Free Speech, Cancel Culture, Race, Privilege, and Higher Education: An Intersectional Analysis of Netflix’s The Chair

A Netflix original six-episode series, The Chair , examines the experiences of a woman faculty of color department chair at the fictional Pembroke College. One of the many stressors she must navigate is a response to an incompetent white male faculty (who is also her love interest) after he makes a Nazi salute during a lecture in class. By watching this series, many viewers learned about how higher education administrators may respond to situations where a faculty member engages in questionable speech. The ensuing drama that occurs on campus in response to the Nazi salute and the students’ perceptions that the administration will and can do nothing of consequence to the professor showcases the messiness and intricacies of what has been termed “cancel culture.” In this paper, I use intersectional analysis to examine The Chair and the messages it sends about race, privilege, and cancel culture in higher education.