Why the Inter Lake is dropping Dilbert
Effective today, the Dilbert comic strip will no longer appear in the Daily Inter Lake.
The editorial board made this decision after reviewing the harmful and racist comments Dibert creator Scott Adams made on a recent episode of his YouTube show “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”
In the episode, Adams talks about a survey that asked whether respondents agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.” Most agreed, but Adams noted that 26% of black respondents disagreed and others weren’t sure. It was during this segment that Adams, without pause, called all blacks “a hate group.”
His appalling comments in full:
“I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Adams said about blacks.
“The best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people. Just get the f—k away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. There’s no fixing this. You just have to escape.”
He continues, “I think it makes no sense whatsoever, as a white citizen of America, to try to help black citizens anymore. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Now, we should be friendly; like I’m not saying start a war or do anything like that. I’m just saying, get away. Just get away.”
Adams has yet to issue an apology for his repugnant words — in fact he doubled down over the weekend in a series of shows and interviews where he attempted to justify whatever misguided point he was trying to make.
We’ve seen enough.
Adams has lost his way and revealed himself as a poisonous voice that the Inter Lake will not help amplify nor financially support. This decision isn’t about “wokeness” or “cancel culture” or whatever other buzzword Adams is blaming his own demise on (Dilbert was dumped by hundreds of other newspapers over the weekend).
This decision unequivocally is about living up to the Inter Lake’s values as a newspaper, where discrimination, intolerance and hate have no place.
It’s a sad and quite pathetic ending to what has always been among our most popular comic strips — but it’s crystal clear that it’s time to move on.
We’ll be exploring options for new comic strips in the coming days. Let us know if you have any favorites that you would like to appear in the Inter Lake. Email your suggestions to edit@dailyinterlake.com.