Dilbert is getting his pink slip.

Somebody should have called HR a long time ago for the cartoonist Scott Adams’s racists remarks.

Hundreds of newspapers are dropping the popular “Dilbert” comic strip after a racist tirade from its creator.  In an online video, Adams not only called Black Americans “a hate group” he urged white people to “get the fuck away” from black people.

First published in 1989, “Dilbert” was considered a satirical commentary on workplace policies but in recent years Adams, a vocal Trump supporter, was not content with merely creating this long-running comic strip but gained attention for publicly embracing nutty right-wing rhetoric and conspiracies.

“I identify as White” are Daves’s first words as he’s presented as a new employee to co-workers in 2022 “Let’s see if the world is ready for this,” Adams tweeted.

It should come as no surprise that his popular comic strip has had just one African American character since its first published and took 3 decades to make an appearance.

In 2022 dozens of newspapers dropped “Dilbert” after the cartoonist finally introduced its first Black character “Dave” created for the sole purpose of making fun of “woke” culture and the LGBTQ community. The timing of the introduction coincided with the conservative attack on the “woke” culture.

It’s finally time to ditch Dilbert!

Steve Carell is Michael Scott in “Diversity Day” episode of The Office

For those missing their daily dose of office drudgery, may I suggest turning to another Scott for laughs.

Michael Scott.

The well-meaning but tactless Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin from the mockumentary The Office. Even its location in Biden-friendly Scranton makes it a more appealing choice.

A satire, this was a show that poked fun at stereotypes, racism, offensive behavior, and the way corporate America clumsily tries to tackle them without taking a look a hard look at their own biases.

The show didn’t waste any time before tackling race.

Diversity Day

Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson in the “Diversity Day” episode.  Unlike Dilbert who waited 33 years before a black character The Office included many people of color characters including grumpy, cross word puzzle addict Stanley Hudson who was often subjected to Michaels’s inadvertently offensive comments about racist stereotypes but generally plays along.

Their second episode was entitled “Diversity Day,” which focused on the awkwardness with which the U.S. workplace tiptoes around racial politics.

It originally aired on March 29, 2005, and included a lot of stereotypes and other cringe-worthy, material.

But the whole point was to mock.

The episode finds the folks at Dunder Mifflin attending a mandatory diversity training after complaints against Michael Scott were made. A consultant played by Larry Wilmore arrives to teach the staff about tolerance and diversity. When the African American trainer introduces himself as Mr. Brown, a clueless but well-meaning Michael Scott assures him “I will not call you that.”

Michael isn’t pleased with the official training, so he holds his own later in the day, and subjects his employees to a slew of stereotypes.

“Diversity Day” episode The Office

And while his intentions are good — sort of — he winds up playing into all the ugly stereotypes he’s trying to combat.  But the dozens of uncomfortable glances to the camera from the other Dunder Mifflin employees, clue us into the fact that the show is not endorsing Michael’s behavior. We’re clearly supposed to be laughing at him and how clueless he is, not with him

Unlike Dilbert, “Diversity Day” doesn’t promote racism. Instead, it mocks the wrong-mindedness of racism.

Ironically when the show went into syndication, Comedy Central pulled this episode off the air in 2021. Their decision demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the show’s intent.

Scott Adams intent, on the other hand, is perfectly clear.

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