I love comic books, particularly Marvel comics. I find their characters interesting, superheroes relatable and stories exciting. Although I have a strong love for comic books, I would never for a minute think that there is no problematic social flaw in the comics I consume such as the vast controversy surrounding Iron Fist and Daredevil. In fact, I think it is my responsibility as someone who enjoys comic books to recognize the ways in which it needs to improve. Otherwise, I can’t say I’m paying close enough attention to the subject matter. I believe there is an inherent responsibility of anyone who enjoys anything such as music, art, and television to be able to objectively look at the subject and say that there exists something within it that must improve in order for it to become an improved form of itself. This is reflected in the expanding NFL protest against the national anthem in which athletes across the nation are kneeling in response to injustice. These people don’t hate this country, but they are able to objectively saying that there are things that need to improve and are able to demonstrate that through protest.

I stress the point of being able to like something and criticize a specific aspect of it because that same logic can take a dark turn. One can enjoy an aspect of something and still have a complete disdain or rather not care at all about another aspect of it. This brings me to Lil Wayne. In an interview that moved towards the topic of racism and Colin Kaepernick, rapper Lil Wayne was asked his thoughts on the sheer abundance of white people at his concerts. Lil Wayne interprets that the abundance of white fans as a lack of racism in America, which to me is funny because for him to think that would mean that somewhere along his career, he must’ve come to the conclusion that he acts as some sort of medium as to which the results of interracial exchanges between black and white people are validated through. That would be the only way in which Lil Wayne could logically consider himself correct in his statement, and even if that was his thought process, HE WOULD STILL BE WRONG.

White people love Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is probably one of the most globalized forms of music in the world, but just because people like to listen to rap music doesn’t mean that they are void of bigotry and are never motivated to say and do racist things, whether those things are intended to be harmful or not doesn’t matter; the fact still stands that one could listen to the most political forms of hip-hop, have a wide expansive knowledge of its history and still not give a fuck about black people, police violence, poverty or institutional racism.

I want to give Lil Wayne the benefit of the doubt because he also admits to never experiencing racism which could very well mean that he does think it’s real and just so happened to have contradicted himself, but I’m not here to speculate what he may have or have not intended with his words; I’m only responding to what he actually said. What Lil Wayne said is worth responding to because as an award-winning recording artist, he has a major influence on the way people form their opinions. It's probably not as much influence as he had when I was in middle school, but still a very strong platform. The Black Lives Matter movement has helped introduce a modern civil rights movement and with reluctant support from politicians and general disdain from the public, and those of us living in a reality where we are experiencing racism can’t afford careless rappers making illogical statements about racism.