News consumers saw it this week when Rob Finnerty took a microphone to the city streets and asked plain-spoken New Yorkers whether Pantone’s new “color of the year” — a billowy off-white called Cloud Dancer — could reasonably be called racist. The choice is historic for Pantone: it’s the first time the color authority picked a shade of white as its annual pick, a deliberate nod to calm and a fresh start in a noisy world.
What followed online was predictably absurd: a swarm of social-media hot takes declared an inoffensive neutral “racist” and demanded cultural therapy from a paint-chip company. The reaction wasn’t limited to a few angry comments; mainstream outlets and influencers labeled the pick tone-deaf and politically charged, turning a design decision into a partisan morality play.
Pantone’s people were clear about their intent: Cloud Dancer was chosen to offer clarity and a blank canvas, not to send messages about politics or skin. The Color Institute framed the hue as a balm for overstimulation, an aesthetic reset that designers can pair with pastels and earth tones to soothe an anxious culture.
If you watch Finnerty’s vox-pop, you see the real America — people who roll their eyes at performative outrage and wonder when everything from jeans ads to paint swatches became a political dagger. Conservatives should celebrate that common-sense instinct; Americans tired of virtue-signaling will not be bullied into culture-policing every neutral thing in their lives. Media outlets that milk controversy for clicks only prove the point.
Let’s be honest: much of this is rage-bait. Marketing teams know outrage drives engagement, and in 2025 the internet’s outrage industry will pounce on anything with the right headline. Skeptical observers across the cultural spectrum have called the move provocative and perhaps tone-deaf — not because white equals supremacy, but because some brands seem to be deliberately stirring the pot to get attention.
Pantone’s leadership pushed back, reminding critics that skin tones did not factor into their pick and that previous color choices have prompted similar, overwrought readings. If a color institute choosing a neutral shade can be turned into a woke scandal, we’ve reached a point where nothing is safe from politicized interpretation — a dangerous habit that divides Americans over trivia while real problems pile up.
Hardworking Americans don’t need their aesthetics policed by keyboard commissars or their everyday choices turned into virtue theater. Instead of manufacturing outrage over a neutral paint swatch, let’s demand accountability on real issues: school safety, border security, jobs and rising costs. Keep the culture wars where they belong — in the ballot box — and spare the rest of us the performative histrionics.
