The Death of Dilbert

I’ve been a fan of the Dilbert comic strip since the early 1990s. His satire about life in an office was hilarious and was the basis for many corporate training activities as organizations attempted to NOT be like the workplace in the strip. Scott Adams got it! He built a financial empire on the characters he created. From plush toys, TV shows, and compilations, to business books and more, Dilbert was everywhere.

Then came February 22, 2023. Adams went on a rant on his Youtube channel, making statements like, If nearly half of Blacks are not OK with white people — according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll  — uh that’s a hate group … and I don’t wanna have anything to do with ‘em. And I would say the best advice I could give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people. The dominoes fell quickly and Dilbert was dropped by nearly every outlet that published the strip within days. Scott Adams went from being a major influencer to a cancelled right-wing nut job in a single news cycle.

What set Adams off was a survey reported by Rasmussen that only 53% of African Americans agreed with the phrase, it’s OK to be white. That’s an interesting survey result that seems to merit additional study and conversation. If so, where did Adams go wrong? He went wrong by painting all black people with the same brush and by trying to make himself the victim! Appropriate topic, inappropriate tone, inappropriate conclusion.

The United States is the most diverse country in the world. And this is by design – Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Yes, it’s true that African people were originally brought to the colonies against their will, but since emancipation there has been no statistically significant black immigration out of the U.S. back to Africa or anywhere else. It is estimated that about 5,000 African Americans have immigrated to Ghana, for example, in the past few decades. Compare that to the 2 million+ Africans who have immigrated to the U.S. during that same period. Approximately 10% of the black U.S. population is made up of black immigrants who voluntarily came to this country to seek a better life. While Africans are moving here in large numbers, immigrants from Central and South America and several Asian countries are also pouring in.

It is natural for white people to be concerned about the demographic shifts that are occurring and likely to continue. I have white friends who immigrated from South Africa and Zimbabwe who have told me horror stories about how some whites were treated when Apartheid governments fell in those countries. Particularly in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where squatters rights were liberalized, ultimately resulting in families being murdered, their family farms occupied and assets seized. Protesters reportedly shouted similar threats to the McCloskeys when the St. Louis couple was standing in front of their home brandishing firearms – “we’ll be living in that house soon!” Donald Trump was elected in part by leveraging those fears. He, like Scott Adams, made minorities and immigrants the problem in broad strokes.

While conservative concerns about the influence of Mexican cartels and the terrible impacts of the fentanyl epidemic linked to immigration from the southern border are legitimate, statistically the U.S. needs immigrants and should continue to embrace them. An economy that is based on consumption needs people and U.S. birthrates are in decline. All Americans expect a reasonable amount of assimilation into the culture. But what does assimilation mean? Does it mean “acting white?”

It doesn’t mean leaving your culture behind. I’ve become a fan of Andrew Zimmern’s Delicious Destinations television series. He travels all over the world sampling local cuisines. Whether the destinations are in the U.S. or abroad, he often references the combination of local foods and things that were brought to that area by others. For example, pigs were not native to North or South America. They were brought over from Europe as a food source because they are smart, adaptive and fertile. But when Zimmern visits locations in South and Central America, the local cuisine includes a variety of pork dishes that utilize local spices and ingredients that make the dishes unique to the area. Baleadas in Honduras or Fry Jacks in Belize are good examples.

St. Patricks day, Carnival (Mardi Gras), and Lunar (Chinese) New Year are examples of reasons for Americans to party that were not indigenous to North America. The guitar probably originated in Spain, but in the hands of musicians like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly, it helped create a new type of music that evolved into the Blues, Jazz and later Rock and Roll. The blues notes (flat 3rd, flat 5th, and flat 7th) were not common in Bach or Beethoven or even to bar songs in London or New York in the 18th and 19th century. They were introduced by descendents of slaves and the world of music is better for it.

International influences dominate American culture and this is a good thing. So, if assimilation doesn’t mean leaving your home culture behind, what does it mean?

One area is language. While early Greek, Italian and German immigrants spoke their native language at home, they encouraged their children to master English as English is the language of commerce in the U.S. This process should continue. It doesn’t mean they should abandon their native language, but it’s difficult for a country to operate if its people speak multiple languages. If I were to immigrate to France, I would learn French.

A second area is embracing New World economic and political systems. After all, it is the freedom that our economic and political systems offer that attracts so many immigrants to the U.S. It is counterproductive to immigrate here, then advocate for the same types of socialist economic and political systems that you were escaping.

A third area is the concept of law and order. The primary role of central governments from the earliest recorded history is the protection of the masses from predators both outside the community or within. This concept of the role of government in law enforcement is being challenged along multiple fronts, in ways that are to the benefit of individuals and groups who seek to prey on the weak in our society. Ultimately, we will have to sort this out as law enforcement is a key role of government and voluntary compliance with laws is a key success factor for living in a free democratic republic.

Scott Adams and his ilk ranting from the right as well as anti-white racists pushing CRT and defund the police are both more a part of the problem than the solutions. Let’s hope some logical thinkers can enter into reasonable dialogues to help push our society in a more positive direction.