When I first heard that Kanye was back on Twitter, I was like "OH NO!" It turns out that I was so right to feel such trepidation. He returned to Twitter showing his full support for Donald Trump and went on to insinuate that we should all try to support Trump.
Less than a week later, I was sitting in Burger King on a peaceful Tuesday. TMZ came was on TV and Kanye just happened to be on. Again, as you can expect, I was like "OH NO" in a what-the-hell-will-he-say-this-time kind of way.
Kanye was having a conversation with the hosts and then he opened his mouth and said, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. Like, you were there for 400 years and it's all you all?"
Again, I was like "OH FUCK NO!" Supporting Donald Trump as a minority is one thing, but at this point, he is way beyond mental by saying slavery was a choice.
I was beyond shocked to the point where all I could do was laugh. Not because it's funny - in any way shape or form - believe me, it's really not. But because I couldn't muster up any other form of emotion to properly depict the moment. Everyone in Burger King had a similar shocked reaction, but without the laughing.
The audacity that this man has is unfathomable. He said slavery was a CHOICE! I just want that to properly sink into and be processed by your brain. He thinks people being oppressed and having their every move watched was a choice.
Slavery was not like a Netflix subscription where you can pay $10.99 per month to not be treated like shit. They didn't have the CHOICE to say, "Oh, I don't feel like working today, so I'll take a paid vacation."
I bet our ancestors are just crying in their graves. Oh, wait.... some of them probably didn't even get a proper burial. The minds, actions, and free thought of slaves were oppressed for hundreds of years. They had many rebellions and in the end, they hardly won those rebellions but they persisted. And, for Kanye to sit on his "high horse" in this the twenty-first century free from slavery because of his ancestors who bravely fought for him to say something like that is beyond embarrassing.
Kanye fails to acknowledge that he has a very powerful platform. He has fans of all ages and some of whom look up to him as a role model and some who are very impressionable. His words have power and he uses it to debase people of color and his ancestors.
Freethought is not supporting misogynistic, racist, terrible people who do not want to see black people do better. Freethought is using logic and reason to make arguments. As a black individual, I am embarrassed, annoyed, disappointed, and boiling with rage in a way you couldn't understand.
There are real people in this American society dealing with everyday crap. Black people are being killed for nothing and are continuously being oppressed in 2018.
We don't need someone from our own race to add to it.
Kanye does not face the same issues that everyday black people face because he has security to protect him. The only security that most black people have is the hope that we aren't killed while walking down the street.
Kanye's said a lot of crap in recent years, but this has to be the nuttiest thing he's ever said. The audacity that he has to even THINK, much less SAY out loud, that slavery was a CHOICE is preposterous. He needs a reality check to reevaluate his life, position in society, and what it really means to have freethought, because this man is not in touch with regular black people. Like, at all.
