Gary Lineker steps on an unfair mine

The rules of political correctness pose a significant danger: there are a number of landmines that someone can inadvertently step on. This is what happened to Gary Lineker, who is leaving the BBC this Sunday after 26 years as a star commentator, after sharing a video critical of Israel that included a mouse emoji. Since this animal was used during Nazi Germany to dehumanize Jews, he has received a barrage of accusations of antisemitism, although he explained that he was unaware of the historical implications of this association. In the end, Lineker fell because of a very conscious campaign from the most furious sectors of the United Kingdom, who had a grudge against him for his denunciations of Brexit, the situation in Rwanda, and immigration policies.

I recall a similar precedent, also from the BBC, from 2019. Danny Baker commented on the birth of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's son with a humorous photo showing a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in human clothing and the caption "Royal baby leaves hospital." Clearly, the use of the ape was motivated by a desire to point out that the highly publicized couple was exhibiting their child as if it were a circus animal. But, since the grandmother is African-American, the use of the ape was interpreted as in keeping with the racist tradition of animalizing Black people. His apologies and swearing that this identification had never occurred to him were of no use: the BBC fired him. Ignorance of the law doesn't excuse you from complying with it, as they say, but canceling someone who credibly tells you they weren't aware of a reference—and publicly repudiates it—is nothing more than a 21st-century update of the old witch hunts. And the suspicion that it's not the offense that matters, but rather killing the alleged offender.