There have been many strange scenes in this era of coronavirus pandemic, anti-racism unrest, and woke recriminations, but perhaps none have been stranger than one that took place on Zoom late last month, when 115 people, appearing in little squares on computer screens, held a kind of trial, a somewhat secret one at that, closed to the press, its participants barred from talking about it to outsiders afterwards. The episode illustrates the tense workings of cancel culture preoccupying an American institution.
In the dock, and visible in his own little square, was Carlin Romano, a writer, philosopher, book critic and, off and on for 35 years, a member of the executive board and former president of the National Book Critics Circle, known for the prestigious literary prizes it gives every year.
The Zoom meeting's purpose was not to award Romano a lifetime achievement award; it was to debate and vote on a motion to expel him from the critics’ board.
Eighteen people spoke over the course of the two-hour Zoom meeting. Twelve of them argued that Romano should be ousted from his elected position because he lacked “collegiality”; his behavior was “intimidating”; he'd threatened to sue; he made people “uncomfortable.” Romano said his personality and “blunt” manner of debate have been known for decades, and weren't the real reason he was under attack.
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