Cancel Culture Is Bipartisan. Let’s Unite to Fight It
Righteous intolerance is one of the gravest threats a democracy can face.
Boston’s Old North Church.
Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
This is an adaptation of a speech delivered at the Old North Foundation’s “Lantern2022” event on April 13, 2022.
When I was growing up in Medford, Massachusetts, in the 1950s, I was asked to read “Paul Revere’s Ride” at the Patriots’ Day celebration in Medford Square. I can picture the scene today: a raised platform in front of Gaffey’s Funeral Home — the same house where Revere reportedly hitched his horse to wake up Isaac Hall, a captain of the Minutemen. Hundreds of people looking on with excitement. A brass band blaring John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” And me — a Cub Scout, amazed that I had the chance to be part of such an important occasion.