Ibram X. Kendi, the academic infamous for his promotion of blatant racial essentialism and discrimination, just suffered another resounding defeat, this time thanks to Netflix.
“Antiracist Baby,” an animated series for preschoolers based off of Kendi’s widely criticized and condemned book “Antiracist Baby,” is among a slew of “woke” Netflix programs that have reportedly been pulled amid what appears to be a cultural rebranding happening inside the company.
As previously reported by BizPac Review, last week Netflix issued a memo in which the company basically told employees that if they have a problem with politically incorrect content (think Dave Chappelle, for instance), then they can kick rocks.
Netflix memo tells employees who are offended by content to find another place to work https://t.co/SeGoPYWZrw pic.twitter.com/EmToBTMqdv
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) May 14, 2022
“Not everyone will like—or agree with—everything on our service. While every title is different, we approach them based on the same set of principles: we support the artistic expression of the creators we choose to work with; we program for a diversity of audiences and tastes; and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices,” the scathing memo read.
“As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.”
Observers believe this change in attitude is a result of, one, Netflix recognizing that its revenue is declining, and two, Netflix taking the temperature of America’s changing political climate.
Revenue
Variety magazine, which was the first to report Netflix’s cancellation of “woke” programming, notes that “the news comes as Netflix has laid off about 150 staffers (roughly 2% of its workforce), in an attempt to cut costs after a weak start to 2022.”
“In the first quarter of this year, the company reported a net loss of 200,000 streaming customers, its first decline in a decade. Shortly after announcing a dip in subscribers last month, Netflix pink slipped approximately 25 employees in its marketing group,” according to Variety.
Anti-“Wokeness”
“Wokeness” is increasingly becoming a pariah concept across society. It’s reached the point where a spate of prominent liberals have come out against it, including but not limited to radio show host Joe Rogan, political commentator and TV show host Bill Maher, and even longtime Democrat Party strategist James Carville.
This newfound anti-“wokeness” has brought with it a growing rejection of racial essentialism, particularly the type espoused by the likes of Kendi.
The 39-year-old academic sincerely believes that to make up for the past oppression of black people at the hands of white people, modern white people must be discriminated against and oppressed in a similar manner.
“The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination,” Kendi states in another widely criticized book, “How To Be An Antiracist.”
“The only remedy to racist discrimination is ‘antiracist’ discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” – Ibram X. Kendi pic.twitter.com/UNbci0J39I
— James Lindsay, weaponizing your mom (@ConceptualJames) January 28, 2021
“Antiracist Baby” reportedly takes ideas such as these and repackages them for children.
“Antiracist Baby is a brisk read at 24 pages. Rather than telling a story, Kendi has translated his adult books into nine miniature antiracist commandments for kids. Each of these takes up a double page spread, paired with Lukashevsky boldly colored, beefily outlined cartoons of babies, parents, caregivers and animals,” according to a review from The Spectator.
At the core of “Antiracist Baby” is the idea that one can either be antiracist (one of the good guys) or racist (one of the bad guys). There are no other options.
As noted by The Spectator, Kendi “takes human society, the most complex mechanism in existence, and draws a line down the middle of every cog in it. Then he declares one side of the line Good (Antiracist), while the other is Bad (Racist). That’s about as crudely reductive as an idea can be. It’s like suggesting the Ninth Symphony can be adequately played with a couple of coconut shells.”
But to Kendi, all white people are racist by default, meaning that all white people are bad by default. Get it?
Except that critics say the only one who’s truly bad is Kendi himself, which is why they’ve been cheering in glee ever since word emerged that his “propaganda” for kids has been canceled by Netflix: (** Language warning)
@ArmyOfParents , here’s some good news: @netflix cancelled @DrIbram ‘s Racist Baby show today for good. https://t.co/DjvLAyd1HR
— What is REALLY Going On? (@rentnil48) May 20, 2022
@DrIbram Bye Felica….
— SomeLibertarianJerk (@LibertarianGerk) May 20, 2022
@DrIbram exploits stupidity of wokers to make $millions! Yes, he is exploiting ignorant people! Glad Netflix is killing his lies!
— Debgolf (@Debgolf2) May 20, 2022
NETFLIX CANCELLED YOU 😂😂😂😂😂racist prick
— God is in control!!! 🙏 (@alwaysTRUTH88) May 20, 2022
Netflix cancel your racist shit!! 😂😂😂 what a clown. Race card, race card… always the race card.
— cityofinsanity (@cityofinsanity) May 20, 2022
😂😂😂 @DrIbram
Grift is over, baby boy!!!— Luis Manuel (@thekinglouix) May 20, 2022
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