9

Thursday July 5, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR

The problem with supporting Kanye West

 Coming back home 
for the summer after 
being away at college 
is quite an interesting 
experience. You realize 
not much has changed 
and almost everything 
is the way you left it, 
yet inside, you feel like 
you have transformed 
so greatly within such 
a short time that you 
sort of stick out like a 
sore thumb among the 
rest of your peers. It 
takes a while to adjust 
back into the usual 
swing of things.
At first, coming back 
home for the summer 
felt great. I missed 
my family, I missed 
my friends, I missed 
being able to drive 
and knowing my city 
like the back of my 
hand. 
I 
especially 
missed the food and 
not having to depend 
on the halal section 
of the South Quad 
dining hall to fulfill my 
daily protein intake. 
However, being away 
from home for so long 
and being immersed in 
a more open-minded, 
diverse and positive 
environment 
made 
me forget some of the 
most pressing issues 
I resented about my 
hometown 
in 
the 
first 
place. 
Among 
these 
issues 
are 
rampant homophobia, 
relentless 
gossiping 
and judgment, racism 
and 
anti-Blackness, 
slut-shaming and so 
much more. Though 
only 
a 
45-minute 
drive, 
my 
college 
campus feels like a 
world away from my 
predominantly 
Arab-
Muslim hometown of 
Dearborn.
 I had forgotten the 
daily 
Twitter 
wars 
that take place when 
people begin bashing 
each other or putting 
others 
down 
for 
making choices that do 

not coincide with their 
own religious beliefs. 
I had forgotten how 
some words on a screen 
could make me feel so 
unsettled and angry 
as I witness my LGBT 
friends being attacked 
online by people who 
once smiled to their 
face in high school. 
I had forgotten that 
blood-boiling 
feeling 
when 
a 
friend 
or 
coworker makes a tone-
deaf remark and you 
have to decide quickly 
whether to listen to 
the urge in your heart 
telling you to call them 
out or the knot in your 
throat telling you to let 
it slide. I had forgotten 
saying something is not 
always as easy as you 
think. The suffocating 
feeling 
of 
knowing 
something is wrong but 
not knowing what to do 
about it still resurfaces, 
though I try my best to 
keep it at bay and not 
engage in negativity.
 I am not trying to 
bash my hometown. 
I love it with all my 
heart; it is a part of me 
and a huge chunk of 
my identity. My family 
is wonderful and my 
friends are amazing; I 
had a good education 
and the city can really 
come 
together 
and 
support 
each 
other 
when 
it 
needs 
to. 
However, 
it 
would 
be 
incognizant 
to 
pretend issues do not 
exist that have been 
fostered by generations 
of 
ignorance 
and 
bathed 
in 
hatred. 
Mental health issues 
are 
ridiculed, 
gay 
people are ostracized, 
girls are bullied and 
“exposed” and people 
are hurt, day in and 
day out. I often hear 
my hometown referred 
to as a “bubble,” where 
many 
people 
get 
trapped, refusing to 
challenge their belief 
systems 
and 
think 
outside the norms with 

which they have grown 
up. On one hand, I 
understand this is not 
entirely the fault of a 
community that was 
compelled 
to 
move 
into a small city of 
people of their similar 
background out of fear 
of hatred by settling 
elsewhere. 
Many 
people 
in 
this 
city 
come from families of 
immigrants, 
people 
who 
have 
known 
pain and racism and 
economic 
inequality 
all their lives. This 
is all they know; this 
is 
generations 
of 
ideals passed down. 
However, I do believe 
it 
is 
the 
personal 
responsibility of each 
individual 
to 
learn 
about others, expand 
their 
horizons 
and 
confront their flawed 
behaviors. There is no 
excuse for remaining 
ignorant. That is a 
choice.
 Growing up in this 
city, it took me a while 
to 
recognize 
myself 
as part of the problem 
and unlearn so much 
of the negativity that 
was 
spewed 
around 
me constantly. I, as 
did many others, took 
it upon myself to learn 
from 
marginalized 
groups and empathize 
with 
struggles 
and 
causes outside of my 
own. As I strive to 
constantly be learning 
and growing, I try to 
challenge the harmful 
notions 
around 
me 
while still holding true 
to my faith. I strive 
to call out injustice 
where I see it in hopes 
that we as a collective 
may take small steps 
toward a kinder and 
more 
understanding 
community. 
My 
community is often the 
target of hate, but we 
cannot expect people 
to come together for 
us if we cannot come 
together for them, or 
even for ourselves.

 
On 
February 
2016, 
musical artist Kanye West 
tweeted out “BILL COSBY 
INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” but 
I’m sure this escaped your 
memory, didn’t it?
There is plenty to say about 
Kanye West, but there are 
plenty of memories that 
appear to be missing in 
the minds of our young 
social activists. After West 
showed his support for 
President Donald Trump 
and claimed slavery was 
a “choice,” many people 
rushed 
to 
defend 
the 
21-time Grammy Award 
winner. The few memories 
that seem too conscious 
within the public mind are 
West is a “musical genius” 
who is suffering from 
“mental illness” and still 
“grieving the loss of his 
mother,” though one has to 
wonder if this a way for fans 
to validate his behavior. 
Even celebrities rushed to 
support West, like Chance 
the Rapper who tweeted, 
“Black people don’t have to 
be democrats.” It’s pretty 
clear though West’s actions 
continuously 
prove 
his 
incompetence, people will 
still defend him no matter 
what he does because they 
fell in love with the “old 
Kanye.”
Minority 
communities 
have worked to try and 
support West, and this 
makes sense because of 
his cultural significance. 
In 2004, West released the 
album “College Dropout”, 
which won a Grammy 
award for Best Rap Album. 
After his debut album, 
West 
collaborated 
with 
artists such as Jay-Z, Lupe 
Fiasco and John Legend 
resulting in multiple songs 
reaching No. 1 on iTunes. 
In addition, West’s fearless 
nature has never been 
hidden from the public. For 
example, after the Category 
5 storm Hurricane Katrina 
demolished New Orleans 
in 2005, West did not back 
away from calling former 
President George W. Bush 

someone 
who 
“doesn’t 
care about Black people.” 
This was a time when 
the 
African-American 
community 
appreciated 
West’s vocalness on issues 
that affected their lives. 
Even West’s rap lyrics 
have 
always 
provided 
deep insight into different 
societal struggles while still 
maintaining a very high 
energy.
However, to support West 
because he is the victim of 
his circumstances would 
be nothing but a twisted 
fantasy. As West released 
his newest solo album “Ye” 
as well as a collaboration 
with musical artist Kid 
Cudi 
titled 
“Kids 
See 
Ghosts,” I was both shocked 
and disappointed to see 
how many of my friends 
have continued to support 
him. The issue with West is 
not that he is a Republican 
or even that he supports 
Trump, the problem is 
West continues to present 
himself as a minority who 
uses his own voice to abuse 
other minority populations. 
West’s 
tweet 
declaring 
Cosby’s innocence clearly 
shows his inability to see 
the sheer significance of 
sexual assault. His blatant 
disrespect 
for 
women 
portrayed in this tweet 
shows he has continued to 
go unscathed while equally 
working to silence voices. 
Meanwhile, his claim that 
slavery was a choice is so 
disrespectful to centuries 
of struggle; it doesn’t just 
negate the struggles of 
African-American 
slaves, 
but also the people from 
all 
around 
who 
were 
pillaged and colonized by 
communities in power.
And minorities all over 
the world gave him a No. 1 
album.
Isn’t that just hypocritical? 
After Trump’s election, I 
saw a lot of tweets about 
how those who voted for 
him decided racism was not 
a final straw. Do we hold 
any standards for those we 
support with our money? In 
these moments, I’ve come to 
realize even those who have 
felt the quick prick of racist 

comments are all right 
with having blood flow if 
the beat is good enough 
or if the rap verse slams. 
Though West’s comments 
are bad, it is much more 
than that — this is the type 
of grotesque behavior that 
leaves a particularly nasty 
taste in your mouth, not 
because of the flavor but, 
rather, how long it lasts. 
West’s comments are the 
reason why people feel 
marginalized 
because 
people actually look up 
to him. If you see your 
coworker 
listening 
to 
 
Kanye West’s album or 
it happens to play on the 
radio, you are reminded 
some people in the world 
don’t acknowledge your 
struggles as valid. For 
me and for so many 
other 
people, 
hearing 
the comments made by 
those people is a constant 
reminder that the factual 
evidence of abuse against 
minorities will never be 
enough to be acknowledged 
by millions of Americans.
West may be a “musical 
genius” or “mentally ill” 
or grieving for his mother, 
but he has also experienced 
the same racial prejudice 
that we all have, only 
he chose to silence the 
voices of his own race 
once he gained additional 
socioeconomic benefits in 
order to promote his music. 
And we supported him 
for doing that. For those 
who bought his album, 
who posted it on their 
Instagram story, do you 
have any right to be angry 
with those who use hate 
to fuel their social status? 
So next time I see another 
minority 
tweet 
about 
conservative commentator 
Tomi Lahren or wishing to 
stand up for the immigrant 
children separated from 
their parents, I have to 
wonder, did their pockets 
ever support a different 
narrative? West is a not a 
victim and the words you 
sing along to hold more 
oppressive 
blood 
than 
your hashtags can try to 
counterbalance.
And don’t you forget that.

By KAREEM SHUNNAR

MiC EDITOR

 Ignorance isn’t the right choice 

By EFE OSAGIE

MiC EDITOR

