Kanye West (aka Ye) spent much of last summer bullying Pete Davidson, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend, on social media. This, because he could no more accept losing Kim to Pete than Donald Trump could accept losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
But Kanye had the last laugh, which I decried in “Kanye, the Former Presidential Candidate, Reacted to Kim Dumping Pete with Trumpian-Style Pettiness,” August 22, 2022.
Kanye is as Kanye does
To be fair, Kanye had already become so infamous for his careless tomfoolery way back in 2009, he provoked no less a person than former President Barack Obama to denounce him as a “jackass”. So nobody has any reason to be surprised by any of the crazy and outrageous things Kanye says and does.
I suspect this is why fellow blacks merely rolled their eyes when he shucked and jived as a useful idiot for Trump in 2020 – in a vain attempt to siphon off black votes from Biden.
‘White Lives Matter’ hits too close to home?
Yet blacks seemed genuinely shocked and appalled when Kanye decided to become the blackface for whites mocking the Black Lives Matter movement. This, by sporting a black sweatshirt with “White Lives Matter” emblazoned on the back.
Uphill author Jemele Hill called the sweatshirt ‘dangerously dumb.’ Writer Meecham Meriweather said, ‘Kanye SHOWS y’all and TELLS y’all he doesn’t care about the black community and yet and still y’all be right there at Sunday Service buying every GI Joe boot and every piece of raggedy fabric he drops.’ …
Temple University professor and BET host Marc Lamont Hill called the shirt “disgusting, dangerous and irresponsible.” And Rap TV pointed out that West and conservative pundit Candice Owens (who was famously against the Black Lives Matter movement) were wearing the same thing.
(The Wrap, October 3, 2022)
Some would have you believe Kanye is off his meds and just suffering another manic episode. But I think that, like Trump, Kanye has simply decided that he can make millions, perhaps even billions, by vindicating, validating, and normalizing the racist thoughts, presumptions, and stereotypes of white folks.
Except that his blackface obviously provides an illusion of legitimacy to this grifting tomfoolery. And he clearly couldn’t care less that he’s selling out the souls of black folks, so long as he’s selling out his merchandise to white folks.
Why did it take Kanye spouting antisemitic tropes to get him suspended?
It is noteworthy that, despite the obvious danger Kanye’s fashion display posed to blacks, Meta did not mete out any punishment in this instance until his rantings posed a danger to Jews. Here, according to the October 9 edition of The New York Times, is how his suspension played out:
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On Friday, he suggested on Instagram that Sean Combs, the rapper known as Diddy, was being controlled by Jewish people. Ye’s account was restricted by Instagram that day.
Early on Sunday morning, he went on Twitter and lashed out against Jewish people in a series of tweets. Ye tweeted that he would soon go ‘death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,’ an apparent reference to the United States’ defense readiness condition, known as Def. Con. ‘You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,’ he wrote. The tweet was removed by the company.
In a separate tweet, Ye accused Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, which owns Instagram, of removing him from Instagram. ‘Who you think created cancel culture?’ he added in another tweet.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Twitter said Ye’s account was locked for violating Twitter’s policies.
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Interestingly enough, this account led some high-profile Jews like Sarah Silverman to bemoan that “only Jews were speaking up against Jewish hate.” Of course, their frustration is understandable. The problem is that it is not based on facts.
After all, many non-Jews invariably speak up against Jewish hate. Indeed, it speaks volumes that Kanye got suspended not for his anti-black rant(s) but for his antisemitic rant. So here’s to standing together against hate, instead of dividing ourselves between the loud and silent protesters.
Why is Musk so eager to platform racists like Trump and antisemites like Kanye?
Musk has made a public show of declaring his intent to welcome Trump back to Twitter – if he ever consummates his benighted purchase. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that, despite the antisemitic bile that compelled Zuckerberg to suspend him, Musk was cheering him on from the peanut gallery this week and promising Kanye the freedom to spew all he wants in due course…
Granted, a browse of his Twitter account will show that Musk is inclined to celebrate anything that smacks of uncle tomfoolery or white supremacy. No doubt that’s why black employees are continually suing him for racial discrimination and harassment.
Except that he has trifled with Twitter executives and staff alike so much, I suspect Musk will be greeted by a poisoned chalice staffed by homebodies lying in wait to mutiny against him.
In fact, it would not surprise me if there’s a conspiracy already afoot for key personnel to quit en masse within weeks of Musk taking over to launch a rival app. This, to ensure sensible people have a Twitter-like platform to continue posting on that has all the sensible social media safeguards and community standards Musk seems hell-bent on abandoning…
Why is Fox News giving Kanye refuge?
Trust me folks, Kanye showing up on Fox News last week to vent grievances against fellow blacks is tantamount to former Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko showing up on Russian state TV to do so against fellow Ukrainians.
After all, Rupert Murdoch seems as hell-bent on using his Fox News to destroy America from the inside as Vladimir Putin is on using his Russian State TV to do so from the outside. And it hardly matters that, not so long ago, Fox News used to portray rappers like Kanye as canaries heralding the decline of American civilization. Because Fox News has discovered that, thanks to Trump’s indoctrination, the more brazen the hypocrisy it shows its MAGA viewers, the higher the ratings.
Of course, MAGA Republicans justify this hypocrisy as a means of “owning the libs.” In other words, if betraying your race, your country, or even your God enables you to gain political power, well, as Malcolm X would say, by any means necessary.