Landman Accused of ‘Cultural Appropriation’ After Using Backhoe to Dig For Oil, Not Indigenous Artifacts
MIDLAND, TX – In a move that has social media absolutely losing its collective mind, a West Texas landman is facing a firestorm of online backlash after a video of him operating a backhoe to excavate a new well pad went viral—not for the promise of black gold, but for what some are calling a “blatant act of cultural erasure and appropriation.”
Brace yourselves, folks. It’s 2024, and apparently, digging a hole for crude oil is now a hate crime.
Meet Dale “Dirtbag” Dobbs, a 47-year-old landman with the complexion of a leather handbag and the patience of a man who has spent 30 years arguing with ranchers about mineral rights. Last Tuesday, Dobbs was filmed by a bewildered intern as he used a massive Caterpillar excavator to clear a patch of West Texas scrubland. The video, captioned “Just another day finding black gold in the Permian Basin,” was posted to TikTok with the hashtag #OilFieldLife.
Within 48 hours, it had been viewed 2.3 million times. The comments section? A total dumpster fire.
“This is why we can’t have nice things,” wrote user @GriefingForTheGiants. “He’s literally extracting resources from the earth with zero reverence for the sacred. This is straight-up colonial violence. Where’s the land acknowledgment? Where’s the ceremony? Where’s the sage-burning to appease the spirits of the Permian Sea?”
It got worse.
A prominent TikTok influencer, who goes by “KweerKhaos” and has 1.8 million followers, posted a reaction video that has since been liked 400,000 times. In it, she stares at the screen with a look of profound betrayal, her hand over her mouth.
“I’m literally shaking right now,” she says, voice cracking. “This man is using a piece of heavy machinery to commit a hate crime against the planet. He’s not even acknowledging the *history* of the land. He’s just… *digging*. This is what unchecked capitalism looks like. This is extraction culture. He has a backhoe, but he has no *soul*.”
The accusations snowballed. Dobbs was accused of “cultural appropriation” for using a tool originally invented by the ancient Romans (the treadwheel crane, for the history buffs) without giving proper credit. Others claimed he was “performing whiteness” by engaging in a profession that has historically been dominated by white men in pickup trucks.
“You see the way he grips the joystick?” one commenter wrote. “That’s the grip of the patriarchy. It’s a micro-aggression against the earth’s crust.”
Dobbs, who was sipping a lukewarm gas station coffee and eating a gas station sandwich when reached by phone, was understandably confused.
“I’m… digging a hole,” he said, slowly, as if explaining a concept to a child. “For oil. That’s my job. I’m a landman. I get permission to drill, then I supervise the pad prep. I’m pretty sure the Comanche and Apache were more pissed about the smallpox blankets than they would be about me moving some caliche with a Caterpillar 336. But what do I know? I’m just a guy who showers with diesel fuel.”
The internet, however, was not about to be reasoned with.
The “Land Acknowledgment” crowd went into overdrive. A Change.org petition was launched demanding that Dobbs issue a formal apology to “the indigenous spirits of the Permian Basin” and that all future excavations be preceded by a “smudging ceremony” performed by a certified shaman. The petition has 14,000 signatures. It also demands that Dobbs pay reparations to the “land itself” in the form of a donation to a GoFundMe for “emotional support succulents.”
“It’s not just about the dirt,” reads the petition. “It’s about the *energy* of the dirt. Mr. Dobbs is extracting crude oil—a substance formed from the prehistoric remains of ancient life. He is literally unearthing the ancestors’ corpses for profit. This is necropolitics. This is fossil fuel necromancy.”
A local chapter of “Decolonize the Permian” held a protest outside the well pad. Twenty-seven people showed up with signs reading “Dirt is Not a Commodity” and “Backhoes Are Tools of the Oppressor.” One protester, a 22-year-old art history major named River, explained to a local news crew why they were there.
“This man is using a machine that was designed for war,” River said, gesturing vaguely at the idled excavator. “It’s a direct line from the Roman Empire to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to fracking. He’s not just a landman. He’s a symptom of a system that views the earth as a resource to be consumed, not a relative to be respected. He needs to apologize and then take a course on soil trauma.”
Dobbs, for his part, has refused to apologize. He did, however, give a statement that is now being circulated as a meme on r/Conservative.
“I’m sorry that y’all have too much time on your hands,” he said. “I’m sorry that you think a backhoe is a cultural artifact. I’m sorry that I have to explain to a grown adult that oil comes from the ground. If you don’t like it, go charge your phone with a solar panel and a hamster wheel.”
The internet, naturally, did not take this well. The accusations escalated. Dobbs was now being accused of “eco-fascism” and “petro-masculinity.” A Twitter user with a bio that reads “They/They’re” claimed that Dobbs’s use of the word “black gold” was racist because it commodifies a color associated with African-American identity.
“He’s literally calling oil
Final Thoughts
Having watched the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil patch for decades, what strikes me most about *Landman* is its unflinching portrayal of the human cost behind the energy we take for granted—the quiet desperation of roughnecks gambling their bodies for a paycheck, and the corporate suits who never have to see the blowout. The show smartly avoids a simple hero-villain narrative, instead forcing us to reckon with the uncomfortable truth that our civilization runs on the blood, sweat, and ethical compromises of men like Tommy Norris. Ultimately, it’s not a story about oil; it’s a grimly compelling meditation on what it means to trade a piece of your soul for a piece of the American dream.