Musk slams US media decision to halt 'Dilbert' over racism as racist

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Feb 10:23

The billionaire's remarks come amid criticism of "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams' comments against Black people.

Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory in Gruenheide, Germany, March 2022. (AP)

Billionaire Elon Musk has labeled US media as "racist" after many American newspapers announced they would cease publishing a popular comic strip whose writer referred to Black people as a "hate group".

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, said in a tweet on Sunday in response to an article about a rant by Scott Adams, creator of the long-running "Dilbert" satire: "For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they're racist against whites & Asians."

For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians.

Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America.

Maybe they can try not being racist.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2023

"Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist."

It is worth noting that Tesla has been slammed with many lawsuits alleging racism under Musk's leadership, and academics say Twitter has seen an increase in hate speech.

Adams, like Musk, has sparked debate with his opinions on social problems.

But a video posted on Wednesday was proven to be the final stroke for the famous comic's many publishers.

"That's a hate group and I don't want anything to do with them," the creator said. "Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people."

His rant was sparked by a recent poll conducted by the Rasmussen Reports, according to which a narrow majority of Black respondents agreed with the phrase "It's ok to be white."

"We will no longer publish the Dilbert comic due to recent discriminatory comments by its creator," said the USA TODAY Network, a broadcasting company operating 200+ papers across 45 states.

Chris Quinn, the editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, said it was not a difficult decision for his paper to drop Dilbert's comic strip, adding, "We are not a home for those who espouse racism."

Other broadcasting channels expressed their zero-tolerance policy across their platforms, including MLive Media Group and The Washington Post, which dropped Adam's strip due to his "unapologetically racist rant."