr. Tyson,

    >> I believe that we will not see something anywhere close to [the tragedy that occurred in China under Mao Zedong’s leadership] in the United States of America.

    I cautiously share your optimism, but in my opinion that won’t be due to the benevolence or self-control of the American or worldwide left — THEY will enthusiastically subject us to the horrors of relocation, “struggle session”, and enforced cultural and ideological homogeneity without a second thought, if they can pull it off.

    No, our American safeguard is still today what it always has been: government as a union of the several states, a republic, limited by constitutional protections of those inalienable rights with which we are endowed by our Creator. A wise system, informed by Judeo-Christian principles, set up by the very Founding Fathers that today’s cultural marxist lives to denigrate and dishonor.

    I might add, our final backstop against a full descent into marxist madness is our second amendment. May GOD grant that we never need to use it for the purpose for which it was intended, but thanks be to GOD that it’s there if we need it.

    With respect and praying blessings for you, in Jesus’ name.
    Jeff

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