First it was COPS that has been cancelled after 30+ years, then it was Live PD who was put on hold, and now cancelled. "Gone with the Wind" followed next, only it was not fully banished, it's been pulled so it can be analyzed so they can put it back up with more context. Now, Paw Patrol is under attack as we enter into this new area of cancel culture that targets the arts featuring any type of law enforcement or depicts Black people or slavery in any sort of controversial way. Paw Patrol is a children's animated TV series that features a group of heroic dogs who go on rescue missions. One of the series' main characters is a German Shepherd police dog named Chase. Why are people asking to cancel this show? Well as one New York Times opinion columnist wrote: "Paw Patrol” seems harmless enough, and that’s the point: The movement rests on understanding that cops do plenty of harm.”
Interestingly enough, Paw Patrol actually partook in Black Out Tuesday in solidarity with Black Lives Matter to give Black people a voice to express their feelings and have people listen. What ended up happening in respond to this was people started targeting Paw Patrol in their comments; not all but the cancel culture showed up when Paw Patrol was trying to show solidarity.
This is the initial tweet Paw Patrol put out on Black Out Tuesday:
Then, these are some of the cancel culture comments by Tweeter users looking to have Paw Patrol taken off the air...
For every negative comment, there was overwhelmingly a lot of parents who came out in support of Paw Patrol, saying it teaches their kids about kindness and honestly; furthermore their kids love it.
Do you think Paw Patrol needs to be "cancelled"? I do not. I think the idea that a children's TV show that teaches about kindness, honestly, friendship, loyalty, and respect for one another is a good asset to have available for children. Just because it features a police dog, it should not be cancelled because that's called discrimination, discrimination against police, and if they cancel it, the show is literally teaching children it's okay to discriminate. Have conversations, use the show to teach children mutual respect for different breeds of animals that they feature on the show and that can be reflective of the different types of races we have in society. To just "cancel" it, is not solving or addressing any issues out there, it's actually avoiding the problem or missing an opportunity to teach and educate. The blatant call to just cancel anything that depicts police is discrimination, the very thing the Black Lives Matter movement is rallying against, maybe not the exact discrimination they are rallying against but discrimination nonetheless.
-Producer Lightning