Cancel Culture strikes again.
No one may dissent. They will come after you.
In 1987, Niel Golightly was a 29-year-old navy lieutenant. He wrote an article in a U.S. Naval Institute magazine critical of allowing women in the military, a debate that was taking place at the time.
Since the article was published – 33 years ago – Golightly’s views have changed with the times. But in today’s cancel culture, that doesn’t matter. The perceived sins of one’s past become the only defining factor of their character. Thusly, despite the fact that Golightly had worked his way up to become Boeing’s vice president of communications, a single employee complaint referring to the 33-year-old article (written about 33 years before Golightly even worked for Boeing) has led to Golightly’s resignation. He was with the company just six months.
At issue is not whether women can fire M-60s, dogfight MiGs, or drive tanks,” Golightly wrote in his 1987 article. “Introducing women into combat would destroy the exclusively male intangibles of war fighting and the feminine images of what men fight for — peace, home, family.”
The New York Post reported that Golightly decided to step down to spare the company, but explained that he no longer supported his decades old article.
“My article was a 29-year-old Cold War navy pilot’s misguided contribution to a debate that was live at the time,” Golightly said in a statement. “The dialogue that followed its publication 33 years ago quickly opened my eyes, indelibly changed my mind, and shaped the principles of fairness, inclusion, respect and diversity that have guided my professional life since.”