US media publishers drop Dilbert comic strip after creator’s black ‘hate group’ remark
- During.a YouTube show, Dilbert creator Scott Adams described people who are black as members of ‘a racist hate group’
- Various media officials denounced Adams’ comments and said they would no longer provide a platform for his work
Several prominent media publishers across the United States are dropping the Dilbert comic strip after its creator described people who are black as members of “a racist hate group” during an online video show.
Various media officials denounced the comments by Dilbert creator Scott Adams as racist, hateful and discriminatory while saying they would no longer provide a platform for his work.
Andrews McMeel Syndication, which distributes Dilbert, did not immediately respond Saturday to requests for comment from Adams or from the syndicator about his remarks. Dilbert is a long-running comic that pokes fun at office-place culture.
The backlash began following an episode this past week of the YouTube show, Real Coffee with Scott Adams. Among other topics, Adams referenced a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.”
Most agreed, but Adams noted that 26 per cent of black respondents disagreed and others were not sure.
The Anti-Defamation League says the phrase was popularised in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the discussion forum 4chan but then began being used by some white supremacists.
Adams, who is white, repeatedly referred to people who are black as members of a “hate group” or a “racist hate group” and said he would no longer “help black Americans.” He urged white people “to get the hell away from black people.”