- The Chi-town rapper admirably tries to tackle the behemoth that is white supremacy,
- a system organized to maintain global power and influence in the hands of Western
- European people and their institutions.
- December 9, 2013 | Posted by Tracy
Over the past several weeks, Kanye West has given fans and critics alike an earful of his philosophical musings. Less than nine years removed from his declaration that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” at a charity event for Hurricane Katrina survivors, and four years following his infamous Taylor Swift speech interruption, “I’ma let you finish but…,” at the MTV Music Awards, West is back at it with much more to say.
The Chi-town rapper admirably tries to tackle the behemoth that is white supremacy, a system organized to maintain global power and influence in the hands of Western European people and their institutions. Check out these six statements by West about white supremacy that we believe are justified.
The good ol’ boys club is alive and well = “Man, let me tell you something about George Bush and oil money and Obama and no money. People want to say Obama can’t make these moves or he’s not executing. That’s because he ain’t got those connections…Black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don’t have the same connection as oil people.”
The glass ceiling is high for Black entrepreneurs = “For you to have done something to the level of the Yeezys and not be able to create more and you cannot – you cannot create that on your own, with no support, with no backing. So when I say, ‘Clean water was only served to the fairer skinned,’ what I’m saying is we’re making products with chitterlings. T-shirts! That’s the most we can make! T-shirts. We could have our best perspective on T-shirts. But if it’s anything else, your ‘Truman Show’ boat is hitting the wall.”
Institutions, primarily controlled by white males, guarantee personal security =“You know we don’t know nobody that got a nice house. You know we don’t know nobody with paper like that we can go to when we down. You know they can just put us back or put us in a corporation. You know we ain’t in situation. Can you guarantee that your daughter can get a job at this radio station? But if you own this radio station, you could guarantee that. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Barriers to entry limits long-term wealth = “We don’t got it like that. When I tell you [there are] only seven Black billionaires, look at marginalization; and we feel like we happy because me and [rap artist] Rick Ross got it made, or I got a spread outside, a couple of us, or they put a Black president [in the White House].”
Racial stereotypes are fully embedded in the media to fight against a new image = “When someone comes up and says something like, ‘I am a god,’ everybody says, ‘Who does he think he is?’ I just told you who I thought I was, a god! I just told you! That’s who I think I am! Would have been better if I had a song that said, ‘I am a nigga?’ or if I had song that said ‘I am a gangsta?’ or if I had song that said ‘I am a pimp?’ All those colors and patinas fit better on a person like me, right? But to say you are a god… Especially, when you got shipped over to the country that you’re in, and your last name is a slave owner’s. How could you say that? How could you have that mentality?”
Anti-establishment propaganda is thwarted to maintain the existing power structure = “Pause that, pause that. That song (“New Slaves”) is a hit record minus, ‘F**k you and your corporation/ Ya’ll n**s can’t control me.’ Because if you can’t control me, then you can’t control him, then you can’t control him, then you can’t control him, and then the information age starts.”