(This might not be angry enough for the Pit, feel free to move if necessary. I figure this could turn bad )
There have been several threads of late where we’ve discussed the extreme douchosity that is Kanye West. In case you missed them, allow me to outline the previous points:
[ul]
[li]Kanye threw a temper tantrum (that would embarass a three year old) when he didn’t win an award at some lame awards show.[/li][li]Kanye made a video called “Diamonds from Sierra Leon” that is about how awful blood diamonds are. Awesome, right? Except he wears “bling-bling” all the damn time.[/li][li]Kanye went on the record saying that rappers shouldn’t say “fag” or use “gay” in a negative light (a good thing, I say), but he has no problem saying “bitch” and “hoe” [/li][li]And we’ve all heard that George Bush doesn’t care about black people.[/li][/ul]
All of the above points could be argued, so let us disregard them for now and focus on Kanye’s latest example of douchosity: West Reveals Racial Lines in Slang Use
In his raps, he talks about how the white man is always keeping him down and racism and yadda yadda. Hello? What the fuck is THAT?
Racism isn’t just when white people say offensive things about black people, it’s a two-fucking-way street!
Don’t get me wrong, I already hate West (which is hard for me, because the man makes awesome music). This might just grate me more than usual because of my already standing hate.
Kanye is a serious goofball whose publicists must duck for cover every time he approaches a live mike.
Good musician, though. But the opinions this boy spouts. OY. He never backs anything up, not even the OPV/AIDS hypothesis.
But as long as he’s around, when people have problems with MY goofball opinions I can always say, “Thank God for Kanye West.” Sort of how the other 49 states say, “Thank God for Mississippi.”
I can’t say that I’m not a fan of the guy, because I am, but he’s just such a massive egotist that I can’t in all honesty take him seriously. For sheer entertainment value, he’s priceless; for Serious Opinions on World Issues, forget it.
And come on, would you really expect to take seriously a guy who sings/raps a line like, “I always had a PhD.: a pretty huge dick”?
Y’know, I was debating internally recently about starting a thread, probably in GD, about racism and how it’s perceived by many people in this country as a one way street.
I was going to make reference to the use of certain words, but specifically to the N word. How I, on the one hand, applaud that it has been taken from the racists and had its derogatory meaning stripped away layer by layer through everyday use, and even turned into a positive adjective. But on the other hand, how it has actually devolved into a sort of reverse racist word, not in an inclusive sense as it was originally used, but now in the exact opposite, an exclusionary sense.
I decided not to because, frankly, I find arguing that point to be tiresome and a waste of time… and I suspected that I might not find much opposition to the point in any case.
But fucknuts like this guy really raise my hackles about the whole issue. He’s not helping anything, doesn’t he realize that? In his syphilis addled brain, does he really think he’s fighting “the man”? That a considerable bulk of his fanbase is probably being alienated by his unthoughts (I hesitate to call them thoughts)?
And this is the second time in several weeks that I’ve heard someone imply that slang is somehow the invention and property of black people. Huh?
Speaking as a white girl who went to a mostly black and hispanic high school, I can assure you that there was plenty of racism towards me. All. the. damn. time. That isn’t the point here at all, though. The point is that Kanye is a fucking racist douchebag and a giant, flaming douche bag in general.
What if. . . I dunno, Madonna came out and said that black people can’t use certain words until us white folk deem it ok? Ho-ly-crap. The backlash she’d face.
Would you then be saying, “BWaaah, the poor black people!”?
Still not the point. The point is that Kanye West has taken it upon himself to add to his doucheness on a damn near daily basis.
Racism – or bigotry, discrimination and prejudice? The latter three are quite fucked up but do not always prove the first. The word “racism” gets tossed around entirely too much anyway.
But you’re absolutely right. My great-great-great-great grandparents weren’t forcibly taken from their home and enslaved, so I obviously have not suffered like someone like Kanye has.
I’m white and was born into a lower middle-class home, so obviously I can’t understand how racism can impact a person or a neighborhood or a society, despite growing up as the neighborhood honkey. Despite getting jumped by the same 3 Mexican kids on my way home from school everyday for a month because I “didn’t belong in their neighborhood”.
The point isn’t about personal suffering, it’s about what racism is and does. And it isn’t limited to blacks and whites. Racism is prevalent in all races.
It isn’t healthy in any sense, but especially in a social sense, particularly in a country like the U.S. with such ethnic diversity. It perpetuates stereotypes; it removes personal responsibility; and in many cases it leads to violence (at worst) and segregation (at best). There is no place for it at all, anywhere, and suggesting that one race has suffered less suggests that you believe that the other races have an excuse… and that is precisely the problem.
I have a lot of respect for his producing skills and his music. But now I can’t decide, is now more painful watching Kanye, or George Bush talk? His speaches are better off left in rap music, then live speeches.
Come on…would you seriously argue that people who discrimiminated against a black man by not allowing him into their store, for instance, were not racists? They are!
Bigotry and prejudice (against someone for their race) ARE RACISM. That’s all there is to it, for me.
:dubious: He’s saying some pretty dumb shit. It’s not any less stupid because he’s less black. I don’t know if he’s a racist or not; I just don’t care enough about him to find out. He doesn’t get a free pass on it because he’s black, though.
racism
(noun) 1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race; 2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
Yup, I was always told that I was a stupid white girl. I was always told white girls could’t do this or do that. On and on it went. Not really important though, as it helped me realize that stupid is stupid, no matter what color it is wrapped in.
But I’d rather not go along this hijack, as I said before. Let us focus on the important point: Kanye West is a fucking idiot
Marley23, that is the funny thing: Kanye doesn’t have street cred. Rocafella Records didn’t want to sign him because he was a preppy kid from the suburbs of Chicago. They let him produce some stuff and eventually he talked them into letting him rap.
ParentalAdvisory- you have a good point. Initially, I thought, “Well Bush, since he has the real power.” But really, Kanye is the one all the kids are listening to. Kanye is the one that all of the 18-25 year olds who don’t vote listen to. Kinda scary.
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