Nov
13
What Kanye Said
Kanye West — I refuse to call him ‘Ye’ — gets a lot of grief.
This has been especially true in recent years, now that he has adopted a largely conservative political view and become a Christian (of some sort). As with Donald Trump, some of the criticism is fair, thanks to his big ego and big mouth. Some (imo) isn’t. Recently, he has been hit pretty hard not just by critics but by several businesses who are severing their relationships with him, mostly due to supposed anti-Semitism on his part. It was unclear to me what was said (and when) to provoke this, so I decided to dig into it a bit.
Oct. 3: The brouhaha actually seems to have begun when Kanye and friend Candace Owens arrived at a Paris fashion show sporting matching shirts that said “White Lives Matter”. Some of those modeling West’s Yeezy Season 9 collection also wore the phrase. The phrase has been used by many concerned by the Black Lives Matter movement/organization (which West has criticized), not just by the neo-Nazi White Lives Matter movement/organization. But, the Left see this as racist language, so many celebrities and the press were all up in arms about it. (The odds that two proud Black people would actually align themselves with anything truly Nazi or white supremacist are nearly infinitesimal, but that doesn’t seem to matter.)
Fashion editor and director Gabriella Karefa-Johnson criticized the shirts, calling them (among other things) “deeply offensive, violent and dangerous”. When West clapped back at her (some have used the term “mocked”), others including model Gigi Hadid came to Karefa-Johnson’s defense.
Oct. 6: While on Tucker Carlson Tonight, West had a wide-ranging conversation in which he was fairly impressive yet somewhat disjointed and meandering in his responses. In an edited out portion, he said he would rather his kids learned about Hanukkah than Kwanzaa, because “at least it would come with some financial engineering.” Ugh! Btw, while I might question his conclusions on a couple other things, he said a lot of good and insightful things, too.
Oct. 7: Another celebrity upset by West’s shirt, yet mild in his initial comments, was fellow-mogul Diddy. They engaged in an at-times heated discussion on Instagram. On one occasion, West said,
“Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business.”
From what little I saw of the exchange, West was the more aggressive and defensive of the two.
Oct. 8: Meta admitted to deleting some content from West’s Instagram account for violating its rules. They didn’t explain what or why, but it seems to have been a reaction to the back-n-forth with Diddy. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) denounced some of West’s statements in the Carlson interview as “anti-Jewish” and including “anti-Semitic tropes like greed and control.” I watched the whole interview, but even in the story about Jared and (mostly) Josh Kushner, I don’t remember anything blatantly anti-Semitic. West didn’t like a couple business moves they made to gain larger percentages of one of his companies, but he didn’t mention them being Jewish.
Oct. 8, cont’d: Things got even dicier when West tweeted that same day,
“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
Twitter later removed the tweet and suspended West’s account for violating community guidelines.
At the time, this was the first thing I read about West since the whole hubbub over the shirts. I did not take the “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” remark in the worst way possible as many seemed to. I assumed he meant “defcon” and that he would be making more serious statements or accusations against certain Jewish people, presumably in the entertainment industry.
The bit about “black people are actually Jew” was more concerning on a theological level, as it sounded like something the heretical Black Hebrew Israelites would say. At the same time, while some of the “spiritual” things he says are a bit off in my judgement, this is the first thing I heard that sounded like BHI doctrine. So, I don’t really know what he meant by that.
From that last sentence (and other things I came across), it sounds like West is very frustrated by some business dealings he has had with Jewish people. Terms like “manipulation” and “cancellation” come to mind. Also, it isn’t clear to me if he’s talking about a particular business agenda, Jewish agenda, or Leftist/woke agenda. Maybe a combo?
This is what set off the rounds of crying and condemnation by various entertainers (from Jaden Smith to Jamie Lee Curtis), followed by one business after another severing ties with West, ostensibly because they were offended. I wouldn’t be surprised if some were looking for an excuse to drop him. In some cases, though, I think they were mostly just running scared. It should also be noted that West had already initiated a break-up with Gap back in September, which obviously preceded the controversial t-shirts and offensive remarks.
Oct. 12: Ben Shapiro tweeted, “Back from the Jewish holiday now. As usual, two things can be true at once: Kanye’s moves toward pro-life, faith, and family conservatism are encouraging; his ‘death con 3’ posts and Black Hebrew Israelite language are clearly anti-Semitic and disturbing.”
I’m a little disappointed that Shapiro jumped to the “anti-Semitic” accusation, as Dennis Prager did in a video short he put out. But, saying that a couple examples of one’s language sounded anti-Semitic is, to be fair, different than saying someone is, in their heart and mind, anti-Semitic. This is the sort of distinction that Shapiro and Prager would normally make.
Oct. 19?: West was on an episode of the “Drink Champs” podcast, and he made some comment about George Floyd having died of a fentanyl overdose rather than being choked to death by police officer Derek Chauvin. This riled up Floyd’s family and supporters. Kay Harper Williams, a Partner at Witherspoon Law Group, called the comments “false and vile.” Williams is leading a suit against West (and possibly others) on behalf of Floyd’s family.
Oct. 28: When speaking to paparazzi on 10/28, West backtracked on the Floyd comment, as well as making a few other interesting comments about his previous statements:
“I didn’t realize that I could be considered anti-Semitic until I read one of the definitions. ‘… such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions.’… I didn’t realize it was anti-Semitic to say, hey, you know, I have a Jewish attorney, I have a Jewish record label, I have a Jewish contractor….
When I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people. It hurt the Black people. So, I want to apologize…. God has shown me by what Adidas is doing, and by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck, now. So, thank you God for humbling me and letting me know how it really felt. Because, how could the richest Black man ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off of one comment. Actually, if you look at the definition of ‘defcon’, it means to get extra defense, which obviously I must’ve needed…. God chose me for such a time as this basically for the media to put their knee on my neck. For Adidas to put their knee on my neck.”
Note: Adidas is known to have been pressured by an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) campaign to sever ties with West.
So, that’s what West said and (roughly) when he said it. I’d like to add a few relevant thoughts…
Crazy?
Some people (mostly critics) have called West “crazy” and therefore to be ignored. I disagree. Especially if they think his being diagnosed bipolar means he is literally crazy. It doesn’t. Also, as Bedford Palmer, Ph.D., a Black psychologist and associate professor at Saint Mary’s College of California, pointed out,
“Having that disorder does not make you a racist, it does not make you antisemitic, it does not make you do harmful things to people.”
I think they use the “crazy” label as an easy excuse to write off any number of statements and behaviors that they wish he hadn’t said or done. While I am not someone who follows West, when I have seen and heard him, he does seem to be a bit unusual. Whether that is a result of bipolarity or something else, I don’t know. But, West’s bipolar disorder is not a good reason to either ignore or excuse anything he says, anti-Semitic or otherwise.
Jewish conspiracy?
I will state up front that I am opposed to true anti-Semitism. As a follower of Christ, there is no room for such bigotry in my worldview. However, this does not mean that one shouldn’t have the right to criticize a Jewish person or group of persons. People’s ethnicity, Jewish or otherwise, doesn’t give them a pass when they do something stupid, mean, or unethical. (This goes for anyone, of course, including other sometime-targets of bigotry.)
It is well-known that for over a century, there has been a strong Jewish presence in certain industries — e.g., arts and entertainment, banking, medicine. Unfortunately, this makes it easy for conspiracy-minded people, as well as those who have been slighted by those industries (or, at least, feel that they have been), to blame representatives of said industries for any number of problems, personal and otherwise.
West is very frustrated with the “Black voice” — including his own, of course — being controlled by Jews in the industry, because they run many successful companies (e.g., talent management, legal representation, apparel). These Jewish industry-leaders choose who they will sign (to employ or manage or partner with), how the individual or product will be marketed, even what clothes an entertainer will wear, etc. Some of that control can be influenced by the industry person being Jewish. For example, West’s friend and associate Dov Charney at Los Angeles Apparel refused to manufacture “White Lives Matter” t-shirts because of the perceived Nazi connection.
But, I would guess that most business decisions are done without Jewishness being a dominant factor. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if other, non-Jewish-owned businesses — including Black-owned — refused to make the t-shirts, or would have refused if asked, due to public perception and the wish to avoid “guilt by association”. I also doubt that it’s only the “Black voice” that is being so controlled. These guys, whether Jewish or not, want to make money. That’s why they do what they do. And some therefore try to control as much of their client’s lives as possible to make sure they remain marketable as long as possible. This includes avoiding scandal — unless it’s specifically manufactured to increase visibility — or otherwise alienating those who spend money on the “product”. While West appears to be fairly savvy, he now has a different agenda and different priorities. In a lot of ways, he’s speaking truth to power. He won’t bow down to the industry’s rules, and that makes them nervous, scared, even angry.
Final thoughts?
1) West is probably justifiably suspicious and angry at the machinations and behavior of various people and companies in his industry. (Or, is that “industries”?)
2) He seems to have absorbed a mix of aberrant teachings about Jews, from typical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories/stereotypes to the idea that Blacks are the missing twelfth tribe of Abraham. (Sorta hard to be anti-Jewish while proclaiming yourself to be a long-lost Jew….)
3) He’s not afraid to say what he thinks is true, and never has been. He is also a bit of a provocateur. Given his current socio-political and religious leanings, that is proving to be even more of a double-edged sword. (And, yes, that probably puts him at odds with some Leftist Jews, among others.)
4) Some (including West himself) have expressed concern for his life over some of the things he has said, and I pray that God protects him (even if that involves him losing his empire) and straightens him out theologically, as well.
5) I don’t think West holds any real animus toward Jewish people in general, as would be the case in actual anti-Semitism. But, when his business frustrations bang up against the aforementioned aberrant teachings, he unfortunately ends up saying some rather anti-Semitic-sounding stuff. I’m obviously not ready to write him off, as it were, but the situation is rather concerning.
Alright, I’m outta here…
(H/T to Billboard‘s series of articles on the whole affair.)
