Harrison’s apology is so over-the-top that it’s hard to know where to begin.
Another day, another Khmer Rouge-esque apology, this time from Chris Harrison, who until Saturday hosted The Bachelor on ABC.
Per CNN:
“Bachelor” host Chris Harrison said Saturday he is “stepping aside” from the show “for a period of time” after defending a frontrunner on the current season who came under scrutiny for social media photos from her past.
“This historic season of The Bachelor should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions,” the host and producer of the ABC reality show said in an Instagram post.
Yes, heaven forfend that the stellar reputation of The Bachelor be besmirched by the words of a second-rate television host — especially given that, as we all know, this season was so “historic”!
What was Harrison’s crime? This:
Harrison had apologized on Wednesday after speaking out on behalf of Rachael Kirkconnell, a contestant who was reportedly photographed at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018.
In truth, Harrison didn’t really “speak out on behalf” of Kirkconnell, so much as he pointed out that standards change fast, and that canceling everyone who has failed to keep up might not be the best idea:
Earlier this week, Harrison told “Extra” correspondent and former star of “The Bachelorette,” Rachel Lindsay, that Kirkconnell’s pictures were a long time ago and spoke out against cancel culture.
“I saw a picture of her at a sorority party five years ago and that’s it. Like, boom,” Harrison said, adding, “I’m like, ‘Really?'”
Lindsay replied, “The picture was from 2018 at an Old South antebellum party. That’s not a good look.”
Harrison replied, “Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018? Or, is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference.”
“It’s not a good look ever,” Lindsay said. “If I went to that party, what would I represent at that party?”
“You’re 100% right in 2021,” Harrison then said. “That was not the case in 2018. And again, I’m not defending Rachael. I just know that, I don’t know, 50 million people did that in 2018. That was a type of party that a lot of people went to. And again, I’m not defending it. I didn’t go to it.”
For this, Harrison was canceled.
Worse still, for this he felt the need to issue one of the most ridiculous apologies I’ve seen yet:
Harrison had apologized on Wednesday after speaking out on behalf of Rachael Kirkconnell, a contestant who was reportedly photographed at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018.
In Saturday’s post, Harrison wrote that he was “deeply remorseful” for the pain and damage his “ignorance” had brought to his “friends, colleagues and strangers alike.”
“To the Black community, to the BIPOC community: I am so sorry. My words were harmful. I am listening, and I truly apologize for my ignorance and any pain it caused you,” Harrison wrote.
“I want to give my heartfelt thanks to the people from these communities who I’ve had enlightening conversations with over the past few days, and I am so grateful to those who have reached out to help me on my path to anti-racism.”
This is so absurdly over-the-top that it’s hard to know where to begin. There is, of course, nothing wrong with people pointing out to Harrison that the antebellum South was absolutely disastrous for African-Americans (and for America) and that its casual celebration is ugly. As it happens, I have argued exactly that myself. But there is a lot wrong with our institutions making agreement with the latter point a prerequisite of employment, and there is a lot wrong with our establishing a cultural standard by which a single mistake (or, often, a single perceived mistake) is deemed to represent the end of the line. Why couldn’t Harrison simply have spoken to some people who disagreed with him, been convinced that they were right, and said, subsequently, “you know, having had a chat with a few people, I’ve changed my mind on this”? Indeed, if Harrison was truly “ignorant” — as he says he was in his apology — isn’t that exactly what his “educators” should want?
That’s a silly question, of course, because, as has become increasingly obvious of late, Harrison’s “educators” do not in fact believe in education — or, for that matter, in conversation, or in consideration, or in redemption. Instead, they view figures such as Harrison as pawns that they can use to advance the most extreme possible version of every argument, and, in so doing, encourage everyone else to shut up. You’ll note that Harrison says that he has been helped onto the “path to anti-racism.” This language is straight out of Ibram X. Kendi’s preposterous, intolerant, fundamentalist, and ultimately totalitarian worldview, which holds that words are actively “harmful”; that the casual musings of marginal figures can provoke meaningful suffering in adults; that there are only two ways of living one’s life (as a “racist” or an “anti-racist”); and, as a result, that we should abolish both our liberal society and the Constitution that it produced.
In the real world, Kendi’s worldview is shared by almost nobody, no matter what those who are victimized by it might pretend in public. And yet, at the first sign of trouble, Harrison has been convinced to swallow it whole, which should at the very least suggest that the prevalence of this stuff in corporations and universities matters a little more than many progressives will admit. At quite extraordinary speed, a man in the public eye has gone from saying “I’m not defending anything in particular, but maybe we shouldn’t cancel people,” to flagellating himself with digital birch twigs and apologizing for having caused the world “pain.” If this strikes you as a good thing, feel free to ignore it. If not, you might want to say something now — before it’s too late.